Of most of the devices we use, we have a pretty good view of what is at the heart of their functioning. Cars have combustion or electrical engines, computers have chips and a CPU, our heating system burns fuel. We even use our own body as a metaphor. But what about our brain’s learning system? Remember the movie ‘Memento’, where this guy uses his skin as a long term memory? (Or any other movie about a person having amnesia, like 50 First Dates or Dory in Finding Nemo) The amnesia is explained by a problem with working- or short-term memory.. well, actually, it is not.
The working memory is doing fine. The transfer to long term memory is the problem, probably because of a damaged hippocampus. And if you know where the problem is, it is pretty unrealistic that tattoos are going to help. Wrong but strong. Why? Because we do not know how memory or learning works.. and that would be ok, if we were not involved in learning at all. But we are.. actually, all of us..
Enter ’Uncommon Sense Teaching’. An uncommonly interesting course for teachers, looking at the inside of learning. Great explanations, solid universal insights, presented in a fun way. Not only interesting for teachers but also for people that want to have more insight in their learning process. A strong follow-up on ‘Learning How to Learn’. And this is only part 1.
And the timing is perfect. In these uncertain times, teachers are slowly turning back to the new normal, to the regular classrooms, if possible. Some have enriched themselves with online teaching experience, others with a few online deceptions, most with a foggy mind and tired of the constant uncertainty and fear of what the next year will bring. All are looking forward to a bit of guidance.
Before I dived in the course, I was afraid that this course was just the mirror image of ‘Learning How to Learn’, the same thing but from a teacher perspective. But this is a much richer course and with an even stronger basis.
And it is necessary. How can we teach, without knowing how learning works? Looking forward to the next episodes of this specialization, where the social aspect is deepened further!