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Using 10% of Our Brains
November 30, 2012
Our task is the help children communicate with the world using all their potential, strengths and languages, and to overcome any obstacle presented by our culture.
-Loris Malaguzzi
-Loris Malaguzzi
Which of these statements is false?
- We use only 10% of our brains.
- Environments rich in stimuli improve the brains of preschool children.
- Individuals learn better when they receive information in their preferred learning style, whether auditory, visual, or kinesthetic.
The answer, according to Christopher Chabis, writing in the Wall Street Journal (November 16, 2012) is that "all three statements are false — or at least not substantiated by scientific evidence. Unfortunately, if you got any of them wrong, you're hardly alone.
"These 'neuromyths ' were presented to 242 primary and secondary school teachers in the Netherlands and the U.K.... 47% of the teachers believed the 10% myth. Even more, 76%, believed that enriching children's environments will strengthen their brains....
"The myth about learning styles was the most popular: 94% of the teachers believed that students perform better when lessons are delivered in their preferred learning style. Indeed, students do have preferences about how they learn; the problem is that these preferences have little to do with how effectively they learn."
Contributed by Zvia Dover
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Comments (1)
Displaying 1 CommentLittle Tot's
Macomb, MI, United States
As someone who has researched Howard Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences at the Masters level, and has put the theory to test in her own classroom, I can definitively say that lessons are recalled far more effectively when presented in the appropriate learning style for the student population. Sadly we do not have enough clinical evidence to scientifically prove the validity of this truth. Only with big money does research come.
It is however unethical to publicly discredit the theory, especially considering the success of the practices involved in implementing the multiple intelligence approach to educating, without clinical evidence to say that the theory has no validity.
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