The “fullness of life”: Learner interests and educational experiences

Publication date: Available online 7 December 2018Source: Learning, Culture and Social InteractionAuthor(s): Helen HedgesAbstractIt is well-established that personal interests drive motivation and engagement in human endeavours. How might educational settings recognise and tap into these interest-fuelled motivations to promote and extend learning? Where there is a play-based curriculum in early childhood education interests-based approaches may be possible. Such approaches may be more challenging to enact within the more prescriptive curricula, assessment regimes, and accountabilities schooling commonly operates within that perhaps neglect a holistic approach to learning. In a study using narrative methodology in Auckland, New Zealand, young adults described the significant interests they had through their lives, ways these were drawn on—or otherwise—during their education, and their influence on extra-curricular activities, tertiary education, and early career planning. Two illustrative cases point to the significant people, places, and things that shaped the educational experiences and learning identities in the particular historical, social, and cultural contexts each participant grew up in. The paper argues that personal interests are a complex phenomenon that arise from, and develop over time within multifaceted historical, social, and cultural contexts and relationships. It invites deeper definitions of interests common in early childhood education and raises cautio...
Source: Learning, Culture and Social Interaction - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research