Group items tagged

In Kim’s words, the data indicate that “children have become less emotionally expressive, less energetic, less talkative and verbally expressive, less humorous, less imaginative, less unconventional, less lively and passionate, less perceptive, less apt to connect seemingly irrelevant things, less synthesizing, and less likely to see things from a different angle.”

During the immediate post-Sputnik period, the U.S. government was concerned with identifying and fostering giftedness among American schoolchildren, so as to catch up with the Russians (whom we mistakenly thought were ahead of us in scientific innovation). 

creativity is the central variable underlying personal achievement and ability to adapt to unusual conditions.

The truth of education is that most of traditional schooling methods are based on auditory-sequential instruction. This is unfortunate for visual-spatial students, who can begin to feel "dumb" in a regular classroom. In actuality, visual-spatial children are often highly gifted, but their classroom work may not adequately reflect their intelligence. Or, commonly, V-S kids will have incredibly high grades in subjects that appeal to their visual learning style, but might struggle to keep even passing grades in subjects such as phonics and math computation, where visual skills are seldom accessed. They also suffer exceedingly under the drill and review method of teaching. While continued practice and repetition is highly beneficial for auditory-sequential learners, visual-spatial students find it to be completely unnecessary. Once a V-S learner has mastered a concept, the learning is permanent, and does not need to be reviewed. Any type of review that highlights a visual-spatial learner's mistakes can be especially damaging to their self-esteem.

Although much of the traditional school environment is designed with the auditory-sequential learner in mind, there are things that teachers or parents can do to make learning more accessible for visual-spatial learners. The most obvious of these is the copious use of visual aids in learning. Any auditory instruction needs to be accompanied by something that the student can see with their eyes, or manipulate with their hands. Visual-spatial learners also usually grasp reading more easily if they are taught using the sight, or whole-word method, rather than with phonics. Pre-tests are another good idea for V-S learners, so that you do not waste time teaching them what they already have mastered. When possible, instead of writing out their work, allow them to represent their learning in visual and creative ways. Creativity is key for a visual-spatial learner.

The computer is an indispensible tool for a visual-spatial learner.

Dewey Learning by Doing Learning occurs through experience. Erikson Socioemotional Development Erikson's "Eight Stages of Man" describes a series of crises individuals pass through at different ages. The stages begin with "trust versus mistrust" in infancy and continue through a series of paired outcomes for each age through older adulthood.

Piaget Genetic Epistemology Developmental stages of child development: 0-2 years: "sensorimotor" - motor development 3-7 years: "preoperation" - intuitive 8-11 years: "concrete operational" - logical, but non-abstract 12-15 years: "formal operations" - abstract thinking

Kohlberg Stages of Moral Development Pre-Conventional - based on self-centered interests Conventional - based on conformity to local expectations Post-Conventional - based on higher principles

hey much prefer to learn from whole-to-part,

it is important to bring attention to all the ways math is relevant to everyday life