Information and digital literacy in education via the digital path

As of the last major literature review in 2008, there’s still very little evidence that people learn best when information is processed according to their purported “learning style.” Individuals may have preferred thinking styles, says cognitive psychologist Daniel Willingham, but these don’t serve them when the processing method (e.g. visual) doesn’t match up to the task at hand (e.g. verbal).

“If educators were to take a class in neuroscience that did not specifically address neuromyths, it would be unlikely to help with dispelling the misconceptions that are most closely related to learning and education.”

The battle against neuromyths is far from over. In a recent large-scale survey involving five academic institutions across the U.S., researchers found that most of us still believe long-debunked myths such as the left-brained/right-brained paradigm and learning styles theory. What’s more troubling is that having a background in neuroscience doesn’t appear to reduce these beliefs by a significant margin.

What do you think is the teacher's worst enemy? Some would say lack of time. Others would say unsupportive leadership, or the dreaded government inspection. Rigid curriculum, lack of resources and bad student behaviour may also be high on the list for many educators. For me, the worst enemy is bad theory. Bad theory, when accepted without challenge, can lead to bad practice. It's insidious, because bad theory that is accepted as fact without a full understanding of its implications, results in bad teaching, and ultimately, learners will suffer.