Critique of mindful learning approaches and practices

¶ … Mindful Learning" Book Critique

The purpose of the present paper is to review the book written by Ellen Langer called "The power of Mindful learning." The book presents seven myths which are generally associated with the learning process. According to the author, ideas such as "forgetting is a problem" not only do not contribute to an efficient learning process, but they also make teaching more difficult. The book presents these myths with the purpose of demolishing them.

According to Langer, one of the biggest mistakes that teachers usually make is to tell students that there is a specific way in which the need to deal with the learning process, thus cutting off the creativity. The needs as well as the capacities of individuals are different and they ought to be used accordingly. Right from the beginning the author of the book underlines that there is no reason why someone should "start with the basics" or that memorization is a fundamental tool. Langer's approach states that learning is possible only when people are thinking and making critical evaluations. The things which she considers to be the most important in the learning process are the openness to novelty, the alertness to distinction, the sensitivity to different contests, implicit if not explicit awareness of multiple perspectives and last but not least the orientation in the present.

A very interesting concept is that of creative distraction. Normally teachers claim for students to pay close attention, yet Langer states that we need a more dynamic approach to the process: "In contrast to hypervigilance, which locks in an object of attention, this soft vigilance remains open to novelty. With vigilance, the target of attention is static; with soft vigilance the mind, without detailed prescription is open to take in more information."

A second myth that she demolishes is that of the delayed gratification. There is a wide spread conviction that study is supposed to be difficult, full of effort and opposed to fun. The author of the book demonstrates that studying can be fun and rewarding in itself if the person has a positive and open attitude about it.

A further myth that she attacks is represented by memorization. It is known that many teachers apply methods through which they simply present the information and expect students to learn it by heart. The more you know by heart, the more praises you get. It has been believed that memorization helps create a solid type of knowledge which is most likely to resist in time. The author of the book demonstrates that this is not exactly true and that long-term memory needs stimuli in order to activate information. These stimuli may very well be of emotional nature, that is emotional associations that a person can make with factual data. The main thesis of the book, which the writer succeeds to demonstrate in a very smart way is that the study process can be meaningful in itself (not just a tool we use in order to get a certain result) and the trick relies in making students want to make the information meaningful themselves. Therefore, proper motivation is one of the strategic solutions that are offered.

An entire chapter is dedicated to mindfulness and intelligence underlining that "when we are mindful, we implicitly view a situation from several perspectives, see information presented in the situation as novel, attend to the context in which we are perceiving the information and eventually create new categories through which this information may be understood." In this way a further myth is demolished, namely the belief according to which there are certain right answers which one needs to learn and keep, regardless of his own beliefs.

The book is easy to read and understand. While the examples Langer quotes are not always the result of serious scientific research the logical argumentation is a convincing one. Personally I think that she draws attention to numerous things that are likely to prevent us from properly acquiring information and maintaining it for long. My experience as a student is filled with the myths that she discusses and I admit that Langer's approach is more constructive. I have applied her principles and although the freedom they are based upon may seem scary, the results are satisfactory. The trick is to find motivation on your own and once you have given significance to information, then there is no doubt that information has become part of your system. As a teacher I have found these principles challenging. Finding a means to motivate students to motivate themselves is not an easy task and certainly there is no universal instrument that can be applied to everyone. This approach is highly personalized. Nevertheless, despite the bigger efforts required, the results are likely to be impressive.