A baby takes its first steps in its craving for knowledge, knowledge of how to walk. It crawls around, with excitement, discovering why an object falls to the flour when it is dropped or why the piano makes different sounds if one hits different keys. Everything is exciting and all it wants to do is to learn, learn and learn.

One of these days, the child will be put in a classroom together with classmates. A certain problem may arise. Kids love learning, but is it the letter "B" or the excitement of drawing happy faces in its notebook that catches the eyes of the child? Maybe it's the leaves falling from the tree on the other side of the window or maybe it's the child’s thoughts of playing its newest computer game when it gets home.

We teachers are competing for the interest of the child. It continues all the way to university and beyond. We are not competing with other teachers. We are competing with everything else they might find more exciting.

No matter if we teach the students or not they will still learn, but our modern society demands more than whatever excitement they can find on their own, it demands knowledge of written language, numbers, society, economy, the past and so much more. As teachers we will thereby be faced with the difficult task of directing the student’s focus of interest to what we teach, making the process of learning something they do not only do because they have to, but also because they find it exciting.

Stepping in to the university, many students will be surprised. Where are those annoying teachers pointing a finger in their faces because they didn't do their homework? Nobody bothers to call their parents and nobody really seems to care. So what shall they do with all this freedom? For many students this is a huge task, and can many times end in disaster. It is suddenly up to the students themselves to find motivation in the subjects they study. If their only previous motivation for studying was the fear of an angry father, teacher or headmaster, what then will they do without others controlling them? One option is to not care at all and enjoy life instead. Another option is to put all their strength into studying even if they do not like it. The best possible scenario is of course a student who has already learned to enjoy the knowledge provided by schools, and who dives into the university full of excitement of the great task which lies ahead.

We teachers can make this happen, by asking the interesting questions, surprising the students with examples from reality and engaging the students in their own process of learning. Whatever subject we teach, it is full of excitement. As teachers it is our great task to find it.

Joel Myles

Sixth Form Collage teacher of Social Science, Economy and Philosophy.