Seven Myths About Education PDF
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Seven Myths About Education In this controversial new book, Daisy Christodoulou offers a thought- provoking critique of educational orthodoxy. Drawing on her recent experience of teaching in challenging schools, through a wide range of examples and case studies she shows just how much classroom practice contradicts basic scientifi c principles. She examines seven widely held beliefs which are holding back pupils and teachers: • facts prevent understanding • teacher-led instruction is passive • the twenty-fi rst century fundamentally changes everything • you can always just look it up • we should teach transferable skills • projects and activities are the best way to learn • teaching knowledge is indoctrination. In each accessible and engaging chapter, Christodoulou sets out the theory of each myth, considers its practical implications and shows the worrying prevalence of such practice. Then, she explains exactly why it is a myth, with reference to the principles of modern cognitive science. She builds a powerful case explaining how governments and educational organisations around the world have let down teachers and pupils by promoting and even mandating evidence-less theory and bad practice. This blisteringly incisive and urgent text is essential reading for all teachers, teacher training students, policy makers, headteachers, researchers and academics around the world. Daisy Christodoulou is Research and Development Manager at ARK Schools, UK. ‘This splendid, disinfecting book needs to be distributed gratis to every teacher, administrator, and college professor in the US’ – Professor E.D. Hirsch, eminent US scholar and former University of Virginia Professor of Education and Humanities ‘It is clear, from reading this book, that much of what is currently considered as “best practice” in schools, is in fact close to useless: at best merely a waste of time, and at worst an impediment to learning. [This book] is extremely controversial in the best way possible: it is correct’ – Tom Bennett, TES columnist, author and teacher, UK Seven Myths About Education Daisy Christodoulou First published 2014 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2014 D. Christodoulou The right of D. Christodoulou to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. Disclaimer: Every effort has been made to identify the owners of copyrights and to obtain permission to reproduce copyrighted material. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Christodoulou, Daisy. The seven myths about education / authored by Daisy Christodoulou. -- First edition. pages cm ISBN 978-0-415-74681-6 (hardback) -- ISBN 978-0-415-74682-3 (pbk.) -- ISBN 978-1-315-79739-7 (e-book) 1. Education-- Research--Case studies. 2. Education--Philosophy--Case studies. I. Title. LB1028.C538 2014 370.7--dc23 2013038157 ISBN: 978-0-415-74681-6 (hbk) ISBN: 978-0-415-74682-3 (pbk) ISBN: 978-1-315-79739-7 (ebk) Typeset in Bembo by Saxon Graphics Ltd, Derby The Curriculum Centre is a charitable organisation, founded to share the benefi ts of deep curriculum change. Its purpose is to help teachers and schools give pupils the foundational knowledge and skills they need to succeed in the 21st Century through effective and engaging content. The Curriculum Centre has worked with national organisations, such as the Prince’s Teaching Institute and the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust, and is currently leading a research pilot to improve reading comprehension skills through the teaching of History and Geography in primary aged pupils. The Word and World project is supported by the Education Endowment Foundation and is being evaluated by Durham University. We welcome interest from teachers, leaders and schools ready to take a fresh look at their curriculum. For more information visit: www.thecurriculumcentre.org First Published June 2013 Published by The Curriculum Centre. The Curriculum Centre, 11 Belgrave Road, London, SW1V 1RB [email protected] http://www.thecurriculumcentre.org All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. ISBN 978-0-9575919-0-5 The Curriculum Centre is part of Future Academies, registered charity number 1123828. Future Academies is sponsored by Future, registered charity number 1114396. The views expressed are those of the author, not of The Curriculum Centre Contents Foreword by Professor E.D. Hirsch ix Foreword by Dylan Wiliam xi Acknowledgements xiii Introduction 1 1 Myth 1: facts prevent understanding 11 2 Myth 2: teacher-led instruction is passive 27 3 Myth 3: the twenty-first century fundamentally changes everything 47 4 Myth 4: you can always just look it up 59 5 Myth 5: we should teach transferable skills 71 6 Myth 6: projects and activities are the best way to learn 89 7 Myth 7: teaching knowledge is indoctrination 109 Conclusion 129 Index 131 This page intentionally left blank Foreword by Professor E.D. Hirsch When this book fi rst came out like a cleansing breeze from across the Atlantic Ocean to the USA, I wrote on the Huffi ngton Post that it deserved “to be nominated as the “best book of 2013 on American education.” I observed that there’s little difference in the dominant educational ideas of the two countries, and that these ideas are accurately described as myths. The myths that Daisy Christodoulou identifi es are anti-intellectual and (unwittingly) anti-egalitarian. By disparaging facts and knowledge they simultaneously lower overall school achievement and widen the gap between haves and have-nots. Social science research in the United States has shown a consistent correlation between income and vocabulary size. Students who have been read to as toddlers, and who understand the language of the classroom are constantly building up their knowledge and vocabulary in school. Those who come from less advantaged homes enter school without the verbal repertoire and knowledge that enable them to thrive. Instead, they fall further behind more fortunate children. This widening of the gap can be reversed by systematic knowledge building in the school – as 25 years of evidence from Core Knowledge schools has shown. But no such good result can come from incoherent curricula and teachers who have been indoctrinated in anti-fact myths. When this book came out in digital form last year, the educational establishment on both sides of the Atlantic criticized it vigorously for creating “straw men.” What good teachers believed was much more subtle, so they said, which was that facts in isolation worked against “understanding,” and that teacher-led teaching led to passivity. The slogans which have caused the anti- fact ideas to persist have been refi ned and fi eld tested for a hundred years. Subtle rhetorical adjustments have been made in their manner of presentation, enabling the defenders of the status quo to claim that Ms Christodoulou is describing “straw men!” No sensible person, they respond, ever actually said that “Facts prevent understanding.” Now it’s true that no one ever puts it in just that blunt way. Rather, the idea is implied by persistently repeating the principle that facts are much less important than “understanding.” This book’s
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