Excerpts from Why Students Don’t Like School by Daniel Willingham

Today, I want to begin a study of Daniel Willingham’s, “Why Students Don’t Like School.”

Willingham is a cognitive scientist at the University of Virginia. His research focuses on the application of cognitive psychology to K -- 12 education.

I first encountered Willingham when I read the entry about 21st Century Skills at the Core Knowledge blog. I’m going to share snippets of his book with you, and hopefully generate some good discussion about what he says and whether or not we should apply it to our teaching. He begins by discussing the difficulties of learning and why we prefer to use the memory function of our brain rather than the learning system. His writings will be in italics.

Chapter 1, part 1-- Why Don't Students Like School?

Contrary to popular belief, the brain is not designed for thinking. It is slow and unreliable…

People enjoy doing mental work if it is successful. If schoolwork is always just a bit too difficult for a student, it should be no surprise that she doesn't like school much. The cognitive principle that guides this chapter is:

People are naturally curious, but we are not naturally good thinkers; unless the cognitive conditions are right, we will avoid thinking.

Thinking means solving problems, reasoning, reading something complex, or doing any mental work that requires some effort…Henry Ford cynically observed, “ Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is the probable reason so few people engage in it.”…Humans don’t think very often because our brains are designed not for thought but for the avoidance thought.

Compared to your ability to see and move, thinking is slow, effortful and uncertain. To get a feel for why I say this, try solving this problem:

In an empty room are a candle, some matches, and a box of tacks. The goal is to have the lit candle about 5 feet off the ground. You've tried melting some of the wax on the bottom of the candle and sticking it to the wall, but that wasn't effective. How can you get the lit candle 5 feet off the ground without having to hold it there?

Any answers? More to come...