Sharing Good Practice
It was a system that paid little attention to how people learn , however . This is partly because there wasn ’ t much understanding at the time , and also because the education system he and others developed was as much about obedience and control , as education .
The objective today , is to make learning more effective and efficient , not to prop up an old and failed system . We need to create independent learners who enjoy learning , we need to stop wasting children ' s time , and we need to give people the right tools so they can realize their full potential .
Sir Ken Robinson , an international authority on education , believes that methods should be changed because life is not linear - it is organic .
He said : " We have to go from what is essentially an industrial model of education , a manufacturing model , which is based on linearity and conformity and batching people . We have to move to a model that is based more on principles of agriculture . We have to recognize that human flourishing is not a mechanical process ; it ’ s an organic process . And you cannot predict the outcome of human development . All you can do , like a farmer , is create the conditions under which they will begin to flourish ."
When Does Learning Begin ?
The answer to this question has already been hinted at , and it is not nursery school or kindergarten . Those might be where formal education begins , but learning starts much sooner than this . Learning doesn ' t start when you are born either , although newborn babies do learn .
Instead , learning begins in the womb . Research has found that babies start to learn about language and sound before they are born . They also learn about food through what their mother eats , which begins the unborn child ' s understanding of the culture into which they are about to be born .
How Do We Learn ?
The brain is built to learn - it is a learning machine . This presents one of life ' s great paradoxes : the organ that gives us such an understanding of the world , science , and culture , is the organ we know least about .
What we do know is that its primary job is to learn . It does this in a range of different ways , from the sights , sounds , and feelings of a baby , through to the more formal educational processes of children , teenagers , and adults .
We have both short-term and long-term memories . Short-term memories hold less information , and the information is usually retained for a shorter period of time . That information is easily and immediately accessible , though . We hold much more information in our long-term memories . We also retain the information for longer , because the process of remembering , results in an actual physical change in the brain . Circuits of neurons are created , strengthened , or in some other way altered . These neural networks are then connected by synapses .
Memories are not fixed entities , though . In fact , saying you " recall " a memory is technically describing the process incorrectly . A better way to describe it is that , you reconstruct the memory . In other words , a memory is not a complete piece of information that you retrieve on demand . Instead , it is fluid , influenced by new experiences , feelings , and context .
Where We Go From Here
The ways we learn have to match how we learn . Day-long learning structures which maximize the amount of information delivered while minimizing breaks go against the way our brain naturally works . It is like swimming against the tide ; you might make some progress initially , but you will eventually succumb to the pressure of a force that is much greater than your ability to swim .
Structured learning must work with the brain , not against it , and we have to give the brain time and space to learn . An example that explains this is a weight lifter . He cannot cram his strength training into long sessions over a short period of time . Instead , he needs to build up his strength gradually and in a way that works with his muscles .
The brain should be treated in exactly the same way , except instead of muscles we build neural networks . Education can learn a lot from medicine , as it attempts a comprehensive reform of a system that is not fit for the modern world .
The brain starts to develop during the third week of pregnancy . There are only about 125,000 cells at the beginning , but it develops at an astonishing rate - about 250,000 new cells are created every minute . Neuron connections start to form in the eighth week , and the basic structures of the brain are formed . With those , the lifelong process of learning can begin .
Firoz Khan Azees . ' Digital Connoisseur ' that is how I would love to be known and what I do for living , but my passion lie in understanding the science behind '' human learning '. I have been reading , writing and speaking about learning for almost 5 years and at the same time I am conducting a documentary survey called ‘’ the essence of real learning ’’, which is to create the awareness and gauge the current understanding about real learning .
Class Time | | Sep - Oct 2018 | 39