Why Don't Students Like School: A Cognitive Scientist Answers Questions About How the Mind Works and What It Means for the Classroom,   ISBN:9780470279304

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I did gain some insights from this about how people learn. It is well worth the effort.

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If you are a teacher, you must read this book. It is so refreshing to read something informed and useful in the field of education.

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Daniel Willingham, cognitive scientist, aims this book at teachers, parents, and anyone else curious about what works, what doesn't work, what should be taught, and what shouldn't be taught by educators. To an experienced teacher, most of his findings are reaffirming. Some, however, are news and go against "accepted educational pedagogy" (quotes to show that most educators know that "accepted" is an inside joke of sorts in our business). The nine principles Willingham forwards in this book, in his own words, are as follows:

1. People are naturally curious, but they are not naturally good thinkers.
2. Factual knowledge precedes skill.
3. Memory is the residue of thought.
4. We understand new things in the context of things we already know.
5. Proficiency requires practice.
6. Cognition is fundamentally different early and late in training.
7. Children are more alike than different in terms of learning.
8. Intelligence can be changed through sustained hard work.
9. Teaching, like any complex cognitive skill, must be practiced to be improved.

Willingham devotes a chapter to each principle, delving into what you should know about the students and what the most important classroom implication is for teachers. Number Two highlights the importance of background knowledge and how much of a drag it is on students who lack it. Number Five defends the old-school prescription of practice, practice, practice, but asterisks it with "without boring the students." And the biggest surprise (to me) is Number Seven, which basically says that knowledge of students' learning styles is a lot of hooey. "Lesson content, not student differences," should drive decisions on teaching, says Willingham. So much for Gardner's Intelligences, etc.

Overall, an interesting read, if at times repetitive. One distraction was the small font used to print this book. Why? Also, some teachers may feel that the bulk of the book merely reaffirms what they've already learned in the trenches. So be it. It's still good to see the experts reaffirming your practices based on the latest research on the brain.

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Common sense prevails.
Excellent examples.
Well documented.
Has changed my teaching -- and I have 40+ years of experience.

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I can't add much to what has already been said in the above favorable reviews, except this: don't be intimidated by the fact that a cognitive scientist authored this book. His writing style is very approachable. He uses excellent examples to illustrate his points, and he summarizes each chapter so you feel you have a thorough understanding of one idea before moving to the next. It's kind of like having a long conversation with an interesting guy who happens to be a scientist. I have no scientific expertise, but I really enjoyed reading this book. I hope educators everywhere will read it.

Oh, and one more thing. I was puzzled by one review here, so I re-read the beginning of the book and I can't find anything offensive or controversial. It's just a great book!