Exemplary Practices 2008

Defining Passion

David Moffat teaches biology at Hillfield Strathallan College in Hamilton, Ontario. When he thought about the good and really great teachers he'd experienced in the past, he tried to figure out what set apart those who were great. "What comes up over and over again," he says, "is that it comes down to passion."

Being a scientist and examining concepts clinically, Moffat has been able to define three categories of passion in teachers. There are those teachers who have an abiding passion for their discipline and they are true academics. Then there are those teachers who are what he calls the "Renaissance type" — teachers with a pure passion for learning in all its forms. Finally, there are the "people persons", those who are passionate about the people around them and with whom they work and teach.

Says Moffat, "I realized that many of the good teachers who taught me, had one of those three passions and I learned to respect them for what they were passionate about." Further, he found that the really great teachers had at least two of those passions working for them. And the types of passions can work in a range of combinations.

Moffat categorizes himself as being passionate about learning and about his discipline (a combination of the first two types). "I'd probably be a hermit in a cave if life didn't force me to be involved with humans," he quips, but he works hard on his weaker points as all good teachers do. "My students are searching for meaning, and when they see that my passion informs my life and instills meaning in it, they are eager to share it."

So where does all of this passion lead? To begin with, it forced Moffat to think about the role of passion in creating what is required to have great schools. His conclusion is simply to stock them with great teachers, to have schools where administrators "build teams of people who have at least one of the passions above, but build them in such a way that they're collegial and that anybody can pursue their passion with support from colleagues. This sets teachers free to pursue their passions, and gives students a variety of models to follow," he says. Great teachers, Moffat feels, working within great schools will infect students with their passions. In that way, great learning will take place.