What's my favorite topic? That's easy. It's ambiguity. Let me tell a story to explain. A few years ago I bought a camera for one of my sons. He was going to beautiful French Guyana and I wanted him to have a camera that would take exceptional photographs. Years ago I was a professional photographer so I have precise ideas about what a good camera is like. The task became agonizing when the clerk handed me a new camera. The construction was completely different from when I learned my craft. The clerk patiently tried to show me all the new features, but as I picked up each camera it felt dreadfully uncomfortable. None of the cameras matched my set of criteria.
My preconceived ideas about what made a good camera made these cameras seem wrong to me. Their qualities were ambiguous to me because I didn't understand them. When we experience something new or ambiguous we are naturally uncomfortable, mentally uncomfortable. Learning grows out of what we do about discomfort. One psychologist called it, "constructive alternativism." Or in simpler terms, we learn when we are uncomfortable. There is nothing I like more than making students uncomfortable. I don't do it to be mean, but I love to see people get out of their comfort zones into situations where they can learn--new ideas, new ways of thinking, new attitudes about themselves. That's the change I enjoy seeing. I love to see students excited about themselves as they gain control over their learning.
