What is “delight-directed” learning?

Jan 15, 2024 Ellipse 37

Category: Kids' Activities

There are many theories and approaches to education that are espoused by teachers, educators, and child development experts. During the COVID-19 pandemic when many children’s schools closed, parents started paying attention to them more as well, especially the more creative methods.

One of these is called “delight-directed” learning, which is somewhat of a derivative of interest-based learning. In this article, we will not only define delight-directed learning but look at some of its known benefits (and drawbacks). We will also look at applications for home learning, play, and classrooms.

Delight-Directed Learning Defined

As we said above, delight-directed learning is similar to interest-based learning in that it uses the things that most interest a child or group of children as the basis for learning a variety of principles. Basically, the parent or educator finds ways to teach different subjects and skills using an area of interest or delight to a child or group of children. Let’s take a look at a couple of examples.

The first is trains; many young children are fascinated by trains. To build on this interest, you would teach the child to read using books about trains. You could teach geography lessons using train destinations, teach children to tell time and better understand how it works using train timetables, teach basic counting and math skills based on the numbers of cars on a train, and many more opportunities.

For an older child, let’s imagine that they take dance lessons and are very interested in this activity. You can design science lessons about how muscles and organs work to support movement, history, and culture lessons on the evolution of dance and how different societies and civilizations use it, read or assign books about dance and famous dancers, and even incorporate physics and geometry in the science of movement or choreography.

Delight-directed learning is also about using a child’s preferred learning styles to engage in the process. In other words, some children learn best through watching and listening to lessons, while others need to do hands-on activities. Be sure to use a variety of learning styles, but also be knowledgeable about your child’s preferred methods and engage with those first.

Why Delight-Directed Learning Is Effective

The reason why delight-directed learning works is pretty obvious: it helps engage children in the learning process by focusing intensely on something that they already love.

But more than that, very often the goal for parents and educators in using this method is to instill a lifelong love of learning in children. If they can see that diving deep into a subject or topic and exploring its depths and dimensions is a worthwhile activity, they will spend their lives engaged in enriching their minds.

Who Most Benefits From Delight-Directed Learning?

The short answer is everyone! There are great reasons to use this method for children of all ages and stages of development. That said, it is particularly good for kids who are struggling to engage with the learning process and are perhaps professing a dislike for school.

It can also be a good tactic for children who are very active and need more stimulation. Remember that delight-directed learning is also about using the methods of learning (visual, audible, kinesthetic, and more) that work best for your child or children. If they’re physical kids who need more activity, find ways to make that work too.

Potential Drawbacks of Using Delight-Directed Learning

As with any learning principle or style, there are some potential pitfalls of which to be aware. Perhaps the most obvious is that it is somewhat limiting; part of the point of education is to expose children to new ideas and to topics that they would not otherwise encounter. In other words, it’s a bit narrow.

Another issue with it is that there’s a chance of burnout. If you use interest as the basis for learning about everything over and over again, your child may tire of it pretty quickly. You certainly don’t want to snuff out a passion by turning it into work.

That’s why the best practice for delight-directed learning is to use the topic as a basis, or a starting point, and draw connections to other things in order to keep it fresh. Let your child naturally move away from the topic itself to other related subjects. Everyone has a variety of interests and sources of joy, including children. Be sure to draw on all of them, using the most appropriate ones to teach different concepts.

Delight-Directed Learning for Home Schooling

Many parents who never dreamed that they would home-school their children found themselves in that very scenario over the course of the past year during the COVID-19 pandemic. Delight-directed learning has been a lifeline for many of them.

This style allows parents to take control of their children’s learning, take it outside the classroom, and engage in fun play activities that also foster brain development.

For parents who have chosen homeschooling on a permanent basis, many of their reasons involve being able to ignite a love of learning by narrowing the study to their child’s strengths and sources of joy. They frequently use delight-directed learning.

Delight-Directed Learning for Play

If you haven’t heard of “unschooling,” it is basically the idea that every moment of play and fun has the potential to help children learn and develop. Delight-directed learning for play is much the same idea.

Most parents already engage in this kind of learning, even if they don’t realize it. If you buy your children educational toys in their areas of interest, take them to museums or events themed according to their passions, or show them educational films and documentaries on topics they like, then you’ve already used the basic principles of delight-directed learning for play.

Delight-Directed Learning for Classrooms

It may seem as if delight-directed learning in a group setting is impossible, but it is not. Admittedly, no single topic is going to engage an entire group of 5, 10, or 20 little individuals, but some things tend to be crowd-pleasers. A teacher who has plants or even a classroom pet is using these basic principles. Field trips are also in this vein. Finally, letting a class of students vote on topics for deep-dive studies or allowing older children to engage in independent studies is also following delight-directed learning principles.

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What is “delight-directed” learning?

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