My Passion and Curiosity Quotients

Thomas L. Friedman, in an article titled, It’s P.Q. and C.Q. as Much as I.Q. (2013),

says that we now live in a hyperconnected and increasingly automated world which has had a significant negative impact on the labor force. These trends require people to continue learning new skills throughout life,  “skills that are complementary to technology”. He also says that what he calls “P.Q, (passion quotient)” and “C.Q. (curiosity quotient)” will be required to succeed in this new labor market. He doesn’t define these terms at all, but appears to be saying that we need to be both passionate and curious enough about the work we do that we persist with learning more and more about it and strive to continually create new ways of doing things.

So I asked myself, as an educator, what am I passionate about and what am I curious about? In other words, what do I hope to accomplish and what do I need and want to know to do this? Both lists continually evolve and could probably go on and on, but here are a few that came to mind.

I am passionate about:

•  Getting my students to express themselves.
•  Getting my students to read.
• Getting my students to all see English as a tool for communication, not an academic subject to be “passed”.
• Getting my students to be comfortable with themselves and to realize their potential.

I am curious about:

• How to motivate my students.
• How to facilitate communication.
• How to reduce affective barriers to using English.
• How to inspire my students to care and to act. 
• How to use digital tools to help me do these things.

I was also asked in my CEP 812 class to reflect on the following questions: How do I use technologies in ways that demonstrate my passion and curiosity? How do I use technologies to inspire passion and curiosity in my students? For the former, one thing I do is read online. I also view video for information gathering, professional development, and pleasure. I use project management software in professional development activities and I study online. For the latter, I use authentic videos, STAIRs and WebQuests, I ask students to teach each other about presentation software and the pros and cons of using a variety of technology, and I ask students to record themselves with digital audio and digital video for self, peer, and instructor assessment.

Additionally, I was asked to “create something using something” (CEP 812 course instructions). I reflected on how to express these aspects of my P.Q and C.Q. in a creative way. I still believe in the power of text, the importance of writing ideas down so that others can read and reflect on them, and that writing is a creative exercise. However, I also wanted to challenge myself to expand out of my comfort zone and I wanted to use and consolidate some new skills to enhance my self-expression. So, I created a Google Presentation to show some of the ways I use technology to support and inspire passion and curiosity. Please have a look at it here.

References

Friedman, T. L. (2013, January 29). It’s P.Q. and C.Q. as Much as I.Q.. The New York Times. Retrieved on March 3, 2014 from http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/30/opinion/friedman-its-pq-and-cq-as-much-as-iq.html?_r=0