In case you weren’t one of the 25 million people watching the Grammys last night, Lady Gaga gave tribute to David Bowie to honor his work and recent passing. Not surprisingly, the performance yielded mixed reviews. While the “show” of it was impressive, I am not sure she could have done enough for die hard fans. For 30 years I have been a Bowie fan, with many of my most memorable life moments unfolding to a soundtrack of his music. Whether the music was actually playing as the events occurred, or whether I have connected the tracks after the fact as I replayed experiences in my mind, the words and music feel intertwined with the timeline of my life.
I could name a million reasons why I am a fan. This is overly simplistic, but one reason for my decades-long affection is the seeming unrelenting passion for learning that his life and music exemplify. (Learning, in all its forms, being another life-long enthusiasm of mine.) As I think of these two loves – David Bowie and Learning – I can’t help but ask, “How amazing would it be if every student had the “David Bowie Experience,” one in which they were encouraged to develop the capacities that drive an unrelenting passion for learning? How might students be encouraged to…
Get Curious
Bowie’s eclectic pursuit of knowledge was legendary. His “Top 100” list of books includes Fran Lebowitz, Christopher Hutchins, John Braine, Homer and 96 other diverse and interesting voices. I would love to see what might happen to motivation for learning if school was personalized in such a way that every student had the responsibility to develop a portfolio of personally inspiring interests to explore, including a broad range of traditional and nontraditional subjects. Might every student be responsible for creating her/his own “top 100” over the course of her/his education?
Listen here for inspiration.
Try New Things and Take Risks
Curiosity led to a diverse range of influences in Bowie’s art, including inspiration from the fields of dance, fashion design, film, literature, contemporary art, and nearly every genre of music. This fueled his efforts to identify, attempt, and let go of, daring new possibilities, e.g, Aladdin Sane, Bowie Bonds, Labrynth, BlackStar, etc, etc, etc. I would love to see what might happen to creativity in learning if students had the time, space, and encouragement to imagine bold new ways of thinking without the current high stakes penalty for failing to meet narrow objectives in a predetermined window of time. Instead, might every student be required, as part of an end-of-year assessment, to describe three learning risks she/he took and what was learned?
Listen here for inspiration – or here.
Collaborate and Be Generous
With a career as long and as successful as David Bowie’s you might expect to hear a collection of colorful stories about a bad attitude and bad behavior. Interestingly, in his case you are more likely to hear he was mild-mannered, patient, and eager to hear from other artists and partners. He nurtured numerous successful long-term (Brian Eno, Iggy Pop etc) and short-term creative collaborations (Klaus Naomi) and gave generously of his creative talents, offering both Suffragette City and All the Young Dudes to Mott the Hoople when the band was on the verge of breaking up. I wonder what would happen if some of the intense competitivenes that students can frequently experience in school was replaced with an intense desire to learn with and from one another through thougtful collaborations. Wouldn’t it be interesting if students were required to produce an end-of-year reflection on their most significant collaborations and what they learned from each?
Listen here for inspiration – or here.
Don’t Give Up
It took seven years and multiple releases that failed to chart before Space Oddity became a top 5 single in the UK. It was six more years before Bowie had a hit on the US charts. I wonder what would happen if students weren’t confined to an outdated notion of a school calendar where it’s “game-over” in June. Might we instead eliminate that vestige of a by-gone era, and allow learners to experience learning based on mastery and accomplishment versus time?
Listen here for inspiration – or here.
I love thinking about an education where learning is personal and learners get curious, take risks, and build collaborations. One in which they are rewarded for being generous and get all the time they need to dig into learning and succeed. The very hopeful news is that everyday new innovations exemplifying these possibilities emerge. We just need more. As you think about the possibilities, here’s one more inspiration!
