Learning
Have you ever learned anything by rote and was able to say it word for word in front of a teacher and then sat down and wondered why? I've never understood why teachers encourage this kind of "Learning" because it's my experience that very little learning actually takes place. Sometimes children come into my school and all the parents care about is that they can say their numbers, or they know their colours when they've actually never learned what it feels like to say, jump in a puddle, or run barefoot in the grass?
I am a great believer in what I call "Experiential Learning". It's kinda like when someone shows you how to do something, but it's only in actually doing it you really know how. We're all individuals, with different levels of intelligence (In my case it depends on the day, time etc) so how come in school we're all taught the same way, at the same pace? In 1983 a theorist called Howard Gardner came up with the theory of multiple intelligences. He argued that as we all have different strengths and abilities thus we all learn in different ways. A child who has difficulty with learning something off by heart, might learn more easily if a different approach is made by the teacher; that is, instead of repeating multiplication tables by rote, to teach in a more visual way might be easier for the child. My daughter has dyslexia. She always found tables hard to learn. Yet she could repeat every word of a song from the radio despite only hearing it once. so we taught her to "sing" her tables along to whatever tune was "in" at the time. She was always getting her spellings wrong, so we used to write them in the air to help her remember.
There are different tests etc online that one can take to find out which intelligences or strengths we have. There are eight sections in total in Gardner's criteria. He believed that certain conditions had to be met in order for a behaviour to become an intelligence:Spatial,Linguistic, Logical-mathematical,bodily-kinesthetic,musical, interpersonal,intapersonal, naturalistic. He also considers that existential and moral intelligence could be included.The first three are closely linked to fluid ability, and the verbal and spatial abilities that form the hierarchical model of intelligence.
I scored highly on the Logical-mathematical, linguistic and
interpersonal areas. No great surprise then that I am a teacher! So go ahead, find out what sections pertain to your personality! You may be pleasantly surprised! Let's try to support our children in their learning and make it a little bit easier!
SharonAnn
I am a great believer in what I call "Experiential Learning". It's kinda like when someone shows you how to do something, but it's only in actually doing it you really know how. We're all individuals, with different levels of intelligence (In my case it depends on the day, time etc) so how come in school we're all taught the same way, at the same pace? In 1983 a theorist called Howard Gardner came up with the theory of multiple intelligences. He argued that as we all have different strengths and abilities thus we all learn in different ways. A child who has difficulty with learning something off by heart, might learn more easily if a different approach is made by the teacher; that is, instead of repeating multiplication tables by rote, to teach in a more visual way might be easier for the child. My daughter has dyslexia. She always found tables hard to learn. Yet she could repeat every word of a song from the radio despite only hearing it once. so we taught her to "sing" her tables along to whatever tune was "in" at the time. She was always getting her spellings wrong, so we used to write them in the air to help her remember.
There are different tests etc online that one can take to find out which intelligences or strengths we have. There are eight sections in total in Gardner's criteria. He believed that certain conditions had to be met in order for a behaviour to become an intelligence:Spatial,Linguistic, Logical-mathematical,bodily-kinesthetic,musical, interpersonal,intapersonal, naturalistic. He also considers that existential and moral intelligence could be included.The first three are closely linked to fluid ability, and the verbal and spatial abilities that form the hierarchical model of intelligence.
I scored highly on the Logical-mathematical, linguistic and
interpersonal areas. No great surprise then that I am a teacher! So go ahead, find out what sections pertain to your personality! You may be pleasantly surprised! Let's try to support our children in their learning and make it a little bit easier!
SharonAnn
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