What would you say if when you walked into the gym the trainer said, “you’re 35 years old you should be able to press 70 lbs.”?  Age would be an absurd basis for this expectation.  Experience and physical health is the correct basis for estimating how much you can handle.  So why do we expect children to magically go from playing at daycare to sitting at a desk and paying attention for long periods of time? Would you walk into the gym and start pressing 200 lbs.?  Of course not!  You start with what you can handle and learn how …

You are probably wondering why this is the next item on the list, especially in light of the fact that previously I said that awe encompassed fear. Here we are focusing exclusively on that feeling of dread, the one that causes a flight or fight response.  This is different than awe, which compels you to stay put and observe in amazement. I think it is fortuitous to be talking about fear.  Too often people are afraid of facing any negative emotion.  As a result, more and more people need the help of social workers to learn first and foremost how …

Awe can mean fear or it can mean exhilarated amazement, and sometimes it can be both.  A good example is the conflicted feelings a bride or groom may feel on their wedding day, the fearful “what am I getting myself into?!?”  and the exhilarated “I can’t believe this amazing person wants to marry flawed me!” What does awe have to do with learning? Having a mentor whom you deeply respect and look to as a role model, in other words are in awe of, can inspire you to be more, learn more and work harder.  Whatever you admire about your …

While knowledge on its own may be useful in games like Trivial Pursuit® and Jeopardy® or even in getting better test scores, real learning must incorporate the implications and applications of this knowledge i.e. understanding what does this knowledge mean to me.  .  The details of history learned for the sake of passing a test will have the unfortunate consequence of “Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” Sir Winston Churchill. The need for understanding holds true on two levels. Firstly, understanding is necessary to be able to generalize principles for it would be impossible …

The final piece I would like to add to learning style is one I learned as an undergraduate speech pathology student, but it was not until years later that I realized it needs to be incorporated into the learning style paradigm.  New language gets stored in one of two ways.  We either assimilate the information into an existing category as an expansion or we decide the information doesn’t fit and requires the creation of a new category.  Creation of a new category is known as accommodation.  As an example, at some point a child is exposed to an exotic fruit.  …

When discussing learning styles, the most familiar component is preferred sensory modality.   In fact, when people talk about learning styles they usually mean which of the VAKT sensory receptors does the learner prefer.  (VAKT stands for Visual, Auditory, Kinesthetic and Tactile). We have already discussed that this model is too simplistic (see Step 3: Verbalize). Many of you are also familiar with the idea of “left brain” vs. “right brain” learners or conceptual vs. detail oriented learners.  This idea as presented is also too simplistic.  For a learner to own their knowledge at the level where they can troubleshoot they …