ps. I totally agree with the cooperation/competition aspect of this article. Wow…you are so right.

I want to point the finger at a few places that I think manage to go under the radar. The first sin of outmoded teaching is the legacy of incorrect and useless textbooks that we continue to use in our schools. I think we would be better off throwing some of these books out than continuing to use them. Mind you, I think a good resource is critical to backing up teaching, but if we get more supportive resources (media, not limited to books) it will eliminate at least one thorn in the side of those teachers who are already putting in the effort in the face of the storm.

Almost as restrictive as books are our classrooms. It’s becoming virtually impossible for teachers in some districts to even get a day out of the classroom, because of regulations and liability. Perhaps children would be more inspired to learn if they got to pour liquid nitrogen in a research lab, or if they were able to see salmon actually spawning in a stream. Just a thought.

The final finger I want to point is at leaders in business and higher education. These people decry the quality of our k-12 school system, but I don’t see IBM setting up labs for high school students to work in, or universities moving to drop standardized tests for incoming students who have, say, published research already. Worse, most college level classes are more lecture based and less focused on student involvement than high school courses.

As you suggest, there are many road blocks to changing our education system to encourage more exploration, but I don’t think it is out of reach for a single person to make a difference. If you run a lab, you should offer to let a high school teacher bring their class, maybe even work with them on curriculum. If you know a teacher who really does ask the students to teach each other (but guides them in the right direction) then send a letter to the administrators saying how wonderful the teacher is, and how GLAD you are that the administrator is facilitating programs like this. As is stands now, administrators don’t get much public feedback at all, except funding cuts and complaints when programs are eliminated.

By the way, I would love to see a post discussing the “text book problem”. Any ideas?

Right brain says: “oh well, they’ll get it. move on.”

…and God help us if the scientists figure out how to genetically modify humans with a third hemisphere!

Left brain people will fail more often because they don’t think ahead. They will also care less about failing. For them jumping into something is no big deal so they will also do, or try it more often.

Right brain people will fail less often because they plan and think ahead so much. But, they tend to be perfectionists and care very much about failing. Rarely will they just jump into something without knowing all about it first. (FYI - all those help and how to articles on the internet that let you learn or fix anything was probably written by a person with a more active right brain)

I tend to be right brained and for “my side” of the coin it is a trite and insensitive thing to say “fail more” and “just be more creative”. I don’t work that way naturally. Good for you if you do. I hope I don’t slow you down too much or stand in your way.

Maybe you can be the creative leader with big ideas and I can keep you from screwing everything up by jumping head first into everything. Sound like a good partnership?

– Joe

The left side of the brain is analytical and very fact oriented. When it comes to solving problems it “thinks” linearly and is well suited to a x+y=z format.

The right brain conversely is more creative where it is more important to discover why x+y=z. Is the right brain thinking more desirable in a structured school system? Nope. Human beings are different. Some think with one side, other…the other. For an “oh yeah” thought…

Right brained people tend to be introverted, stop and think about things, mull over facts and details, and plan explicitly. They can be slower to react, slower to answer and can become overwhelmed with too much information or sensory input, but, after it is all digested and understood you’ll have an expert at what you throw at them.

Left brain people tend to be more people orientated, outgoing and can react quickly and on instinct. Creativity comes easier to them so they can solve a problem right away and sometimes “out of the blue”. They can be impulsive and act without thinking first, they can be loud, obnoxious and overbearing without realizing it. The are often leaders because their somewhat lack of sensitivity allows them to barrel through problems and situations.

Now, having said all that, perhaps our education system isn’t geared towards serving the gamut of brain types and clearly human beings don’t fit in one side or the other. I guess my point is just keep this in mind when you are teaching the learner about something. You can’t blanketly say the existing system is broken or flawed because for some types of people it works fine.

It would be better to gear a lesson and reward towards the kind of learner.

Both types of people server essential functions in this world and in our education system, as teachers and students.