One of my ‘beefs’ about education is TOKENIZED LEARNING.  My defining moment did not occur with a teacher, but with my father.  In high school, I was a competitive curler and my curling team was on our way to the provincials.  My dad baited me with a walkman (yes, I’m dating myself) to enhance my performance and motivate me to win.  We were runner-up and I walked away empty handed.  I wanted to win for the wrong reasons.  I wasn’t focused on playing well, I was focused on winning.

In education, learning is often tokenized.  Do this assignment, it’s worth marks.  Act in a particular way, that’s worth more marks.  The learning process becomes more about accruing marks versus learning for the sake of learning.  The drive is a pull, not a push.  Teachers take on this responsibility.  As a result, “learners” become more motivated by the extrinsic rewards and not by passion, genuine interest, or curiosity.  Life-long learning is not about acquiring “the token,” it’s about the love.