Photo Credit: © Can Stock Photo Inc. / Perkmeup
Whenever I hear the phrase, “Everyone knows (fill in the blank),” I flinch. The reality is that there is a sizeable group of people who still believe the world is flat, so “common agreement” hardly constitutes proof of fact.
Having had the opportunity to work with youth in a variety of settings, I have found there are several “known” facts that while intuitively make sense, are incorrect. As a result, a number of decisions about schedules, activities, or handling certain behaviors are based on flawed understandings.
Learning Using Sensory Input
The first and perhaps most common misconception I hear when visiting youth programs is that individuals have different learning styles. Or, more specifically, some of us learn visually, while others are auditory or kinesthetic (movement and tactile-based) learners. This misconception arose following the publication of Howard Gardner’s work on multiple intelligences, and has since been addressed by Gardner himself as one of the most significant misunderstandings of his writings on education.