How Children Learn

The study of how young children learn is an inherently fascinating field. Most of us have interacted with an infant or toddler and wondered just what they were thinking. As it turns out they were thinking a great deal more then many of us have ever imagined. It has long been known that children are not simply blank slates waiting to be inscribed. However, the extent to which children are natural problem solvers and information seekers is stunning (Bransford, Brown, & Cocking, 2000). This is of course great news for teachers, every teacher can attest to the difficulty of teaching. It is comforting to know that every child is at a very early age, wired to learn. The more we know about the “wiring” the better we can work with the child to foster learning.

While new discoveries are made everyday, the truth is we already know a lot about how students learn. There are so many well-tested learning and instructional theories that any teacher should be able to have access to one that suits their needs. My interest in the subject of ‘how children learn’ lies in the area of the development of intelligence. Gardner proposed that there are up to eight largely separate types of intelligence (Bransford, Brown, & Cocking, 2000). Gardner (1989) was concerned that formal schooling nearly exclusively focused on the development and measurement of only two forms of intelligence, linguistic and logical-mathematical. If as a society we were to measure and value the other forms of intelligence an entirely new view of intelligence may arise.

This becomes particularly intriguing when you consider we live in (or strive to live in) a meritocracy. Those who have the highest “merit” gain status and our view of intelligence influences the concept of merit strongly. One has to look no further then what is measured on the SAT’s to see this in practice. As educators this leads to a damning “chicken and egg” dilemma. Should we prepare children for a culture that largely values a limited view of intelligence or should we attempt to utilize the full spectrum of intelligence and hope that culture will follow the science?

Research shows that certain “domains” of knowledge or intelligence seem to be privileged (Bransford, Brown, & Cocking, 2000). Young children are developing schemas for linguistics and rudimentary mathematical thinking at a surprisingly young age. These schemas give students a “jump start” in these domains. Surprisingly, these “privileged domains” align almost perfectly with Gardner’s “preferred” intelligences. Is there a biological correlation to the subjects and domains we stress in schools? Or are there cultural and methodological limitations to how we study learning in the young? These are questions that cannot be answered in this short space, however they do illustrate the sublime complexity of the types of issues teachers must tackle on a daily basis.

Bransford, J., Brown, A., & Cocking, R. (Eds.). (2000). How people learn : brain, mind, experience, and school. (Expanded ed.). Washington, D.C: National Academy Press.

Gardner, H. & Hatch, T. (1989). Multiple intelligences go to school: Educational implications of the theory of multiple intelligences. Educational Researcher, 18(8), 4–10.