XplanaZine

A couple of weeks ago our oldest son graduated from high school and we decided we would do something nice for him. Now, don’t get the wrong idea. It’s not like we haven’t been doing nice things for him all along. Not that he notices, necessarily, but we’ve been fairly doting parents which means he’s had just about everything he ever wanted.

But for graduation, we decided to do something memorable and fun. So we loaded up the truck, metaphorically speaking, and headed east for a tour of the Big Apple. Our son had never been and we decided he would be lacking certain educational skills if we let him start college before making at least one visit there.

It started out as mostly a tourist thing — see the Statue of Liberty, take in a broadway show or two, check out Central Park, and eat at Sardi’s. But then the kid discovered that his favorite author was going to be giving a reading at the Union Square Barnes and Noble store. Could we please get there in time for the reading, he asked?

Well, my wife and I both subscribe to the theory that learning is all about experience and, being bibliophiles ourselves, we both know the unforgettable moment of interacting with a favorite author for the first time. So, we arrived to the city by train in the early afternoon on a Tuesday and headed over to the store where the reading was being held. The author, Chuck Palahniuk , has a pretty strong following so we made like rock star fans, got our wrist bracelets, and camped out for four and a half hours until the event started. A lot worse places to be stuck than at a bookstore, I suppose.

In the end, it couldn’t have been a better experience for our son (although I was a bit miffed that we had to head out the day before Umberto Eco gave his reading). He go to talk to Chuck, had his books signed, and even caught a souvenir severed arm during the presentation (relax, it was plastic).

When we got back to the hotel, no one was tired so we headed to a restaurant for a bite to eat. There, I made a tricky conversation segue onto the topic of experiences and learning. As no one seemed to suspect my motives, or at least they didn’t care that I had any, everyone started sharing stories about their favorite learning games. Our son started talking about his favorite, the venerable Oregon Trail, but we were both a bit surprised when he said the game also had made him really mad. “I never could beat it,” he said. “I mean, I’d do everything right and then, for no reason at all, something bad would happen and I’d be dead.” But what frustrated him also fascinated him. And in the end, not knowing what was going to happen proved a stronger magnet than the frustration over not winning.

When we got back to our rooms, I spent a lot of time thinking about what he had said. I thought about the value of not knowing solutions to problems and the internal drive for learning that can be created by not being able to see around the next corner. I started thinking about what we do in our classrooms or textbooks to challenge students with wonder and curiosity.

More and more, I’m convinced that Life’s Big Lesson (LBL) is like our trip to NYC or like my son’s experience playing Oregon Trail. Learning is about inquiry — it’s about simply making the trip. It’s not about knowing how it will turn out or even if you get to win this time around or not. Learning is in the experience of the lesson just as much as it is in the specific objective.

I’ve still got a lot of parenting and teaching ahead of me in life, and I’m going to try and practice this lesson more in the future. I’m going to give the learners around me more open experiences, more chances to explore new things and more opportunities to go into lessons without knowing how it’s all going to turn out. And as they feel the wonder of discovery, I’m going to enjoy it with them. As if it were my first time.

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