Wednesday, May 20, 2015

How do they learn?

Children learn by relating their understanding of the new to what they know already, modifying or elaborating their prior knowledge. Learning is continuous and completely natural, and it is not necessary to propose separate “processes” of motivation and reinforcement to sustain and consolidate learning (nor should it be necessary for teachers to regard incentives and rewards as separate concerns that can be grafted onto reading instruction). Children may not always find it easy or even necessary to learn what we try to teach them, but they find the state of not learning anything intolerable.—Understanding Reading, page 194

1 comment:

THE SALT WORKS said...

Hmmm, formal school was something of a torture chamber. I do love to learn, but I don't think my true education started until I started learning on my own. I learn about things I'm passionate about. There were many subjects from all my years of formal education I didn't care about and can't tell you a thing about today.

I'm not sure I completely agree with this author's premise. I think I could have done without a great deal of my "education", and I'd have been fine.