Why StudentS don’t Like SchooL – Highlights, Chapters IV-VI

Willingham, Chapter I
PRINCIPLE: People are naturally curious, but we are not naturally good thinkers; unless the cognitive conditions are right, we will
avoid thinking
 Thinking is effortful, slow, and unreliable – especially compared to other systems (visual, e.g.)
 Memory consists of facts and procedures/skills – repeating the same thought-demanding tasks many times leads towards
automaticity of that task
 The pleasure we receive from solving problems comes from solving it – working on a problem with no sense you’re making
progress is not pleasurable, it’s frustrating – likewise for problems that are far too easy

Implication for the Classroom Notes/Discussion

Respect students’ cognitive limits – (WM)
Clarify the problems to be solved for students and
scaffold as appropriate
Change the pace of lessons to recapture attention
Willingham, Chapter II
PRINCIPLE: Factual knowledge must precede skill
 Trying to teach kids such skills as analysis or synthesis in the absence of factual knowledge is highly ineffective
 Background knowledge is essential for basic understanding and for comprehension
 The very processes teachers most care about (critical thinking, problem solving) are intimately intertwined with factual
knowledge that is stored in long-term memory and not just from the immediate environment
 You can keep more stuff in working memory when it is chunked (requiring connection to previous factual knowledge)
 Content knowledge trumps generic skill in terms of its impact on reading comprehension
 There are 4 ways background knowledge is important for learners: (1) it provides vocabulary, (2) it allows for bridging of
logical gaps left by writers, (3) it allows chunking to free up space in WM, and (4) it guides interpretation
 Factual knowledge makes remembering easier – it is literally the case that the rich get richer
Implication for the Classroom Notes/Discussion
Think about which knowledge yields the greatest
cognitive benefits (cultural/domain importance) and
be sure to deliberately instill those
Be sure the knowledge base is mostly in place when
you require critical thinking
Shallow knowledge is better than no knowledge
Willingham, Chapter III
PRINCIPLE: Memory is the residue of thought
 Things that create an emotional reaction will be better remembered, but emotion is not necessary for learning
 Wanting to remember something has little to no effect on recall
 Place emphasis, as best you are able, directly on the meaning of key concepts – if no meaning exists, use mnemonics/songs
 Do not try to make subject matter relevant to students’ interests – focus on its domain-relevance
 Good teaching to help facilitate this requires: (1) being relatable and (2) being organized
 Stories seem ‘psychologically privileged’ – use them when you can – 4 Cs of storytelling: Causality – events are causally
related to one another; Conflict – main character pursues a goal but is unable to reach it and faces adversaries;
Complications – sub-problems arising from main goal; Character – built around strong & interesting characters
Implication for the Classroom Notes/Discussion
Review each lesson in terms of what students are likely
to think about – not what you hope
Use attention grabbers only when appropriate to focus
thought on relevant domain elements
Use discovery learning with care