"Different minds learn differently," writes Dr. Mel Levine, one of the best-known education experts and pediatricians in America today. And that's a problem for many children, because most schools still cling to a one-size-fits-all education philosophy. As a result, these children struggle because their learning patterns don't fit the schools they are in.
In A Mind at a Time, Dr. Levine shows parents and others who care for children how to identify these individual learning patterns. He explains how parents and teachers can encourage a child's strengths and bypass the child's weaknesses. This type of teaching produces satisfaction and achievement instead of frustration and failure.
Different brains are differently wired, Dr. Levine explains. There are eight fundamental systems, or components, of learning that draw on a variety of neurodevelopmental capacities. Some students are strong in certain areas and some are strong in others, but no one is equally capable in all eight. Using examples drawn from his own extensive experience, Dr. Levine shows how parents and children can identify their strengths and weaknesses to determine their individual learning styles.
For example, some students are creative and write imaginatively but do poorly in history because weak memory skills prevent them from retaining facts. Some students are weak in sequential ordering and can't follow directions. They may test poorly and often don't do well in mathematics. In these cases, Dr. Levine observes, the problem is not a lack of intelligence but a learning style that doesn't fit the assignment. Drawing on his pioneering research and his work with thousands of students, Dr. Levine shows how parents and teachers can develop effective strategies to work through or around these weaknesses.
"It's taken for granted in adult society that we cannot all be 'generalists' skilled in every area of learning and mastery. Nevertheless, we apply tremendous pressure to our children to be good at everything. They are expected to shine in math, reading, writing, speaking, spelling, memorization, comprehension, problem solving...and none of us adults can" do all this, observes Dr. Levine. Learning begins in school but it doesn't end there. Frustrating a child's desire to learn will have lifelong repercussions. This frustration can be avoided if we understand that not every child can do equally well in every type of learning. We must begin to pay more attention to individual learning styles, to individual minds, urges Dr. Levine, so that we can maximize children's learning potential. In A Mind at a Time he shows us how.
Autorentext
Mel Levine, M.D., is professor of pediatrics at the University of North Carolina Medical School and director of its Clinical Center for the Study of Development and Learning. He is the founder and cochairman of All Kinds of Minds, a nonprofit institute for the understanding of differences in learning, and the author of two previous national best-selling books, A Mind at a Time and The Myth of Laziness. He and his wife, Bambi, live on Sanctuary Farm in North Carolina.
Inhalt
Acknowledgments
A Mind's Possibilities
A Pediatric Perspective
How Learning Works
Eight Systems
Neurodevelopmental Profiles
How a Mind's Profile Comes to Be
How Lifestyles May Affect Learning Styles
Splitting Rather Than Lumping
The Early Detection of Dysfunction
Some Adult Implications
The Mental Energy Controls
The Intake Controls
The Output Controls
The Impacts of the Attention Controls
Minds over Time: Keeping a Watchful Eye on the Attention Controls as Children Age
Practical Considerations
Short-term Memory
Active Working Memory
Long-term Memory
A Few More Memory Differences
The Outlook
Minds over Time: Keeping a Watchful Eye on Memory as Children Age
Practical Considerations
The Different Languages That Make Up Language
Language Levels
The Special Challenge of Language Production
Language and Its Ambassadorial Functions
Minds over Time: Keeping a Watchful Eye (or Ear) on Language as Children Age
Practical Considerations
Sequential Ordering
Spatial Ordering
Spatial Versus Sequential Ordering: Which Would You Rather Be Good At?
Minds over Time: Keeping a Watchful Eye on Sequential and Spatial Ordering as Children Age
Practical Considerations
Forms of Motor Function
Minds over Time: Keeping a Watchful Eye on Motor Function as Children Age
Practical Considerations
Conceptual Thinking
Problem-Solving Thinking
Critical Thinking
Rule-Guided Thinking
Creative Thinking
The Role of Intuitive Thinking in Influencing All Forms of Higher Thinking
The Higher Thinking System and the Other Neurodevelopmental Systems
Minds over Time: Keeping a Watchful Eye on Higher Thinking as Children Age
Practical Considerations
The Big Three Social Missions
Social Functions and Dysfunctions
Are Some Kids Too Successful Socially?
Minds over Time: Keeping a Watchful Eye on Social Thinking as Children Age
Practical Considerations
Constructing Neurodevelopmental Profiles
Identifying the Breakdown Points
When Bad Things Happen to Good Profiles
Mining a Child's Precious Assets
Identifying and Understanding Emotional Complications
Hows Instead of Whys: Focusing on Identifying and Fixing the Breakdowns Instead of Their Causes
The Benefits and Dangers When a Child's Mind Is Tested
Roadblocks and Outcomes in Adulthood
Management by Profile
Accessing Special Services in School
The Use of Medication
Coaching and Mentoring
Raoul: An Example of a Child Who Was Managed by Profile
Know Thy Child
Responding to Gaps
Fostering Strengths, Knacks, Talents, Intuitions, and Affinities
Trying Not to Harm
Supporting Education
Maintaining an Intellectual Life at Home
Fostering Optimism and a Positive View of the Future
Teachers: Their Roles and Their Training for Those Roles
Parents: Their Meaningful Involvement in a Child's Learning
Students: Learning About Learning and Learning About Their Kinds of Minds
Humane Schools: Protective and Nurturing Settings for All Kinds of Minds
Pathways: Greater Availability of Options for Success
The Educational Ambiance
Results
Neurodevelopmental Pluralism: A Mind at a Time as an Ethic
Helpful Readings and Other Resources
Index