Use technology, not the strap

Kareem LaTouche, Youthlink Coordinator

There was once a time when being born a prodigy was the only way to guarantee academic success. Luckily for those of us who do not have this innate gift, the advent of technology is at our disposal. With the aid of a computer we can work hour-long arithmetic in seconds and the Internet offers us a personal library at our convenience.

What is even more beneficial, is that technology has helped many scientists develop an advanced understanding of how we learn. According to Courtney Martin, journalist for Good.is.com, there is now an effective method of learning called 'Social Emotional Learning' (SEL).

It was developed by Marc Brackett, a 42-year-old Yale research scientist, who has been studying emotional intelligence which was made famous by Daniel Goleman. Brackett claims he was bored of conventional methods of teaching, which lacked certain aspects of emotional and social intelligence. "I was always bored and I never felt like any of my teachers really cared. I can't think of anybody that made me feel inspired," stated Brackett.

The concept of SEL is predicated on teaching children how to identify and manage their emotions, which will consequently enhance their learning. Nonetheless, for it to be implemented, teachers have to be sensitised about the concept. But it was initially met with some resistance from teachers who were asked to implement it in their classroom.

"There was one teacher who took the list of feelings we had provided and crossed out all of what she perceived of as 'negative' emotions before asking the students to identify what they were feeling," Brackett says.

Revising the original concept

Brackett had to revise his strategy, which led to the development of a training programme called RULER, which has received modest success. He has helped teachers to find a way to use emotional intelligence in their lesson plans. For example, if a teacher is reviewing a book on Tom Sawyer, he can assess the protagonist actions and also the emotional origins that may cause them. This may help the students identify with the character and may help them to remember the contents of the story better.

While the article did not speak about the impact the concept has on science-based subjects, it is clear that there is a distinct advantage when using it for literature-based subjects.

Traditional methods

If this concept is successful many teachers might abandon the heavy usage of traditional Nmemonic techniques that are normally used to aid memory. These techniques include the use of acronyms to remember long titles. For example, the mathematical acronym 'BOMDAS'. It means brackets, orders, division, multiplication, addition and subtraction, which is used to help students remember the order of mathematical operations.

While mnemonics have been extremely useful, it usually places a heavy reliance on rote memory. This may help students to know how to do something but it doesn't help them to know why they should do it. If Brackett is successful with RULER, he may be able to extend his research to address the learning difficulties students are facing in science-based subjects.

Email questions or comments to klatouche@hotmail.com.