Why is it that teachers are taught how to teach, but students are never taught how to learn?

‘Math is hard’ is the expected result if 'how to learn' is never taught.

MATH by EDISON is a reader-supported publication that’s lobbying for learning to be taught in schools. Thank you Math Movers and Shakers, who believe in this cause.

Why is it that teachers are taught how to teach, but students are never taught how to learn?

My first learning strategies article on Math by Edison went up 366 days ago, March 13, 2023. The first learning strategies article I wrote about happened decades ago. I do a lot of toe-dipping to test the waters before I jump in (echoed with Month 2 of 12, 2024 Resolution). All I’m lobbying for with Math by Edison, is a little learning to be taught in schools.

This 1-year anniversary has meant a first-time move on my part to ask and encourage you, the reader, to ‘move on’ articles you’ve read to another person (to a teacher, math head, guidance counsellor). Share this with a mate, classmate or workmate. Forward it to another parent of a math student. Get in the hands of movers and shakers (psychologists, department heads, district heads, university thought leaders, Ministry of Education departments, curriculum designers, influencers).

Why? The reasons students have struggled in math has not changed in over 100 years, and it collectively gets spoken when ‘math is hard’ continues to be the accepted mantra. Shouldn’t we be the generation to change that spoken word?

For the record, my issue isn’t that kids struggle with math; it’s that they struggle with math, and we blame them for struggling with math.

We set them adrift without a rudder, with no sail and hide the map. And say, go figure it out*. And then, when they don’t figure it out, we say, you didn’t try hard enough, you should have studied more. Didn’t you get help? No. No, and no! 

How can you/we assign blame when that individual has never been taught how to learn, to sail?

 *And the ‘figure it out’ is embarrassingly worse finger pointing as that’s an autodidact directive (self-learning stuff), and last time I checked, autodidacticism builds on knowing how to learn.

We blame students for not learning a task when they have never been taught how to learn that task!

Why do I have to write Math by Edison?

No one else is doing this! And it’s time for "math is hard" to exit stage left.

What has to happen to make me stop writing Math by Edison?

Schools teach students how to learn! Full stop, period, end of story! When that happens, I'll shut up shop and move on. The proof I'm looking for is when the "math is hard" catchphrases goes the way of the dinosaurs and the dodo bird.

Why I shouldn't have to write this?

In the grand scheme of math education, I'm new to its existence, and I'm really not sure why no one else has taken this on to push, pull, move, pivot ‘learning math’ and ‘math learning’ in a direction that aids the student. But no one has taken this on, and my name was the only name put in the hat! So hello world, I am Edison. I have stepped up to be your pilot and partner to steer us on this journey.

Your child’s math teacher went to university to get a teaching degree.

Your child’s math teacher went to university to get a teaching degree in how to teach. They got a Bachelor of Education! They are taught how to teach! Upon graduation, they are called teachers! And a prerequisite of getting into a math teaching program is having a university degree, for example, in math, science or engineering, let’s call that knowing the ins-and-outs of math. If you’re counting, we’re at two skills that teachers are taught - how to teach and ins-and-outs of math.

Now, let’s look at students and the unfair/raw end of the deal they get.

Students are taught the ins and outs of math by the teacher. Period. End of story. Full stop 🛑!! 

So sorry you’re struggling 😪. Too bad you’re not learning ❌. So sad, we won’t be teaching you learning, but we will teach you. Teaching is not learning! When is the learning taught? Where in the curriculum does it explicitly say, this is how we will teach students how to learn? Why isn’t learning taught anywhere in schools?

The ratio of teaching to learning in schools is 100 : 0, and we wonder why many struggle with learning! And to my math students, yes, I realize that ‘0’ cannot be in a ratio, but I think you get my point. 

Upon graduation, students are called graduates 👨‍🎓👩‍🎓. What? Upon graduation, shouldn’t students be called learners? 

Students are never given a course or spoken to for 1 second or for an iota ** on how to learn. The primary concern isn’t that, kids aren’t motivated enough or that teachers aren’t teaching well, or students don’t do their homework, or parents aren’t helping their kids enough. The concern, and where we’ve dropped the ball, is that we expect our students to learn but never teach them how to learn. Unfathomable! And for the readers who tell me, ‘Well, Edison, some students do okay,’ my rebuttal would be, ‘Many have above average memories or are auto-didacts or prepare for the course in advance or pick up new math easily (i.e. gifted with math). And an instant recall of math, isn’t learning, that’s gifted memorization.

 ** The iota used here does not refer to the ninth letter of the Greek alphabet. It refers to a miniscule amount.

We expect our students to learn, but we never teach them how to learn?

Question for you to predict the input, when I give you the output❓

If the result and output of actions or non-actions to a task are, "this is hard," what's a possible input? You may be tempted to think and ask me, “What's the task or thing they're doing, Edison?” And I'd respond with, “irrelevant”, as it's a question where the answer should be the same no matter what the task. Think about it ...

The most common answer would be, 'the person is not understanding' or 'not practicing enough, though going deeper on practicing would lead to 'not motivated or not understanding'.

I'll summarize and change 'this is hard' to 'math is hard': An output of 'math is hard' is based on an input from a student who is not understanding. Math is hard when you don't understand. Math is hard when you don't understand. Math is hard when you don't understand.

And this input of a gap in understanding leading to a ‘this is hard’ output, isn't surprising …

Skating on ice is hard because you don't understand how to skate.
Climbing Mont Everest is hard because you don't ...
Baking is hard when you don't understand how to bake.
Swimming is hard because you don't understand …
The stock market is hard when you don't understand.
Learning is hard when you don’t understand how to learn!

And in all those gaps in understanding, what's implied is a hole in the fundamentals, a weakness in the foundation. You don't understand because you're weak in the fundamentals, and that's why you say, 'This is hard.'

Then why do students say, ’Math is hard’ and not, ’I don’t understand?’

Think about that for 10 to 20 seconds …

The first blames math and the second self-blames. The first points the finger at math, while the second holds themselves accountable. The first faults math, while the second identifies a possible solution to the problem. As a learning strategy fan, I pay attention to the little clues, and this distinction is massive. One gives up, the other takes responsibility.

Once a student knows how to learn, of which understanding is a part of learning (and fundamentals part of understanding), the finger points inwards, and they hold themselves responsible! They will rarely say, math is hard, and are more likely to say, I don’t understand, … or I’m weak in one of the fundamentals, as they can self-identify the weakness. So they start asking questions, which opens them up to learning!

‘Math is hard’ closes the door to learning!
‘I don’t understand’ opens it.

When I work with students, very few will say, ‘math is hard.’ Why? Because I’m teaching them how to learn! And once they understand how to learn, they know that improving lies solely on their shoulders. There’s no shirking responsibilities, as the learning path has been clearly laid out in front of them. In that situation, ‘math is hard’ becomes an excuse, a cop-out, and guess what happens from that? If they don’t put in the time to learn, they don’t do well and they understand why. If they invest time in learning, they will do well and they understand why they did well. There’s no mystery. It’s cause and effect, except this time, students understand what causes the effect. And key positive is that even if they do not do well, they now have the skill of learning, and that’s transferable 😊!

In summary

We now have another generation of math kids saying math is hard. I take that back; almost every generation has had a chunk voice this mantra, and I am one of the math students who participated in that movement - the math is hard movement! But what I’m saying with Math by Edison and aiming to accomplish is this: Isn’t it time we move ‘math is hard’ to where the dinosaurs and dodo birds are? Isn’t it time we try something different? Isn’t it time we start a new movement?

Students cannot be blamed for not learning math if they have never been taught how to learn. Teachers are taught how to teach; but students are not taught how to learn? Isn’t now a good time, today, to pivot and show students how to learn?

I’m doing my part with Math by Edison, but this needs to be read by more influencers and people that want to move and shake math learning! I encourage you to move this article on, as I cannot do this on my own!

Edison

Edison Hopkinson
Learning strategist to math students and parents
Why isn’t learning taught in schools?