Why Don't Students Like School?: A Cognitive Scientist Answers Questions About How the Mind Works and What It Means for the Classroom

by Daniel T. Willingham Narrated by Paul Costanzo

Overview

Kids are naturally curious, but when it comes to school it seems like their minds are turned off. Why is it that they can remember the smallest details from their favorite television programs, yet miss the most obvious questions on their history test?



Cognitive scientist Dan Willingham has focused his acclaimed research on the biological and cognitive basis of learning and has a deep understanding of the daily challenges faced by classroom teachers. This book will help teachers improve their practice by explaining how they and their students think and learn-revealing the importance of story, emotion, memory, context, and routine in building knowledge and creating lasting learning experiences.



In this breakthrough book, Willingham has distilled his knowledge of cognitive science into a set of nine principles that are easy to understand and have clear applications for the classroom. Some examples of his surprising findings are:



-"Learning styles" don't exist. The processes by which different children think and learn are more similar than different.



-Intelligence is malleable. Intelligence contributes to school performance and children do differ, but intelligence can be increased through sustained hard work.



-You cannot develop "thinking skills" in the absence of facts. We encourage students to think critically, not just memorize facts. However, thinking skills depend on factual knowledge for their operation.



Why Don't Students Like School is a basic primer for every teacher who wants to know how their brains and their students' brains work and how that knowledge can help them hone their teaching skills.

Editorial Reviews

AudioFile

Every teacher and parent should listen two or three times to this fine production.…. Paul Costanzo’s well-paced narration brings clarity, conviction, and immediacy.…Highly recommended to students for its explanation of how to use learning time efficiently.”

Wall Street Journal

Corporate trainers, marketers and, not least, parents—anyone who cares about how we learn—should find his book valuable reading.”

The Wall Street Journal

Corporate trainers, marketers and, not least, parents—-anyone who cares about how we learn—-should find his book valuable reading.

English teacher Joe Riener

This book offers you the research, and the arguments, that will help you become a more effective teacher.”

From the Publisher

"Corporate trainers, marketers and, not least, parents---anyone who cares about how we learn---should find his book valuable reading." ---The Wall Street Journal

JANUARY 2012 - AudioFile

Every teacher and parent should listen two or three times to this fine production of Willingham’s explanation of how and why students learn in the classroom—or more often don’t. Paul Costanzo’s well-paced narration brings clarity, conviction, and immediacy to a text that, while well written for a general audience, poses some minor challenges in the audio format. There are frequent references to the book’s illustrations, which are available for downloading, but are not difficult in most cases to visualize. Costanzo’s voice maintains a tone and perspective that brings to the text its own pleasures and cognitive virtues. It is also highly recommended to students for its explanation of how to use learning time efficiently. D.A.W. © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine

Product Details

BN ID:	2940170717156
Publisher:	Tantor Audio
Publication date:	09/20/2011
Edition description:	Unabridged

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