What We Can Learn from The Voice
I haven't blogged in a while, mainly because after entering the XQ Super School challenge, I was tired. I needed a break. But I also had little to say, and I haven't been feeling passionate about too much. I decided to ride out the bloggy feeling...
Then the new season of The Voice started. I love the show, as many do. More than I do the contestants, I have found myself watching how the coaches have learned and grown as coaches over the years. I only recently realized that what is happening on this show is a good example of what I would like to see happening in our kids' learning.
Is it that important to win?
The Voice is a competition, of course, with many levels. First, there is the level of the singers who compete in teams then as individuals to ultimately win. Then there is the level of the coaches. If a team member wins, their coach wins as well. Like teachers in our public school system, they are judged on how well they coach their teams to success.
If you watch the show, you know that Blake and Adam have won the most seasons. They started out as pretty good coaches and have learned over the seasons to become amazing coaches, I think. As they were becoming more about their team members winning than about winning themselves, Pharrell came along.
He was already there. He already knew that the show was much more than a competition. He knew that anyone who made it on the show had already won. I saw him at least once blatantly throw out all conventions of true competition and work on behalf of all of the contestants on the show, not only his team. Crazy! We have teachers like that.
A Model for Learning
Think about it. What is happening on The Voice is what I want to see happening in learning in our country. I want to see our kids want to go to school to learn in close cooperation with their teachers, whom they respect. I want them to go because they know teachers will help them reach their dreams.
I want to see teachers doing everything in their power to work with each student to make sure that kid goes out in the world and lives his dreams. I don't think it should be about passing a test or making money.
I want to make sure teachers have professional development that helps them become better teachers, just as the coaches on the show do. They have guest advisers who are there to help them coach. The contestants learn from these guests and so do the coaches. The coaches also learn from each other and from their team members. Everyone is learning. It's all good.
I want to see kids leave school each day feeling good about themselves and having learned something, like contestants on The Voice do. I want them to be an active part of their learning, not passive receptacles. No one leaves that show feeling like a loser because they aren't losers. They all win.
So do we just give our kids blue ribbons for participation? No, we give them blue ribbons for learning and getting one step closer to living their dreams. Winning isn't the important part of all this. It's about learning. And yet, if you do it right, everyone wins. What's wrong with that?
Then the new season of The Voice started. I love the show, as many do. More than I do the contestants, I have found myself watching how the coaches have learned and grown as coaches over the years. I only recently realized that what is happening on this show is a good example of what I would like to see happening in our kids' learning.
Is it that important to win?
The Voice is a competition, of course, with many levels. First, there is the level of the singers who compete in teams then as individuals to ultimately win. Then there is the level of the coaches. If a team member wins, their coach wins as well. Like teachers in our public school system, they are judged on how well they coach their teams to success.
If you watch the show, you know that Blake and Adam have won the most seasons. They started out as pretty good coaches and have learned over the seasons to become amazing coaches, I think. As they were becoming more about their team members winning than about winning themselves, Pharrell came along.
He was already there. He already knew that the show was much more than a competition. He knew that anyone who made it on the show had already won. I saw him at least once blatantly throw out all conventions of true competition and work on behalf of all of the contestants on the show, not only his team. Crazy! We have teachers like that.
A Model for Learning
Think about it. What is happening on The Voice is what I want to see happening in learning in our country. I want to see our kids want to go to school to learn in close cooperation with their teachers, whom they respect. I want them to go because they know teachers will help them reach their dreams.
I want to see teachers doing everything in their power to work with each student to make sure that kid goes out in the world and lives his dreams. I don't think it should be about passing a test or making money.
I want to make sure teachers have professional development that helps them become better teachers, just as the coaches on the show do. They have guest advisers who are there to help them coach. The contestants learn from these guests and so do the coaches. The coaches also learn from each other and from their team members. Everyone is learning. It's all good.
I want to see kids leave school each day feeling good about themselves and having learned something, like contestants on The Voice do. I want them to be an active part of their learning, not passive receptacles. No one leaves that show feeling like a loser because they aren't losers. They all win.
So do we just give our kids blue ribbons for participation? No, we give them blue ribbons for learning and getting one step closer to living their dreams. Winning isn't the important part of all this. It's about learning. And yet, if you do it right, everyone wins. What's wrong with that?
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