We Need Balanced Learning
We often forget that learning never stops and that a good foundational is important for a healthy work life and lifelong learning.
The education system in most nations in the world desperately needs to be drastically reworked. The system that is in place in most parts of the world today was not designed for a world like the one we live in. This system was made to produce obedient factory workers, not the writers, thinkers, leaders and changemakers of tomorrow. On this note, I would like to address the importance of balanced learning.
Most of us learners, if we have looked into learning via the internet or otherwise attended seminars and the like, may be aware of something called learning types. For those who don’t know, there is a theory that some people are visual learners, audio learners, etc., and that we can learn best using our preferred learning type. Well here’s a shocker for you, there actually isn’t much scientific evidence to support that you can learn better if you use a certain learning type. Some studies actually show that majorly relying on your preferred method of learning is in fact harmful as it reduces your capabilities of learning through other mediums. Another thing that I wish to point out is that we humans are capable of learning through any method.
Does that mean learning types and such are a scam? Well, we can’t say that yet. Some of us may have noticed that initially if we try learning something through different mediums, some mediums work better. It is true that consistent, deliberate practice greatly helps you learn through any medium. Coming back to the question of whether it’s a scam. Well right now, there’s already a huge market and industry built on learning types even though there’s little to no supportive evidence that it works, and these businesses will keep pushing their campaign towards innocent customers. Don’t get me wrong, but if someone says you are an audio learner and then you keep learning mainly through audio only (or mostly), then your listening skills and retention are bound to improve through practice but if you neglect other methods of learning then you’ll get weaker in those mediums. So yeah, I think it’s easy to see how quickly your ‘preferred medium’ can become superior to other mediums of learning.
Now that we talked about learning types, let’s talk about the basis of learning. This is often unbalanced. What I mean is the balance between conceptual understanding and rote learning and memorization. Many countries in Asia and other non-Western parts of the world are heavily focused on rote learning and memorization, with prominent example nations being India and China, both of which have an insanely high number of study hours per day in relation to school alone ( not so fun fact: I said in relation to school alone because both nations have their own forms of entrance exams and students often have to prepare for that, but that’s a whole other story) This reliance on memorization highly favors those who can memorize better, but does not check whether students have understood and can apply what they have learnt. As an implication of this, you can get people working in professions solely for reasons like money or other factors without any actual passion, which is not advisable. Would you leave your pet in the care of a veterinary doctor who doesn’t have a true love for animals and is frankly more interested in the end of procedure payment? No? I thought so.
Now if we were to look into the situation in many Western nations, it’s increasingly becoming the other extreme. Conceptual understanding is not the only thing you need when learning a subject. You need a fair balance. Imagine you were treated by a doctor who has a good conceptual understanding of the human body, but does not quite know or remember the exact names of several conditions. Would you feel safe in their care, considering that most doctors have to memorize thousands of terms in med-school? I mean, even if you did feel safe, let’s not forget that they can still remember an incorrect term and maybe even prescribe the wrong medication for you. Surely you are aware that wrong medication can have anywhere from a mild impact to as far as death, depending on the dosage and severity, etc.
AS YOU CAN CLEARLY SEE, you need a balance between rote learning and memorization and conceptual understanding. This is the best way to learn. We could also use a more balanced approach with regard to mediums of learning, so that we are able to use all medium effectively to learn, because we will be exposed to these mediums throughout our life and learning never stops, so a good foundation is evermore important.
