“Here’s hoping as many as possible read the book and action the ideas – getting these learning ideas on the front foot is a tough ask (weirdly) and moving teachers from their obsession about teaching to add an obsession about learning is the aim of the game.”
This line was written in an email to me from Dr. John Hattie recently where we were talking about my book on memory processing, attention, and learning. The bolded text is what I’d like to focus on…moving from an obsession about teaching to add an obsession with learning is the aim of the game. I’ve definitely heard others speak similar sentiments before, but the way he worded it seemed to make the point so much more powerfully. It’s been stuck with me since I read it and I cannot stop considering its implications and how true it is of our profession…at least that is what I’ve noticed predominantly in the U. S.
I’ve been questioning why this is true. Why do teachers love to teach and fixate on teaching methods, but fail to also obsess with the learning aspect of our profession? I think it has to do with the preparation trainee teachers receive at university and the types of ongoing professional development teachers receive throughout their career. A major aspect of proper training is missing, which results in a hole in our understanding of how to most effectively educate.
Teachers love to teach. We love to instruct. Let me create this presentation or collaborative activity or project. I love the ins and outs of instructing; the minuscule decisions to be made about how I want to present a certain topic. The act of teaching is so enjoyable. I’d venture to say that any teacher who’s been in the profession for a while knows exactly what I mean here. As John Hattie says, we can be obsessed with it. And that’s a great thing. Please understand that I am not saying a love of teaching is bad (nor is Hattie). It is not. At all. We go to a university and learn how to teach. We visit classrooms and see how others do it. Teachers gain the understanding of how to teach and we grow the love and adoration for the profession from this foundation. And that is a truly beautiful thing.
But loving to teach doesn’t necessarily equate to learning.
As Dr. Hattie states, we need to add an obsession about learning to our obsession about teaching. As a teacher, not only should I love the act of teaching and all it entails, but I should also love the learning that occurs as a result of effective teaching. And, just as teachers love to invest their time and efforts into the nitty gritty of teaching, they should invest in the specific details of how humans learn. It is probably no surprise why Hattie encourages us to think of the impact of our teaching – teaching matters, but the impact matters most. Now, I totally understand that some will say, “But I do love learning…I love when my students learn.” I am absolutely not disputing that. I believe you 100%. I guess I would then ask, but how do you know they’ve learned and what instructional strategies do you believe lead to better learning in differing situations? I believe many would know what instructional strategy they used, but I wonder if it is widely known why they should or shouldn’t use a particular strategy as it pertains to learning outcomes. I agree with Dr. Hattie that this is a much more difficult question for teachers to answer. It’s difficult to want to love and/or invest in something we don’t really understand. Here’s another line from an email correspondence with the researcher and professor:
“Ask teachers to describe their theory of teaching – and they can go on for hours…ask teachers to describe their theory of learning – and silence”
Again, I think this silence is a result of many teachers not really understanding how we learn. Teacher training programs are likely to include classes and instruction on how to teach using certain strategies. Especially in the U. S., however, these programs are much less likely to include an educational psychology or cognitive psychology course on memory processing and differing theories of learning. And, from my experiences as a teacher for nearly two decades and discussions online with other teachers in the US, there is little ongoing professional development occurring in schools on these very important and necessary topics. And, as Sweller, Ayers, and Kalyuga stated “Without knowledge of human cognitive processes, instructional design is blind.” (1) This is a real problem. Many are designing instruction without an understanding of memory processing. How do they know whether their teaching aligns best with human cognitive processes? At best, these classrooms are inefficient and much less effective than they could be. This is certainly a problem that needs to be solved. We need more impactful lessons. We need more effective learning environments.
Hear the good news, folks: A remedy exists. We need more training and development in the cognitive sciences. Colleges and universities need to include coursework in educational psychology and cognitive psychology. Ongoing professional development needs to center on the concepts of human cognition and how that should drive decisions in the classroom. Teacher education programs need to develop their students’ models of learning. I mean, how wild is it that many of us (again, especially in the U. S.) are tasked to teach students so they learn loads of information for future use and growth…yet so few in the classroom understand how learning happens? It borderlines on professional malpractice. Instead of enduring another training on one more gadget to be used in the classroom for a year and then discarded because it is obsolete, let’s invest our time and money on a topic that is not going to become obsolete and will impact students long after they finish our classes and move on to the next grade or college or further. How the brain works isn’t really changing. Learning isn’t really changing. Teachers need this knowledge in order to fall in love with learning and make it their obsession. We are already obsessed with teaching, but if we can add an obsession with learning to the mix…truly great things will happen. Teachers will improve their craft and students will improve their learning. And, speaking as a teacher that was in the beginning stages of burnout, it can add a motivation and focus that reignites one’s love for their profession.
I know this is a big task. We’re talking systemic changes of how we teach teaching and learning at universities and a reinvestment of billions of dollars every year into more fruitful professional development. It means somehow thwarting the influence and stymying the dependence on big ed tech companies in this country. It won’t be easy, but it will be worth it. This deserves our every effort to improve the present and future of education.
I’ll finish this the way Dr. Hattie ended one of his emails to me:
“You and I have much to do –
J”
Indeed we do, sir. Let’s get to work.
If you are a teacher interested in beginning a journey of learning about human cognitive processes, I’ve recently had a book published on the topic: Do I Have Your Attention? Understanding Memory Constraints and Maximizing Learning. As a teacher told me just last week after having a read, “This book is just perfect for the new teacher and for the experienced teacher who is a novice on the subject of memory processing.” It is written by a classroom teacher for classroom teachers. It is written in a manner that makes the complex easier to understand. It is always written with application to the classroom and improving student outcomes in mind.
I have also presented at many conferences and to many faculties on these topics. If you are interested in collaborating, don’t hesitate to reach out. You can find me on Twitter, Bluesky, or feel free to contact me through my website.
- Sweller, J., Ayers P., & Kalyuga, S. (2011). Cognitive load theory. Springer.
Feature Image by Pixabay: https://www.pexels.com/photo/text-on-shelf-256417/
“…we need to add an obsession about learning to our obsession about teaching.” This is such a powerful quote!
I appreciate you outlining some of the steps that can be taken to foster this obsession. There’s “much to do”, as you highlight, but great to see some ways to get there.