Compassion-Based Learning

  Most of the theories of learning I have encountered, whether implicit or explicitly stated, focus on the idea of mastering a subject. Of course, this is the ultimate goal of education of any kind, which is to become a subject matter expert in an area. But I think that education gets derailed when there is an idea of a precise goal. In other words, it can be easy to try to imagine what "mastering a subject" looks and feels like before we even dive into its depths. It seems that to really learn requires an immersion that is not driven by the pressure to master a subject all at once. Instead, one finds the simple passion and enjoyment of something to be the main driver of learning.

    Alfie Kohn is one educator who has focused on the question: what happens when children are more focused on external rewards than on the intrinsic motivation to perform a task? One obvious answer is that children become distracted by the reward itself and are therefore unable to appreciate or focus on the task. A more subtle thing that occurs is that the learner simply sees it as an accomplishment rather than as something to simply enjoy in a brief sort of way. And also, there comes a tendency to compete and compare oneself  with others.

  Compassion-based learning is not so much focused on the final goal--wanting to "do well" in something--but more the intrinsic understanding of the relationships that happen between things, even if they happen to be very theoretical ones. If one is able to find connections or start to see a more clear picture of something, an "aha" kicks in, and we feel more part of the learning itself. We no longer focus on our own merit, but start to enjoy the process itself. In this way, the "compassion" is not about having any special feeling such as joy or kindness to the subject we are studying, but more of a sense of play, discovery and some kind of openness to wonder.