Fear

For my graduate project, I have been researching the kind of conditions and teaching style that promotes intrinsic motivation and passion for learning. One of the obstacles for that kind of internal passion, is external control through threats, bribes, rewards and punishment.

As I do more reading on control, I have learned that a desire for control is based on fear, and I realize that so many times I have wanted control in order to protect those I love from difficulties. If I am focused on fear,  I don't want people to make mistakes and experience pain and learn from their mistakes. It seems that schools can also act out of fear with too much control and not trust that inside of every student is a passion for learning if given the opportunity to learn how it best suits them and given enough freedom to follow their own passion and interest.

The opposite of fear is faith. What if instead of acting in fear, I teach correct principles, offering that wonderful light of love and example, and give the freedom to either follow those principles in how it works for them or even reject the principles all together having faith that they can still learn important lessons and eventually come to embrace those principles even if it is the hard way. What if schools had more faith in the internal passion for learning and set students free to follow their unique interests?