Add to that … constant news of violence, wars and rumors of economic or health care crisis.
Against similar problems in 1932 when Hitler prepared to take over as Chancellor of Germany, wars raged between Japan and China as well as Paraguay and Bolivia, along with Peru and Columbia. In that same year though, Alfred Whitehead reminded people to put joy back into new knowledge. In Whitehead’s words romance the joy of learning.
Whitehead could have been part of the progressive cognitive sciences today - that inspire workplaces to:
1. Hang glide over frustrations and look for learning opportunities. Create 2-footed questions that get people involved, for instance, rather than lecturing at them.
2. Teach and take on tone at work as a way to set the stage for the joy that follows when people learn together, without fear of attack from those who differ.
The key to learning joy, with the brain in mind, is to shift the focus. Simply put, expect an adventure that adds zip to what you do at work. Go after joy the way Olympians chase success – because its opposite chases you more often than not.
Surprisingly, joy can be a hit hard to locate – even on the internet. In one of his research studies, Dr Thomas Armstrong spoke of searching the ERIC data base for information on the “joy of learning.” He found 13 hits only, listed between the years 1982 and 1996, with two research studies on this topic. By contrast, listed in the same time span, 7,322 citations popped up for “learning disability.” Hmmm…. Why so little joy and so much drudgery?
Any newlywed will tell you that romance ignites passion, anticipation, and sheer delight. Boring? Frustrating? Discouraging? Why not take your brain on a honeymoon for a new intellectual discovery this week – and see for yourself how to romance the joy of learning.
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