An Outstanding book for instructors at all levels | Why Don't Students Like School: A Cognitive Scientist...

Through a Brain Darkly | Why Don't Students Like School: A Cognitive Scientist Answers Questions About How the Mind Works and What It ... | Daniel T. Willingham

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	• Why Don't Students Like School: A Cognitive Scientist Answers Questions About How the Mind Works and What It ... Daniel T. Willingham Jossey-Bass, 2009 - 192 pages average customer review:based on 33 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Fascinating for everyone about how we think

I'll keep this short: if you're a teacher, this is a must-read. If you're not, and you like to know about how brains work and how we think (or don't), you will find this wonderfully enlightening. He's a good writer and makes a subject like cognitive brain processes accessible to the layman.

An Outstanding book for instructors at all levels

Common sense prevails.
Excellent examples.
Well documented.
Has changed my teaching -- and I have 40+ years of experience.

Through a Brain Darkly

Daniel Willingham, cognitive scientist, aims this book at teachers, parents, and anyone else curious about what works, what doesn't work, what should be taught, and what shouldn't be taught by educators. To an experienced teacher, most of his findings are reaffirming. Some, however, are news and go against "accepted educational pedagogy" (quotes to show that most educators know that "accepted" is an inside joke of sorts in our business). The nine principles Willingham forwards in this book, in his own words, are as follows:

1. People are naturally curious, but they are not naturally good thinkers.
2. Factual knowledge precedes skill.
3. Memory is the residue of thought.
4. We understand new things in the context of things we already know.
5. Proficiency requires practice.
6. Cognition is fundamentally different early and late in training.
7. Children are more alike than different in terms of learning.
8. Intelligence can be changed through sustained hard work.
9. Teaching, like any complex cognitive skill, must be practiced to be improved.

Willingham devotes a chapter to each principle, delving into what you should know about the students and what the most important classroom implication is for teachers. Number Two highlights the importance of background knowledge and how much of a drag it is on students who lack it. Number Five defends the old-school prescription of practice, practice, practice, but asterisks it with "without boring the students." And the biggest surprise (to me) is Number Seven, which basically says that knowledge of students' learning styles is a lot of hooey. "Lesson content, not student differences," should drive decisions on teaching, says Willingham. So much for Gardner's Intelligences, etc.

Overall, an interesting read, if at times repetitive. One distraction was the small font used to print this book. Why? Also, some teachers may feel that the bulk of the book merely reaffirms what they've already learned in the trenches. So be it. It's still good to see the experts reaffirming your practices based on the latest research on the brain.

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Read this book

If you are a teacher, you must read this book. It is so refreshing to read something informed and useful in the field of education.

Interesting but not easy reading

I did gain some insights from this about how people learn. It is well worth the effort.

Easy-to-apply, scientifically-based approaches for engaging students in the classroom

Cognitive scientist Dan Willingham focuses his acclaimed research on the biological and cognitive basis of learning. His book will help teachers improve their practice by explaining how they and their students think and learn. It reveals-the importance of story, emotion, memory, context, and routine in building knowledge and creating lasting learning experiences. Nine, easy-to-understand principles with clear applications for the classroom Includes surprising findings, such as that intelligence is malleable, and that you cannot develop "thinking skills" without facts How an understanding of the brain's workings can help teachers hone their teaching skills

"Mr. Willingham's answers apply just as well outside the classroom. Corporate trainers, marketers and, not least, parents -anyone who cares about how we learn-should find his book valuable reading."-Wall Street Journal

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

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