Learning to Like Learning

"Painting is just another way of keeping a diary"

"Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone"

"Ah, good taste!  What a dreadful thing!  Taste is the enemy of creativeness"

Pablo Picasso (born this day 1881)

Over the weekend I had lunch with a friend, Bill Morgan.  Bill is a founding partner in a large accounting firm in Dallas.  In a discussion about this curriculum, Bill shared with me how he learned to like asparagus.  His mother required Bill and his brothers to at least eat one at the meal.  His brother liked it, so Bill would sneak his onto his brother's plate.  One day he decided if his brother liked it, maybe there was something about it he might like.  He cut off a tiny part, put it into his mouth, concentrated on the flavor, and found that, indeed, the taste was quite good.  Now it is his favorite veggie.  Later in life, after completing his college degree in accounting, Bill found that he intensely disliked BEING an accountant.  He finally decided that he needed to apply the same philosophy he used to learn to like asparagus.  He put away his watch, totally focussed on the problem in front of him, and got caught up in the "process" of solving the problem.  He found the time going by without notice and that he had actually learned to love the process of accounting.  From that day onward, his motivation became totally INTRINSIC as he proceeded to attempt to MASTER the art of accounting for the GREATER GOOD of his clients. I told my students Bill's story today at the beginning of class.  I also told them of something I participated in concerning DANIEL PINK and his posting of each of our "sentences". 

In his book, DRIVE, Dan describes what he calls our SENTENCE.  Describing in one sentence one most important thing for which  we would like to be remembered.  He has asked us to video a response to this question and email it to him at dhp@danpink.com.  I sent mine in last week.  I said, "I hope I have instilled in my students a lifelong desire to learn about art".  When I talked to my students today and relayed this to them I said that if I would change it I would stop at "learn".  I told them about Henri Matisse, whose last words were, "I wish I could have drawn better". 

In applying today's lesson to the overall goal of this curriculum, I told the students that they could take this attitude about learning and apply it to all of their classes.  It's the ACT OF LEARNING that is important, not necessarily the subject being learned.  If they can learn about art, even though they don't like art, they will have accomplished more than if they actually liked art to start with.  They can then apply this attitude toward all their classes...math...language...history...science.  Priding themselves on the fact that they learned something will become THE MOST IMPORTANT ACCOMPLISHEMENT they will take with them from their years in school.  That feeling will carry them successfully through life.

Now, for you visual readers, I will share a few more photos of works in progress.  I hope you enjoy them.