The goal of education is learning and not teaching. Teachers are more concerned about teaching, especially giving lectures because traditional focus of education has always been on teaching.
In most educational institutions, memorisation is mistaken for learning. Most of what we remember is remembered only for the short-term. This is called knowing, not understanding. Knowing and understanding are two completely different concepts. Understanding is far more rewarding than knowing. Does our education system facilitate us to understand what we have to learn?
Even young children are conscious of the fact that most of what is expected from them in school can be done better by computers, recording machines, cameras and so on.
Teaching is the better way to learn, rather than being taught. A teacher should serve as a guide and a resource but not as one who will force-feed content into students’ heads.
There are many different ways of learning, and teaching is one of many. We learn more on our own especially by independent study, sharing knowledge with others, and by going through trial and error. For example, one can learn more engineering by building and designing one’s house than by taking several courses on civil engineering. When medical students are asked whether they learned more in classes or during their internship, without exception they will say it is the latter.
In every educational institution, students should be offered a wide variety of ways to learn so that they can choose the ideal one that suits their learning style best. Every human being is different, in sense, in behavior and thinking; every learner is also different in the manner of their learning.
Though students may not realise it, learning styles have more influence in education because it guides the way one learns. Research shows that each learning style uses different parts of the brain. By involving more of the brain during learning, learners remember more of what they learn. When teaching and learning methods do not match, a discrepancy arises in education.
