Myths and Realities in Education

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Myths and Realities in Education

• Veneet Mohan
• Director, Marketing
• GEMS Education
• Wednesday, 31st January 2007

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Myths and Realities in Education

• High interest area
• Key Insight
• My desire is to give my child the best journey to
  knowledge, the best opportunity to realise their
  individual, unique potential, and to equip them
  to meet the challenges of the future.
• The right education decision on my part is
  critical to reassure me that I have fulfilled
  this parental responsibility.
• I want to be better informed.

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Myth Academic Standards Are Not What They Were
When I Was At School

• In England
• IGCSE results have shown consistent and steady
  improvement year on year for the past 10 years.
• In 1980 only around 30 per cent of students
  entered for GCE mathematics and overall 15 per
  cent of students achieved a grade C pass or
  better.
• By 1990 this was nearer 45.
• In the new IGCSEs the figure has risen to over 60
  per cent.

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Myth Academic Standards Are Not What They Were
When I Was At School

• In India
• At the time of independence only 12 per cent of
  the population were regarded as literate.
• This has improved by 10 per cent every 10 years
  and now about 60 per cent are judged to be
  literate (in Kerala it is over 95).
• India produces more highly qualified scientists
  and engineers than almost all of the western
  countries put together.

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Myth Academic Standards Are Not What They Were
When I Was At School

• In USA
• According to the US National Assessment of
  Education Progress (NEAP) the standards have not
  really changed significantly over the past 30
  years.
• Overall
• The range of subjects studied by students at high
  school level has in this time increased quite
  dramatically.
• Many students now study and are examined in as
  many as 10 or more subjects.
• The National Curriculum for England, used also by
  many International Schools abroad, prescribes 10
  subjects by law for all 5-14 year olds.

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Myth Smaller Class Sizes Mean Higher Academic
Achievement

• There is evidence to support this only for
  children below the age of about 7 years.
• While common sense suggests that less children
  means more time per child - over time, class
  sizes of 15 and 24 perform at broadly similar
  levels academically
• National Foundation of Educational Researchs
  Performance and Assessment Unit in England (1982)
  
• Star Research Programme in US
• The essential determining feature, is in the
  quality of teaching.
• Enough evidence to show that the teacher is the
  critical difference.

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Myth I Will Teach My Child The Way I Was Taught

• Learning Styles are different in different
  people.
• Three primary learning styles Visual, Auditory
  and Kinaesthetic
• One style of learning not necessarily right for
  another person.
• One has to learn to identify ones childs
  learning style and then adapt to it
• Challenge for schools to adopt teaching
  techniques that cover all three learning styles

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Styles of Learning
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The Learning Pyramid
Reading
Hearing words
Looking at pictures
Watching a movie, looking at an exhibit, watching
a demonstration
Giving a talk, participating in a discussion
Doing a dramatic presentation, simulating the
real thing, doing the real thing
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The Indian System Gives a Better Early Years
Grounding Than a Western System

• Indian system is about the transfer of knowledge
  and learning
• Curriculum based on Literacy and Numeracy
• Slightly uni-dimensional in the practice of how
  we learn.
• Western systems (UK, USA, etc) are about
  teaching concepts and building attitudes
• But may not emphasise as much on the transfer of
  knowledge bit.
• BOTH ARE IMPORTANT - Neither is Better Than the
  other.
• What is important is the school the teachers,
  the environment, the values, the leadership, etc
• Pick the school you and your child are most
  comfortable with and best fits your
  expectations. Only then will you be happy with
  the school.

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Myth Differentiation Is Unfair All Children
Must Be Taught At The Same Pace

• If a man does not keep pace with his companions,
  perhaps it is because he hears a different
  drummer.
• Henry David Thoreau

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Why differentiate?

• If instruction is not differentiated - teaching
  to the middle. Consequences some students
  bored, others overwhelmed
• Recognize students learning preferences
• Recognize students specific literacy outcomes
  that have not yet been achieved
• Recognize different motivations

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Myth More Money In Schools Will Produce Improved
Academic Results

• Very little evidence to suggest that more funding
  produces any noticeable effects in test scores at
  all.
• Research via OfSTED in UK and National Assessment
  of Educational Progress (NEAP) in United States
  confirms that increased spending has not yielded
  more learning.
• Although the expenditure per pupil in US has been
  increased dramatically over the past 30 years the
  educational attainment of students has remained
  sensibly constant over the same period.
• No research available for developing countries

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Myth Thick Kids Are Thick Kids You Cannot
Change This

• Statement driven more by laziness than reality
• Strong evidence to suggest support
  (parent/teacher) drives performance
• Downs Syndrome children shown to perform nearly
  at par with their age peers but requires high
  effort.
• Every child has their own potential it is up to
  us to help them achieve it.

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Myth You Can Rank Children

• Classic debate on whether 96.8 is better than
  89.6 - or even 68.9
• Why are some Bright Children not as successful
  in life as others rated Not So Bright
• Conversely, some poor students are very
  successful in life.
• Albert Einstien is a classic case in point he
  was rated a poor student in his early years.
• How do we measure success?
• Lets look at Howard Gardners Multiple
  Intelligences Model

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The Seven Types of Intelligence

• Multiple Intelligences Psychologist Howard
  Gardner (Harvard) identified in 1983 the
  following distinct types of intelligence.
• 1. Linguistic (Word Smart)
• Children with this kind of intelligence enjoy
  writing, reading, telling stories or doing
  crossword puzzles.
• preferred learning style clues - words and
  language
• 2. Logical/Mathematical (Number/Reasoning Smart)
• Children with lots of logical intelligence are
  interested in patterns, categories and
  relationships. They are drawn to arithmetic
  problems, strategy games and experiments.
• preferred learning style clues - numbers and logic

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The Seven Types of Intelligence

• 3. Kinesthetic (Body Smart)
• These kids process knowledge through bodily
  sensations. They are often athletic and sporty,
  dancers or good at crafts such as sewing or
  woodworking.
• preferred learning style clues - physical
  experience and movement, touch and feel
• 4. Spatial (Picture Smart)
• These children think in images and pictures. They
  may be fascinated with mazes or jigsaw puzzles,
  or spend free time drawing, building with Lego's
  or daydreaming.
• preferred learning style clues - pictures,
  shapes, images, 3D space
• 5. Musical (Music Smart)
• Musical children are always singing or drumming
  to themselves. They are usually quite aware of
  sounds others may miss. These kids are often
  discriminating listeners.
• preferred learning style clues - music, sounds,
  rhythm

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The Seven Types of Intelligence

• 6. Interpersonal (People Smart)
• Children who are leaders among their peers, who
  are good at communicating and who seem to
  understand others' feelings and motives possess
  interpersonal intelligence.
• preferred learning style clues - human contact,
  communications, cooperation, teamwork
• 7. Intrapersonal (Self Smart)
• These children may be shy. They are very aware of
  their own feelings and are self-motivated.
• preferred learning style clues - self-reflection,
  self-discovery

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The Seven Types of Intelligence

• Gardner's suggested possible additional
  intelligences

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Myth You Can Rank Children

• Classic and current measurement systems are
  inadequate to give a balanced view
• Limitations of some current testing systems
• SATs Linguistic and Logical/Mathematical only
• IQ Testing Linguistic, Logical/Mathematical and
  Spatial
• Traditional, widely used evaluation systems do
  not measure the softer intelligences
• Bodily-Kinesthetic
• Musical
• Interpersonal
• Intrapersonal
• Shortcoming now being recognized by leading
  educationalists.

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Conclusions

• Myths exist and can lead to wrong conclusions
• The only sure way is through information
• Seek information from the net, from your
  child's school, from informed friends (as long as
  they are not perpetuating their own myths)
• But most importantly, understand your child
  better, and help them understand the world around
  them

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• I want my children to understand the world, but
  not just because the world is fascinating and the
  human mind is curious. I want them to understand
  it so that they will be positioned to make it a
  better place.
• (Howard Gardner 1999)

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• 'All battles are won before they start'
• Sun Tzu