Misconception #20: Children learn through sight and sound

Over the years, I have been writing about misconceptions regarding the schooling process. The purpose of these posts is to explain why I disagree with various comments that I have heard people make about schooling. These are meant as personal thoughts rather than conclusive proof, and I will admit that I'm not always the best at explaining my thoughts. Regardless, I have decided that I should be willing to share these posts when I encounter someone online who makes an argument that I have already discussed.

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Which of the two ways of learning in existence works best for you, through sight or through sound? If you answered either one, you are a liar. You don’t learn either way.

Teachers frequently adjust their lesson plans to accommodate both of these learning styles. There’s just one slight problem. These are not learning styles. They can help with memorizing, but learning and memorizing are two different things.

Learning is about developing new skills that you can perform. Memorizing is about storing information to be recalled later. Learning lasts. Memorizing can lead to forgetting. Learning is more valuable. Memorizing is better for grades.

People learn by doing. You can memorize steps to accomplish a task, but you can’t learn unless you try and ultimately succeed at that task. Even so, teachers still insist that they have to teach people through sight and sound.