Or not.
All three of the previous statements, lumped into a single quote explaining why students struggle, are, indeed, false. Yes, you read that correctly, F-A-L-S-E.
So, why does that sentence seem so believable to education? And I won’t lie and say that I wouldn’t be apt to believe that if someone lectured about it during a seminar or professional development.
Let’s first break down the three myths that are presented in that statement:
1) Differentiated learning styles:
The idea that students have multiple learning styles probably came from the idea that everyone learns things a little differently. Which is entirely true. Each student brings different background knowledge and skills to the classroom and that does indeed affect their learning. However, recent psychological studies have found that there is not, in fact, any credible evidence supporting the idea that there are different learning styles. Most of the published research on the topic failed to use randomized test subjects and, therefore, the research is scientifically inept.
2) Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences:
This theory, first introduced in 1983, claims that there are eight different kinds of intelligence (linguistic, logico-mathmatical, spatial, musical, bodily-kinestheti, interpersonal, intrapersonal. and naturalist) and that each individual has all eight to some degree. On the surface, this idea of multiple intelligences seems to support the reasoning for differentiated learning styles, and that the two compliment each other. However, the theory relies too much on theory itself and not on application, which makes it not effective enough to actually work in education.
3) How much students remember:
There is a pretty infamous graph that floats around the educational sector every few months. It suggests, somewhat based upon Glasser’s choice theory and other theorists ideas that people remember 10% of what they read, 20% of what they hear, and so on and so forth to claim that the best way to remember something (ie. 90% remembrance) is to physically complete a task. While this may seem to make sense, as most people do complete tasks better that they have had hands-on training for, it is completely fictitious. The numbers are not even from any type of study on education, but “the bogus percentages were first published by an employee of Mobil Oil Company in 1967” (Thalheimer, W. (2006). People remember 10%, 20%…Oh really?). HUH???????
If these seemingly true statements that are widely used in the education field, then how can us future educators work to debunk these myths and work to infiltrate the schools with methods and pedagogues that actually have scientific evidence to back them up?
Unfortunately, I do not have a complete answer, however I do have a few suggestions:
1) Always fact check. There are multiple resources out there to not only fact check, but to do your own research. As an educator, I feel that I will never be comfortable taking someone else’s word one something that is so pertinent to my career.
2) Ask to see their research. If the answer to that is something like “oh it’s just common knowledge,” debate it. If we want to show our students that they too can be lifelong learners, you must be one yourself. It is okay to disagree with colleagues and friends, and sometimes you may find that you might even be wrong yourself.
3) Finally, take everything with a grain of salt. Even if you don’t agree with what someone says, you can always just acknowledge their point, and dismiss the idea from your own views.
Education Endeavors 