In my previous column I discussed the importance of Daniel T Willingham’s phrase “memory is the residue of thought”. It reminds us that students remember the thing they are thinking about. If they are thinking about the nature of the task, they remember the nature of the task, not necessarily the content of the task.
Now I would like to explore the implications of the phrase for what we do in the classroom.
Learning from experience
Firstly, it might make us want to think again about how we approach experiences as learning opportunities. For example, if we want students to learn what it was like to be a working-class child in the Victorian period, then having them dress up in Victorian clothes may only be a distraction from the learning. They can end up thinking about how funny they all look and not about the material you are presenting to them.
Or if we want students to learn about the nature of volcanic eruptions, then making a model volcano erupt with a fizzy drink and a packet of mints may only distract from the lesson.
This is not to say that experiences aren’t important to learning. They can be very powerful, but that power comes from experiences that help students to think about the thing we want them to learn.
Distractions in the environment
We also want to consider what there might be in the learning environment that will capture our students’ attention - and, therefore, their thoughts. If they are thinking about what their friend sitting directly in front of them is doing on their laptop, the pile of marking on the front desk that looks like it is about to fall or the noise of students running around the corridors, then they are not going to be thinking about your finely crafted explanation on ionic bonding.
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Sometimes, either as a classroom teacher or a senior leader on a walkabout, it can be useful to take a step back and think about what is taking our students’ attention right now.
Instructional order
“In a minute I’m going to set you some homework that you’ll need to complete over the term, but first I want to explain this really important…”
“On your desk you’ll find some glitter and glue, but don’t touch them yet because I need to tell you about…”
“Don’t forget that next lesson you will be working in groups on a presentation, but for now I’d like you to focus on…”
I have started each of these sentences, and in each case I have lost the class. How can you listen to an explanation from the teacher when there is glitter and glue sitting right in front of you? Why wouldn’t you think about who you want to work with in a group rather than the instructions for what the presentation will be about?
The order in which we do things in the classroom affects how students think about those things and, therefore, what they remember. Generally, we want to give students information at the point that they need it, and in the order in which we want them to do it. Ideally, we will leave task instructions clearly visible so that they don’t have to concentrate their thoughts on these and can focus on the content of the lesson instead.
Gripped by the story
One indication that you are in the classroom of a great teacher is when they are explaining something to the class and you just don’t want to leave. They have you gripped.
These teachers modulate their tone, use gestures and draw diagrams on the board as they talk, all of which help to direct the thoughts of students. What they do best of all is they tell stories.
There is something about the structure of a story that helps us to think. It is possibly the way things unfold in a logical order that encourages us to make predictions about what will happen next, and in doing so to reflect on what we have already heard. Our minds engage in the content of the story. We get lost in it. And because we are thinking about it, we remember it.
Teaching can be an overwhelmingly complex business. There are so many moving parts. But hopefully, keeping that short maxim in mind, that “memory is the residue of thought”, can help to simplify the decisions we make.
Mark Enser is an author and freelance writer
