Passion & Learning

The high level of student disengagement in Australia has been an ongoing concern for some time. However, identifying students’ individual passions and using these to inspire deep learning has not been sufficiently developed.  In an Australian Learning Lecture survey we found many schools did not know the individual interests of their students. 

The Passion Profile within The Passion Toolkit  offers a simple but powerful tool for schools to ensure that all children are known and their interests employed in driving quality education for each of them.  The Toolkit was trialled in six Victorian schools and evaluated by ACER. 

ALL is also working with Charles Fadel (Center for Curriculum Redesign, Boston) to develop well-structured Passion projects to be incorporated into the school learning, whether over a term or for a year.

This work on passions emerged from the inaugural lecture Joy and Data which was delivered by Sir Michael Barber, a leading authority on education systems and education reform.

Sir Michael looked at the rarely explored intersection between the joy of learning and the way in which we use data to measure, value and enable success. Linking Joy and data is a bold idea as they are normally seen as opposites.

However, as Sir Michael argued in his lecture, if instead of judgement, data and diagnostic tools can help us understand where the problems are and inform the way we address them, it can serve an invaluable positive role.  

“The road to hell in education is paved with false dichotomies; joy and data risk becoming another one! Let’s reclaim them and unite them, in pursuit of an education for everyone that is rich, deep and fulfilling. That way we will enable future generations to seize the immense opportunities that lie ahead.”

– Sir Michael Barber