This weekend I accidentally wandered into a neuroscience seminar in Regents Hall. Apparently it's actually a big deal. I wish I would have known so I could have left more time for more talks, but I did manage to see the keynote! It wasn't so much neuroscience based, but it talked about learning reading. It was trying to address the poor readers that our country is developing. Primarily they talked about learning environments, and how children who do learn to read well are in literature rich environments and are strongly taught the connections between spoken language and written language. Some people, however, misinterpret this connection as an excuse to drill phonics, and it has been proven that this approach is not a good one.
The problem lies in those who are teaching. Educators need to be educated on how the brain works with reading (that's where some neuroscience came in. I'm disappointed he didn't talk about more.) There are no standards on how much teachers are informed of how their students understand. If they were, perhaps they would realize the manner in which they are instructing their students aren't nearly as effective as they should be.
You know how I feel about education. This is just one way the system could be improved.
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