Learning About Learning

Teaching for effective learning - potential

What we know

We are all born hard-wired to learn, with a phenomenal capacity for learning and a belief that we can learn. One only needs to observe young children learning to walk and talk to see how determined they are to succeed and the obstacles they are prepared to overcome, regardless of the difficulties faced. Very young children tend to have an optimistic view of their abilities - they want to learn and are confident that they can. 

'All children are born with potential, and we cannot be sure of the learning limits of any child.' Robert Fisher, Teaching Children to Learn, 1995

Image of primary school girl in classroom

Many of us lose this optimistic belief in our own capacity to learn before we go to school or during our time at school. Psychologists put this down to children’s emerging views about what is meant by intelligence and how we become intelligent.

As children develop, they begin to compare themselves with others who appear to have more or fewer difficulties in learning than they do, or who learn faster or more slowly. They put this down to ‘intelligence’, or ‘cleverness’, or ‘ability’ and begin to form ideas about how people become intelligent, clever or able.

'Many learners want to succeed. They are capable of succeeding; they simply lack the belief to do so.' Eric Jensen, The Learning Brain, 1994

Children eventually grow to believe that intelligence is something that everyone has to a lesser or a greater degree; that intelligence is mainly inborn and there is not much anyone can do to develop their ability to learn.

This is why adults frequently place limits on their potential and capacity for learning. Many adults believe that they cannot draw, that they are no good at singing, that they are hopeless at maths, and that they will never be able to do these things well, no matter how hard they try or what techniques they use.

When it comes to learning, most people think in terms of limits rather than potential.

'Except in the most severe instances of genetic or organic impairment, the human brain is open to modifiability at all ages and stages of development.' Reuven Feuerstein

Potential, however, is not a fixed commodity.  In the right circumstances, children can actually become more intelligent and can grow their capacity to learn through effort and technique.  All children have the potential to become successful learners.

 

Implications for learning

Teachers and parents can dramatically influence young people’s attitudes to learning.

'Too often we become what other people expect. And when those expectations are telegraphed clearly by parents and teachers through word, attitude, atmosphere and body language, then the expectations become the student’s limitations.' Gordon Dryden and Jeanette Voss, The Learning Revolution

Image of primary school boy writing on board

There is considerable evidence to show that where teachers and parents have high expectations of children, they will usually achieve greater success in their learning, and vice-versa. Through their expectations, not only do adults predict those differences, they frequently create them.

It is important, therefore that schools take care to avoid labelling learners in terms of perceived levels of ability, whilst challenging the view that the capacity to learn is either limited or fixed.

'A person’s motivation depends on his or her intuitive beliefs about intelligence and ability. Children who appear indifferent to learning and who are labelled as lazy or unmotivated by their teachers may in fact be protecting themselves against feelings of failure as a result of self-attributions of poor ability. Even very able students may give up as a result of such ability attributions.' Stevenson and Palmer

All learners need to achieve success on a regular basis and such achievements must be recognised and celebrated. A climate of achievement can be fostered by, for example:

  • encouraging teachers, parents and learners to reflect on their beliefs and assumptions about ability and potential
  • ensuring that assessment plays down comparisons between learners and focuses more on differences between present and past performance
  • avoiding the rigid use of setting and fixed ability groups
  • showing optimism and demonstrating positive expectations of young people
  • emphasising success and potential rather than failings and shortcomings
  • stressing the value of effort, persistence and technique in learning
  • viewing mistakes as opportunities for learning
  • establishing the aim - ‘be all you can be’ rather than ‘be the best’.

Modern learning environments also increasingly reflect the theories and bodies of thought associated with the nature of intelligence, learning styles, memory, thinking and motivation. These aspects are explored in more detail in other sections of this document.