research 1

Colloquium

Discover: Helping teachers to discover the pleasure of learning and teaching

Claudio Dondi and Michela Moretti

Address for correspondence: Michela Moretti, Scienter—Via Val D’Aposa 3, 40135 Bologna, Italy. Email: [email protected]

Introduction The Lisbon European Council (March 2000) set for the European Union the strategic goal of becoming the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based society in the world. This goal was further reaffirmed at the Barcelona European Council (March 2002), which provided a mandate to make European education and training a world- wide reference by 2010. This colloquium presents the Discover project, which aims at supporting the professional development of teachers by offering them tools, methods, community experiences and training actions that will enable them to respond to chang- ing educational requirements and to support the personal, social, cultural and cognitive development of their students.

Teachers are facing greater change in their job/profession as a result of the increasing complexity and demands from society, as well as of the emerging needs of students’ and their different attitudes towards learning and knowledge acquisition as a whole. Taking into consideration these demands, teachers are required to promote five main pillars of education (rephrasing J. Delors’ document):

1. learning to know (it is intended that students discover and master knowledge- seeking skills that will serve them for the rest of their lives);

2. learning to do (the challenge facing education today is to find methods that will succeed in transforming school knowledge into practical competence);

3. learning to live together (it is a means of facing the challenges presented by the social, economic and political globalisation of the world, and requires that citizens have the capacity to understand that their actions will have far-reaching effects on those around them. It also means being able to understand that differences in culture exist and are legitimate and can represent a source of enrichment);

4. learning to be (provide opportunities in which students can express themselves and their beliefs and view points, both); and

5. learning to learn (students discover from themselves the best way of learning and the joy of learning, seeing learning in its own right as a process from which

British Journal of Educational Technology Vol 38 No 3 2007 519–522 doi:10.1111/j.1467-8535.2007.00715.x

© 2007 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2007 British Educational Communications and Technology Agency. Published by Blackwell Publishing, 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA.

pleasure, satisfaction, motivation and empowerment at an individual/personal level can be derived).

One of the priorities of the European policy is to ‘support teacher education and train- ing by means of designing approaches able to encourage teachers to develop new pedagogical methods to increase pupil motivation’.

Motivation of teachers and pupils The issue of motivation is a complex and controversial one, and it has always formed part of the educational debate. Motivation is, and should be considered as such, a fundamental aspect of the whole learning process. Motivation represents an incredible source of energy during the learning process, and it is important to avoid considering motivation as an object that does not change over time: motivation is something that must be built. As the term ‘building’ suggests, the concept refers to a dynamic by which something that did not exist before appears in time and space. How to build motivation? Three different aspects emerge: people are not motivated to learn something that they do not consider of value or something that does not mean anything to them, people do not learn in the way we decide they should, people learn better if they have fun and enjoy doing it. How can this be achieved? First of all, giving value to knowledge itself and supporting the ability to ‘learn’ and to ‘take enjoyment’ from learning as a unique way that is coherent with knowledge and emotions as experienced at a personal level by each individual. In addition, by proposing differentiated strategies of learning (eg, learning by doing, discovery learning, trial and error, etc) that respect individual pace, learning preference and style. In this respect, game-based learning accommodates dif- ferent learning styles. In multiplayer games the learning is a social process, and games provide players with a continuous variety of emotional conditions or psychological stimuli. These conditions might include satisfaction, desire, anger, absorption, interest, excitement, enjoyment, pride in achievement and peer recognition to name but a few of the complex mix of psychological conditions that influence motivation (Pastoll, 2002; Ehlers, 2004, BECTA, 2005). The concept of motivation should also encompass the motivation requirements of teachers by providing supports mechanisms and tools whereby the teacher is better equipped/positioned to successfully manage the learning process. The greater success of the process naturally improves motivation of the teachers, and this is further enhanced by increased levels of feedback (motivation, participation, engagement) demonstrated by the students. In this way, a synergic and self-sustaining dynamic is created with a corresponding increase in the effectiveness of the pedagogical process. In this respect, game-based learning can accommodate differ- ent learning styles: games provide players with a continuous variety of emotional conditions or psychological stimuli. Players can learn through performance, learning by doing, active learning or experiential learning.

Such learning methods overcome many of the limitations associated with learning because of static learning situations, in which the knowledge gained is not directly transferable or applicable to the real world or to unfamiliar scenarios. The learning experience, being active, naturally promotes active discovery, feedback and stimulation.

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In addition, the use of games can support the process of learning using different methods and didactic strategies that can be perceived by the learners as more positive and attractive.

Furthermore, an increasingly significant concept is that of incorporating multicultural diversity into the learning process. Multicultural diversity can provide a rich source of knowledge, experience, stimulations, ideas and inspiration for both teachers and students alike. The knowledge/feedback/exchange among different cultural contexts provides many varied opportunities that can support the learning process. Some examples include, opportunities to examine the different approaches (nontraditional and dynamic) used by different cultures or other societies, an opportunity for an increased awareness of cultural complexity leading to improved civic awareness and self-identity, opportunities to adopt inclusive rather than exclusive practices and values based on a better understanding of the needs and requirements of others, increased opportunities for thinking ‘outside the box’ in relation to problem solving and method- ology development, endless opportunities for personal and individual development, stimulation of debate both level and content, stimulation of an open and questioning ‘mind-set’, opportunities to create interactive communities, entertainment and the stimulation of pleasure, and opportunities that prepare students and teachers (citizens) for an increasingly globalised life-style and market based on real-life experience achieved through multicultural exchange and communication.

Discover project based on three pillars: games-based learning, discovery of cultural diversity and pleasure of learning Discover project (approved in October 2006 within the Socrates Programme, COME- NIUS 2.1 Action—Training of School Education Staff) responds to widespread, existing and enduring needs by proposing teaching and learning methods that accommodate different learning styles and requirements, involve and engage users in their learning process, and support the motivation of learning and the ability to learn how to learn and how to take pleasure from it. This is combined with a multicultural dimension that provides an endless source of ideas, interconnectivity, interaction and stimulation suit- able for all involved (teachers & students), which is firmly positioned in a real-world and real-time environment, making it relevant for the global society of the 21st century.

There are three pillars, distinct but coherently linked (games-based learning, discovery of cultural diversity and systematic approach to pleasure of learning), therefore the main project objectives are to:

• promote and support the use of game-based learning as a means of fostering stu- dents’ motivation to learn;

• understand and share multicultural issues on the basis of the pedagogical theory of ‘diversity’, which will enlarge the mental and virtual boundaries of schools, teachers and students; and

• develop methods and tools that can generate and foster the ‘pleasure of learning’.

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The project is coordinated by Scienter (IT) and the partnership is formed by: Associazi- one TIA (IT), Centre of Studies on Portuguese Speaking Peoples and Cultures (PT), Foundation Private Application (ES), Lambrakis Foundation (GR), Oland Folk High- school (SE), and University of Applied Science FH-Joanneum (At),

The project Discover has just started its activity, but we are confident that by offering teachers with tools, methods, community experiences and training actions, the project will enable teachers and educators to respond to changing educational requirements and to support the personal, social, cultural and cognitive development of their students.

References BECTA (2005). Innovation in e-learning: lessons to be learned. British Journal of Educational

Technology, 36, 4. Delors J. (1996). Learning: The treasure within. Report to Unesco of the International Commission on

Education for the Twenty-first Century. France: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cul- tural Organization.

Ehlers U. D., (2004). Quality in e-learning from a learner’s perspectives. Paper presented at the Third Eden Research Worksop, Olderburg, Germany.

Pastoll G. (2002). Motivating people to learn. Cape Town, South Africa: The Novalis Press, Cape Town.

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