The overarching purpose of school ought to be that children should want to keep learning more about themselves, others, and the world around them.

That’s a paraphrase of the driving force behind the work of Seymour Sarason, an educator and writer who has had a huge influence on my thinking about schools and learning. For Sarason, “productive learning” was learning that engendered “wanting to learn more.” Anything that didn’t cause students to want to learn more was “unproductive.”

Want to argue with that?

When I bring up that idea in my coaching or workshop contexts, no one disagrees with that purpose. Schools should be laser-focused on helping kids learn. That is at the core of our work with children, especially now at a time when our kids will be required to know how to learn their way through the world in self-directed, self-determined ways. 

So, the question becomes, why aren’t we better at creating the conditions for “productive learning” to happen in school?

Some of that, as I have mentioned before in this space, is because most schools have very little coherence around how they define what learning is. Personally, if you don’t have a definition, just steal Sarason’s. I’m sure he would be pleased if you did.

But what if the reason that we don’t create the conditions for productive learning is that if we did, we would challenge just about every system, structure and value proposition supporting this whole enterprise? Could it be that “productive learning” would just be too much of a shock to the system?

Getting to productive learning in schools isn’t rocket science. You don’t need reams of research or data or brain science or “meta-analysis.” We flout all that stuff because we’re trying to figure out how to make kids learn in school (which is much different from learning in real life.)

All you really need to do is ask “How do I myself learn most powerfully and deeply?” And, “what conditions are present when that is happening?” 

Or, even better, just go watch and listen and interact with kids who are learning on their own outside of school. Go watch kids at a skatepark, on the basketball court, when they’re playing an online game, or when they’re building something. What conditions exist for them in those moments?

The answers you’ll uncover won’t shock you. You won’t be blown away by what you…