All Learning Doesn't Have Equal Value

Goulet Pens, where I buy and where I learn.

My newest hobby is journaling with fountain pens. I jumped in pretty heavily last fall and have bought several pens and different inks to use. I have watched weeks worth of videos, and that is not hyperbole! I bought a few journals and have been writing about my day for over a month and  half (and even bought a Fuji instant camera to take teeny instant pictures I can put in my journal.)

I don't know if this hobby will last for years, but I am really enjoying it now. That's the thing about stuff we in education label 'passion projects', they are very important while we are passionate but the love may not last a lifetime. I acknowledge that even as I pay both money and mental capital into it. But, what do I get from this learning? It makes me happy.

As an educator my business is understanding learning. While being a teacher implies the transfer of specific content knowledge from us to students, I prefer to think of it on a more basic level. We help kids learn things they otherwise might not choose to learn. Kids can (and do) learn at a high level when they want to learn. (Sometimes I wonder if educators forget this.) There is very little transferable content area learning that is taking place with my new hobby. I suspect that would mean many educators would see this hobby as relatively valueless in my classroom. I won't argue that point, because it isn't relevant.

Simply put, the fact that I am learning is enough. When I choose to share what I am learning with my students, and you know it happens because no one can keep something they are passionate about private (unless it is a taboo subject), my students see me excited about something other than the curriculum I teach. There is no real, intrinsic value to them in watching me share in terms of picking up new content knowledge. They won't become better geographers or historians because I let them borrow my fountain pens to write with. Heck, they probably are more interested in how the pens write than what they are putting on the page so it might even keep them from learning a fact or two. I guess that means that my hobby could in fact be keeping them from gaining as much content knowledge. So, some might say that my hobby is less than valueless, that it inhibits learning.

The real problem here is not that kids are not learning the content schools require of them, it isn't even that they reject learning what we teach passionately (because it is our thing!) The real problem is we make a value judgement that what they want to learn is less valuable than what we want to teach them. The thing is, in our culture that might be a very true statement. There is specific content knowledge, specific skills, and specific levels of competency based upon certifications. When it comes to jobs, all learning does not have equal value.

Of course, one does have to make the assumption that ultimate goal of learning is getting a good job and not living happily. 

What Does Their Passion Look Like?

I have to admit, I have a slightly addictive personality and I also have a tendency to get stuck on something for an inappropriate amount of time. My latest addiction (since yesterday) is a series of videos created by a young man known as Krispy Kreme or Froggy Fresh. (The story behind the name change is documented on his Youtube channel.)

Watch this video first:

The raps on this early outing are pretty juvenile: 

Talk crap and I'll give you a scar

Talk crap I'll throw eggs at your car

I'll cut holes in your tires

I'll put poop on your porch and I'll light it on fire...

The camera is shaky, but surprisingly well framed. The beats are sick and the mixing is spot on. 

One of his latest videos has much better raps:

Notice the camera work is still amazingly good. The rap has an amazing hook:

Why's James cryin'

Cause he just got dunked on!

I ain't even lyin'

Yo he just got dunked on!

He has some hilarious rhymes in this video, it seems that whoever writes the raps has an interesting but hilarious sense of humor.

Froggy Fresh doesn't just swag and clown, he also has a series of incredibly poignant videos that revolve around a recurring villain from his videos, James. In Mike's Mom we see his best friend and constant video companion Money Maker Mike getting a call. Mike's mom has been killed by James and Mike vows revenge.

The beats drive the action, they fit the song perfectly and drive the anxiety Mike is feeling. The rap is engaging and impart the emotion of the storyline. 

I can see it in his face

I can see it in his eyes

Mike be strong

Mike don't cry

Mike hold on 

Mike don't do it

Mike was gonna kill him

and everybody new it

The follow up video continues the story.

At first I watched the early videos enjoying the ridiculousness of the words, the incredibly well done beats, and awesomely weird scenes each video had. The more I watched though, the more I realized how well done the audio, video, and editing was for these videos. I don't know if there is an professional adult involved in this production or if one of these kids is the next Steven Spielberg/Joss Whedon. 

Imagine having these kids in your class this year. What could you possibly teach them that is better or even more important than what they have already accomplished? How could we leverage their passion for creating videos and creating a huge online cult following into our rooms? How do you know that you don't already have kids just like this watching the clock and waiting to get home to do what is important to them?