If you had always been free to learn, you would follow your natural tendency to find out as fully as possible about the things that interest you, cars or stars. We are born with what they call "love of learning"

- Grace Llewellyn 

Do you worry that school is taking your child’s ‘love of learning’ away? 

Many schools and educators, conventional or otherwise, preach ‘love of learning’ as a core element of their approach. But why specifically love of learning, and not academic excellence, or whatever else?

It turns out, for a very good reason. ‘Love of learning’ goes beyond school. It is defined as a character strength that will serve a person all their life. Children who love learning tend to take an active interest in their studies and perform well in school. Adults who love learning tend to be open and diligent workers, willing to work with others, upskill and adapt to the challenges of the workplace.

What exactly is ‘love of learning?’ It is an inherent curiosity about things, a desire to explore, to adapt, to draw connections and conclusions, to know more. If you opened this article today, you are an example of this— welcome!

Given the multidisciplinary value of lifelong learning as a skill, it’s understandable that many schools tend to focus on it. However, does love of learning directly translate to academic excellence? Is that all it entails? And why is it that some children don’t seem to do well even in schools that pride themselves on inculcating a ‘love of learning?’ 

As Grace says in the opening quote, as human beings we are born with curiosity and an appetite for learning. One can hence argue that learning, itself, is not a skill to be instilled.

The question then might not be whether we are learning, but what we are learning, and how we are learning it. 

Is 8 year old Kavita learning multiplication? Or is she learning that art is not valued because a teacher scolded her for drawing in the textbook margins?

Is 11 year old Shahnaz learning to become more independent? Or is she learning to regulate her emotions by bullying others?

Is 15 year old Alex learning to be an engineer? Or is he learning how to crack standardised tests, carrying this approach of ‘memorise and crack’ until way into adulthood when he wonders what his life was all about?

Is 13 year old Mehak not learning anything? Or has she learnt that history isn’t her area of interest anymore?

It doesn’t take much to extrapolate that a child who seems to hate learning might have actually learned something outside the curriculum. They might have ‘learnt’ (for whatever reason) that they are stupid, weird, or that the subject is difficult. They might have learnt that they want to be a doctor, and that doctors are not required to study history. In some rarer and more grim instances, they may have learnt that scary or uncomfortable things happen in a particular classroom. 

But this learning, unfortunately, is something we rarely have the privilege to see. Most children are dismissed as ‘failing’ or ‘hating’ a subject. 

I struggled with mathematics for years after being told by teachers that math was not for artists. As someone who deeply valued and loved making art, I almost instantly dropped math (a subject I previously loved and excelled in) and still instinctively panic on seeing it. Happily, I am slowly finding my way back to it in recent years, through creative coding! 

Our learning, especially as children, is heavily impacted by our environment. However, something that we frequently overlook is not whether our environment is set up for learning success;it’s whether it is actually effective.

Every child is truly unique. Their ‘natural tendency’ is different. A way of teaching that might work for one, might not work for another. And this does not mean they all cannot benefit from the same education!

As parents and educators, it is so important that we try to become more aware of what our children are learning, rather than worrying about whether they are good or bad students or how wonderful the school and curriculum is. And that instead of trying to force children to learn, we encourage them along pathways and let the learning follow.

While emphasizing so much on our child’s love of learning, as educators and parents— are we, too, still willing to learn? 

Some questions you can ask yourself to explore the idea of ‘love of learning‘

• What can be classified as learning? Does learning happen only in a particular place or at a particular age? Is there useful and not useful learning ? Is there good and bad learning?

• Is it possible for multiple forms of learning to coexist in harmony (learning biology alongside learning to write an exam paper in Biology)?

• As a parent or educator, do you feel forced to turn everything into an educational opportunity? (For example, you notice a rainbow and start talking about prisms and light wavelengths) When might it be a good time to do so? When, not so much? 

• When are you teaching? When is your child learning? Are both the same, or different? Do you notice particular instances where they are different? What changes can you make?

• A fun exercise to do with your (older) child might be to write or draw what adults who love learning might do with this skill. Imagine this love of learning is a super power. Then try to make up situations this adult might get themselves into (situations that are age-appropriate for the child). How might they use their ‘love of learning’ to get through the situation?