The Collision Between Left-Brained Schools and Right-Brained Kids
From the book, "Right-Brained Children in a Left-Brained
World: Unlocking the Potential of Your ADD Child"
by Jeffery Freed and Laurie
Parsons
Excerpt (as originally shown at the Mining Co)
published by Simon and Schuster c1997 Hardcover, $23.00
The problem [ADD] has been around ever since teachers have attempted to teach students subjects that didn't interest them. In most cases, it should be described not as a learning disability but as a teaching disability.-Ronald D. Davis, The Gift of Dyslexia
Both our society and the world in general are becoming more visual. But many of our institutions, particularly our schools, have not kept up.-Thom Hartmann, Beyond ADD
The misery the child may suffer while trying to conform to verbosely dominated schools can only be imagined by those who have themselves suffered the "Alice in Wonderland" experience, the experience of being in a place where nothing can quite be put together to make sense.
-Dr. John Philo Dixon, The Spatial Child
Why are we facing such a crisis in education? I would argue that our left-brained American schools have rarely placed an emphasis on creative, critical thinking. Our schools have historically churned our graduates who- while strong on regurgitating information- lack problem-solving skills. American children are taught to conform rather than challenge authority; the result is they often lack the ability to make connections and think in fresh, inventive ways. The traditional American school, with its emphasis on order, drill, and repetition, probably did a respectable job educating children at a time when kids were also left-brained, less hyperactive, and not so overstimulated. The problem is that students today are fundamentally different: Our classrooms are being flooded by a new generation of right-brained, visual kids. While our school system plods along using the same teaching methods that were in vogue decades ago, students are finding it more and more difficult to learn that way. As our culture becomes more visual and brain dominance shifts to the right, the chasm widens between teacher and pupil. Our schools are no longer congruent with the way many children think.
When you take a historical look at education in America, you find that, sadly, our system was founded with the goal of creating a society of dutiful, obedient foot soldiers, based on the German model. Thom Hartmann makes a persuasive case for this in his insightful book Beyond ADD. He takes us to early nineteenth-century Prussia (now Germany), renowned for its merciless and efficient army- until the Prussian army suffered a staggering defeat at the hands of Napoleon. This so shocked the leaders of Prussia that they went on a mission to find out why their soldiers had gotten so soft. German philosopher Johann G. Fichte, in his "Address to the German Nation," indicted Prussia's schools system, saying schools had failed to produce compliant pupils. These brash, undisciplined students, he asserted, went on to become disobedient and rebellious soldiers.
In 1819 the king of Prussia established a universal compulsory school system with the goal of producing dutiful children who would follow orders and later become winning soldiers. This strategy worked, at least initially. Over the next five or so decades, Prussia became a leading industrial and military power, due largely to an efficient, although uninspired, workforce. Prussia became the object of world envy, with governments sending representatives overseas to study what it was doing right. Horace Mann, one of the most influential leaders in American education, was among those summoned to Prussia; he returned raving about how Prussia's disciplined school system could be useful in America to cure social ills, tame the Wild West, and provide quality workers. Not surprisingly, American industrial leaders embraced the concept of a system that would provide colonies of compliant worker bees to labor in factories and on railroads. In the words of Hartmann, "So began the dumbing down of America."
As we know, Germany, model for the American education system, was paying a price for its short-sighted educational priorities. The same system that produced meek, compliant children also produced meek, compliant adults so desperate for leadership that they embraced the fanaticism of Adolf Hitler. They were wired from childhood to look the other way when faced with the horror of the Holocaust. Germany's defeat was caused by the "tricks of schoolmasters." And theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer claims that the defeat of the German army in World War II was the "inevitable product" of the German educational system.
While certainly not all American schools and teachers are left-brained, education seems to draw more than its share of individuals who value compliance, order, and sameness. Charlotte's an example of a primary school teacher who is by far the most left-brained individual I've ever met. She was fascinated with a lecture I gave on differing learning styles because she's always assumed that everyone learns the same way.
Charlotte told me of her obsession with making lists, organizing her house, and running an impeccable classroom. She admitted she had very little creativity, but she went on to say that there's a lot to said for her punctuality, neatness, and reliability. Charlotte said she dreams in black and white, and her dreams are not particularly symbolic of anything that's happening in her life. Charlotte was amazed that there are actually people who can spell by visualizing; she said she could never see a snapshot of a word in her head. She said the only way she can spell is to break words into phonetic pieces, each two to four letters. She was stunned when I multiplied twenty-seven by eighty-nine in my head. She shook her head and said, "I could never do that."
Charlotte's reading comprehension was average; she went slowly and repeated the words in her head. She was teaching her special ed students to read using phonics, the method that makes sense for her. She was puzzled that many of her students failed to catch on with this approach. One deficit of the left-brained population is that they generally have difficulty getting out of their own heads and seeing things from another's perspective. They lack the spatial ability to see the validity of the way a right-brained child learns. In the words of Dr. Dorry, "Their comprehension of the learning process is so distinctively left-brained that they have no concept that somebody else could have a different way of processing the world."
I believe there are a lot of Charlottes out there teaching our children because the educational system is a comfortable fit for left-brainers. These are individuals who enjoyed their school experience and who thrived in the orderly, left-brained classroom with its emphasis on rules and neatness. They appreciate the predictability and familiarity of the school environment. They flourish on making lesson plans, correcting penmanship, and grading homework. They want to give back to the system that so richly rewarded them.
Dr. Dorry points out that it's no accident that the majority of teachers are women: Females are more likely to have a left-brained, linguistic form of intelligence. This can be traced back to elementary school, when, it's well documented, girls develop speech and language skills much earlier than boys.
Unfortunately, many people go into teaching by default. They can't find another career that inspires them; they may not have confidence in their skills to be successful in science, business, or mathematics professions. Louis S. Levine writes, in an article titled "The American Teacher: A Tentative Psychological Description," that one of the prime motivations for entering teaching is "simply lack of interest in any other field." Teaching is an easy choice because it's familiar. Right-brained people, on the other hand, tend to shy away from the teaching profession. They tend to associate school with negative experiences, so the last thing they want to do is become part of the system that made them feel inept. Right-brained individuals who do pursue teaching usually do so in order to change the system; they go into education with a crusader's perspective to right all the wrongs that have occurred. Unfortunately, they quickly become disillusioned with the rigidity, paperwork, and politics of education, and move on to other, more rewarding professions.
My experience with public school teaching began in 1972 when- eager and idealistic- I took a job as a high school instructor in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. Full of energy and ideas, I quickly earned a reputation as a tough but innovative teacher. For example, instead of assigning a series of book reports to my philosophy students, I orchestrated a lively classroom debate on the differences between Jungian and Freudian schools of thought. I was pleased that my pupils attacked this challenge with such passion and vigor.
I remember thinking: I have what it takes to be a great teacher. Apparently, my department chairman didn't agree. My success in inspiring my students to learn philosophy wen unnoticed; he chose instead to reprimand me for being one day late in distributing PTA handouts to parents. This particular administrator was also put off by my non-conformist attire (I wore a turtleneck and sport coat instead of a coat and tie) and my less-than-perfect recoird keeping. I was also considered a maverick because of my interest in long-distance running. I ran every day after school, prompting this admonishment: "It's very unprofessional for a teacher to be seen in shorts!"
Perhaps my biggest shortcoming- in my supervisor's eyes- was that I related well to my students, who often sought me out for advice on personal problems such as divorce or difficulties with parents. While my behavior was always friendly and supportive, this rapport was perceived as "unprofessional," undermining the distance that must be kept between pupil and teacher. Because I was different, it was assumed I was "difficult"; my one-year teaching contract was not renewed.
Because most teachers are left-brained, and because they tend to teach the way they learn, it stands to reason that they will reward left-brained, linear intelligence. Evidence of this abounds in current literature on children with ADD and other learning disabilities. Thom Hartmann correctly notes that lectures and reading assignments- left-brained teaching methods- are still the norm, even though our children are being conditioned from birth to learn through visual means. The result, Hartmann says, is that our teachers are speaking English but may as well be speaking Greek. "Until our children are again taught to be good auditory processors (not likely to happen in any home that has a TV), or our educational institutions begin to offer far more visual and stimulating forms of education (not likely to happen in these days of budget crises), there will continue to be an epidemic of children who seemingly just can't learn. And they are often diagnosed as having ADD."
There was a time, perhaps a generation ago, when it was possible and even probable to find middle and high school students who had teachers they admired and respected. This is, sadly, a rare occurrence nowadays. I'm observing a rising tide of students who say they cannot relate to their teachers. Ths isn't just the case for underachievers and dropouts, it's true of pupils who are on the honor roll. I work with many adolescents who have a grade point average of 3.5 and higher, and almost without exception they are a cynical lot. Not a day goes by that I don't hear comments like "My teachers are all freaks," "I've never met a teacher yet who isn't a total geek." or "Why don't they teach us something, anything that isn't a lot of mindless crap?" These are seventeen-year-old cynics who are getting good grades- not because they like school, but because they need a respectable GPA to get into college or get a job. Many of them simply don't want to disappoint their parents.
I can honestly say I have rarely, in all my years working one-on-one with gifted, right-brained, and ADD children, heard a child or adolescent state that his education was sueful, inspirational, or joyful. Quite a shift from one generation to another. Many students of my generation found education a wonderfully fulfilling experience that instilled in them the joy of learning. These are the students who went on to college and graduate school, becoming students for life. That our educational system is now perceived as worthless by the very students who are excelling in it is the ultimate indictment.
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