Enjoying the journey...

"In a previous blog post, I wrote about the importance of reading and how I love to get absorbed in a book. The recent winter break was the perfect time to do that, but I decided to try something different and read some non-fiction for a change. I came across a book called ‘Happier’ by Dr Ben Shahar, a Harvard Professor. The book came free with a weekend newspaper and claimed to be based on what was once the most popular class at Harvard, a course on how to live a happy life.

The book discusses different things that people think will make them happy, but in the end comes to a very simple conclusion about what happiness actually is. It is summed up in the following quote:

“Attaining lasting happiness requires that we enjoy the journey on our way toward a destination we deem valuable. Happiness, therefore, is not about making it to the peak of the mountain, nor is it about climbing aimlessly around the mountain: happiness is the experience of climbing toward the peak.”

The idea of a journey struck a chord with me and made me think of the students we teach. Quite often, a question students ask is “Miss, is this going to be graded?” What they are focusing on when asking this question is what the Harvard professor would call the destination, rather than the journey. Rather than enjoying what they are learning, students sometimes focus on the end result, the grade or the report card. The challenge for us as educators is how to change this mindset and encourage students to enjoy the process of learning and the learning journey. After all, the IB mission is to develop lifelong learners.

In his book, Shahar talks about the key to being happy in the moment and working towards being happy in the future lies in finding ‘meaning’ and ‘purpose’ in what we are currently doing, as well as seeing its long term benefit. This can easily be related to learning. If we can teach our students concepts, content and skills that they find relevant and meaningful to their lives, they are bound to enjoy the learning more and see it less as a means to an end, the final grade. This is what every curriculum should aim to do: to make learning relevant, fun and meaningful for students.

This morning a Group of Grade 6 students came to my office to take my photo. They told me they were investigating what makes up a civilisation and whether our school could be considered one. This was an example of authentic and meaningful learning. Students were learning about the concept of a civilisation and I am sure they were also learning a lot of history to go with it, but the fact that they were able to relate it to their own context and the world in which they live meant they were enjoying the journey.

Of course, grades and the end result are important, but the journey of how we get there and how much we enjoy the journey is equally, if not more, important. Otherwise, we risk creating students who are only interested in the end result and experience short-term happiness and success, rather than enjoying the journey and building the resilience required for each peak they climb". 

Lana Kulas, Head of Secondary School for Girls