Bored Yet?
New article worth diving in to: "Why boredom is anything but boring", by Maggie Koerth-Baker. Prior to this article, I was of the opinion that boredom learned behavior and that an individual's best tool again boredome is to choose to not be bored. Now I am wondering if there is more to this boredom thing?
The article references some very compelling research reporting evidence of increased boredom in persons, particularly male, who have experience some sort of traumatic brain injury. The problem of course is, how do you quantify this date on a subject that is very subjective? There is a test to see how prone to boredom you are that assigns you a number--and maybe that would do the trick--but I was reminded as I took the test of my original opinion that boredom is choice.
Each answer I selected that I knew was making me look "less boredom prone" described a situation where I distinctly recalled recognizing boredom creeping in, but then making a cognitive choice to entertain or challenge my self in some way. In doing so I was "choosing" to not be bored. So I am now wondering if there is a combination of things contributing to boredom. Why does it always seem to be a combination of things? And it has me thinking...
1. Is my recognition that I am making a cognitive choice supportive of this research? If someone has lost the ability to process in that particular center of their brain, is it possible that they are unable to make the choice to "not be bored"?
2. How has the rise in concussions contributed to this problem? It seems more and more student atheletes are suffering from both concussions and class room boredom.
3. If it is true that some students do suffer from boredom, how does this change our classroom approach? Do we plug along with a "suck it up and do what ya gotta do" approach? Or is this something we can accommodate for? What accommodations would work?
4. How can you tell the difference between brain trauma boredom and typical teen boredom?
5. How much of this phenomena is exacerbated by the use of technology at an early age? We know this changes brain function, even if we are not completely sure how yet...
6. Is this one of those brain functions that we can re-wire through therapy?
I have visited this boredom thing before--I suppose it is one of my soap boxes--stemming from my own distaste of boredom--yet I have found a personal work around to survive the mundane routine of adulthood. Do we need to teach the students to do the same? Or is that an excecise in futility? Can we simply make learning fun again? And what does that mean?
