In this interview Josef Huber, Head of the CoE Pestalozzi Programme and co-author of the new book ‘Teacher Education for Change,’ discusses the current concern about state education and gives his views on how teachers can put the “fun” back into learning.

“There is an obvious inner emigration of pupils,” he says. “The solution is not just in the capacities of the individual teacher but the whole undertaking of school education which needs to be re-thought.

We have had an education that is not so much about developing the individual capacity to think creatively, divergently and constructively but which is much more focused on the repetition of canonised knowledge.

“The biggest motivating force for learning is curiosity. Curiosity normally is fun as well for learners.”

Publication: Teacher education for change - The theory behind the Council of Europe Pestalozzi Programme (Pestalozzi series n°1) (2011)

This book is available in both English and French.

Visit http://www.humanrightseurope.org/2012/01/podcast-how-learning-lost-its-fun/ to listen to the interview.