Education 3 - Those early years

In the field of genetics there is an age old argument of what is called 'Nature versus Nurture'. This discusses the effect that our environment and upbringing have on our characteristics as opposed to our genetic makeup we get from our parents.  As teachers our job is to develop students to be the best that they can be. One way of looking at this (and it is not supposed to be pessimistic despite how it might sound) is that a child starts life off with an almost infinite range of possible outcomes available to it.  Our job as a profession and a society is to keep as many of these possibilities open for as long as we can until that individual chooses a path of their own.  Even then though efforts must surely be made to ensure that they have options open to them throughout their lives.

So how do we begin to do this?  Perhaps one approach might be to try and look for all of those points in the lives of young people where their development falters?  For example, in the same way that the development of society has leapt forward due to certain discoveries such as the internet, or antibiotics we can look at the development of an individual in the same way.  Some of these discoveries are more straight forward than others.  The ability to read or write for example.  There are some though that are far more subtle, and possibly more fundamental.  Working memory is essentially the post-it note for the brain to be able to work out problems.  Fine motor skills underpin the ability to write.  There are a host of elements that actually help us to be able to read.  Dyslexia can be seen in the structures of the brains where function is reduced.  However, connections in the brain are created and reinforced with use. So are these areas underdeveloped and this is causing the problem or are we not creating means by which these young people can create these connections in different ways?

There are those that believe that education starts too early, that children should learn through play such as the Montessori method.  Other education systems do not start formal education until much later.  One study in New Zealand compared groups who started reading at 5 and at 7.  By the age of 11 there was no difference in the reading abilities but the attitudes towards learning of the group that started at 5 was more negative and their comprehension of what they were reading was actually poorer.

It is my belief that we need to fight against the instincts that make us think that the more we do something the better it will be.  Instead we need to spend more time on those fundamentals and allow young people to develop understanding of both themselves and the world around them.  Hopefully then they will be far more willing and capable of dealing with the detail when it comes.