Mel Levine on Oprah Reflections

¶ … Mel Levine on Oprah

Reflections on the Oprah/Mel Levine Video

Pediatrician Mel Levine, author of the book A Mind at a Time, which focuses on children's learning, appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show. In the video of that show, Dr. Levine stressed the importance of parents' and teachers' allowing children to learn in their own unique ways.

Dr. Levine stated that in general children seek to avoid humiliation at all costs, and that this strong desire to avoid humiliation often negatively impacts their very ability to learn, or to freely try out new or unusual learning styles, especially in organized school settings. Fear of humiliation also can and often does discourage children from experimenting in order to find and use their best learning styles, especially in school or other public settings.

Dr. Levine acknowledged that every child learns differently, and that it is best, therefore, for parents, teachers, and others to allow children to use their individual learning strengths, rather than forcing them instead to try to improve on their learning weaknesses.

There is no child who cannot learn, Dr. Levine said, although typically, children learn in distinct ways. Children with learning disabilities, for example, are not at all unable to learn. However, Dr. Levine said, their brains may be "wired differently" than those of children who are not considered to be learning disabled. Therefore, such children need to be given individual opportunities, at school and at home, to discover ands use learning styles that best suit their needs.

Dr. Levine further suggested that parents need to do more to encourage and support their children's individual learning strengths and styles, while de-emphasizing their learning weaknesses. For example, if a child learns best with loud music playing in the background, his or her parents should make an effort to tolerate that learning style, to a reasonable extent, rather than criticizing or discouraging it.

Some children are visual learners; others learn best by listening; some learn best by reading, and others learn best by doing. There is no right or wrong learning style, Dr. Levine emphasized, but only learning styles that are more or less optimal for a particular child.

Dr. Levine also said that he had never met a child without strengths, but that he had met many children whose parents or teachers either did not recognize their strengths, or who did not consider them to be strengths, but instead, weaknesses. The job of parents and educators, Dr. Levine further suggested, is to help children develop their individual learning strengths, in ways that suit them personally. Dr. Levine said: "Success is like a vitamin. If you don't get enough of it growing up, you'll suffer a very severe deficiency that could have long-term impacts in your life."

Dr. Levine also noted that the idea of "well-roundedness" is overemphasized in education. Most adults are not by nature "well-rounded," that is, equally good at everything, whether it is reading, math, sports, music, science, or other areas. Therefore we should not place this artificial expectation on children. Emphasizing "well-roundedness" at the expense of allowing a child to hone in on subjects or areas he or she finds especially interesting or appealing impede a child's learning in all areas. Dr. Levine suggested that the term "mental obesity" best describes what happens when a child is forced to learn everything equally well; such forcing is similar to making a child eat everything on his or her plate, even when the child is no longer hungry. As a result, nothing on the plate is properly savored or digested. As a consequence, the child learns to dread rather than enjoy the experience.