{"id":204,"date":"2026-07-13T16:29:56","date_gmt":"2026-07-13T16:29:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/elfconline.com\/?page_id=204"},"modified":"2026-07-15T15:50:04","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T15:50:04","slug":"learning-myths-busted","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/elfconline.com\/?page_id=204","title":{"rendered":"Learning Myths Busted"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n \t\t\t

Learning Myths Busted
<\/h2>\n\t\t\n<\/div>\n
\n \t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

There are popular \u201cMyths\u201d about education and schools that have become a matter of unquestionable belief for a large section of population during the industrial age.<\/p>

See\u00a0Changing Education Paradigms\u00a0by Ken Robinson<\/p>

Many successful and great people have busted these myths through their own personal achievements, examples, research and successful implementations.<\/p>

L2L Academy is a live demonstration of how these myths are easily busted.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n<\/div>\n

\n \t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

Think of a child who comes from school and says that he hates maths.<\/p>

What do you think that the school has taught him?<\/p>

Of course, the school taught him to \u201chate maths\u201d!<\/p>

It never taught him maths, but actually taught him to hate maths.

[Adapted from John Holt in \u201cHow Children Learn\u201d]<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n<\/div>\n

\n \t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
Myth<\/strong><\/td>\u00a0Myth Busted<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
Hype about the role of schooling<\/td>See the reality about schools in this dawn documentary with interviews by leading educationists in Pakistan:<\/td><\/tr>
\u00a0<\/td>\u201cParho Gay Likho Gay\u201d Episode 1 and 2 Dawn News Documentary\u00a0<\/td><\/tr>
\u00a0<\/td>Episode 1: Segment1.1\u00a0, \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0Segment 1.2\u00a0, \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Segment 1.3\u00a0\u00a0<\/td><\/tr>
\u00a0<\/td>Episode 2:\u00a0Segment 2.1\u00a0, \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Segment 2.2\u00a0, \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Segment 2.3<\/td><\/tr>
Intelligence is spread around the world according to normal distribution of a \u201cbell curve\u201d.<\/td>\u00a0Everyone has potential for greatness.<\/td><\/tr>
There are few very intelligent people, few very foolish people and the majority lies around the middle.<\/td>\u201cLuqud khalaqnal insaan fi ahsen e Taqveem\u201d (Quran) [Translation: Verily we have created man in the best of forms]<\/td><\/tr>
\u00a0<\/td>\u201d\u00a0Her fard hay millat kay muqadar ka sitara\u201d\u00a0\u2013 Iqbal<\/td><\/tr>
\u00a0<\/td>Development of \u201cKhudi\u201d according to Iqbal<\/td><\/tr>
\u00a0<\/td>\u201cAwaken the Giant Within\u201d by Anthony Robbins<\/td><\/tr>
\u00a0<\/td>\u201c7-Habits of Highly Successful People\u201d by Stephen Covey<\/td><\/tr>
\u00a0<\/td>See Sir Ken Robinson in \u201d\u00a0Education Requires Revolution\u00a0\u201c<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
A typical class room environment (where students sit on chairs facing the teacher standing in front) is essential for education<\/td>Learning spaces need to be flexible, adjustable according to the requirements. Real life work environments are better teachers than the artificial class-room like environments.<\/td><\/tr>
\u00a0<\/td>See Sugata Mitra\u2019s talk on \u201d\u00a0Child Driven Education\u00a0\u201d at www.ted.com.<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
\u00a0<\/td>Life of Bill Gates<\/td><\/tr>
\u00a0<\/td>Life of Steve Jobs. See his\u00a0Stanford Speech<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
\u00a0<\/td>Life of\u00a0Abdul Sattar Edhi\u00a0tells us that this great man\u2019s learning has been mostly outside the formal classrooms.<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
Learning only happens in classrooms<\/td>Learning happens everywhere at all times, effortlessly. In fact, retention of learning in classrooms is much lesser than the learning happening outside classrooms.<\/td><\/tr>
\u00a0<\/td>See Sugata Mitra\u2019s talk on \u201d\u00a0Child Driven Education\u00a0\u201d\u00a0\u00a0at www.ted.com.<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
\u00a0<\/td>See\u00a0\u00a0Kiran Bir Sethi teaches kids to take charge<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
All kids must be of the same age in a class room to enable learning.<\/td>No real life situation exists where all participants are of exactly the same age and competency. In fact, learning is better in situations where participants are of mixed ages and competences.<\/td><\/tr>
Children learn only through books & memorization.<\/td>See Ken Robinson on\u00a0education<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
\u00a0<\/td>Alan Kay shares\u00a0\u00a0A powerful idea of ideas<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
Reading, writing and\u00a0arithmetic\u00a0requires several years of education and is a very complicated process.<\/td>\u201cIt only requires about 100 hours to transmit reading, writing and arithmetic\u201d in John Gatto\u2019s \u201d\u00a0Dumbing Us Down\u00a0\u201c<\/td><\/tr>
\u00a0<\/td>Confirmed by prominent educationists of Pakistan with the addition of another 100 hours for a language other than the mother tongue.<\/td><\/tr>
\u00a0<\/td>See Alan Kay shares\u00a0\u00a0A powerful idea of ideas<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
Learning is a boring activity, especially maths, which requires extensive practice and worksheets.<\/td>See Dan Meyer in \u201d\u00a0Maths Curriculum Needs a Makeover\u00a0\u201d at\u00a0 www.ted.com.<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
\u00a0<\/td>See Conrad Wolfram in\u00a0Teaching Maths with Computers<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
\u00a0<\/td>Physics teacher\u00a0(Prof Levin) at MIT<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
Regimented school environments provide a better learning environment<\/td>\u201cLives of great men remind us that we can make our lives sublime\u201d:<\/td><\/tr>
\u00a0<\/td>\u00a0<\/td><\/tr>
\u00a0<\/td>Life of\u00a0Benjamin Franklin\u00a0tells us that most of his learning happened on jobs outside the school.<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
\u00a0<\/td>Life of\u00a0Edison\u00a0tells us that this great inventor was self-taught and he spent only 3 months in school before dropping out.<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
\u00a0<\/td>Skills vs Grades [degree qualifications]. Need for experiential learning<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
Mandatory homework followed by penalty for non-doers is the only way to cement the learning<\/td>Burdening the child with homework and robbing him of his time to play and learn in the natural environment is cruelty. It robs him also of time for introspection and reflection.<\/td><\/tr>
\u00a0<\/td>Learning happens when we are interested, willing and not threatened. \u201d\u00a0How Children Learn\u00a0\u201d by John Holt.<\/td><\/tr>
\u00a0<\/td>How many of us can still remember the concepts that were drilled in to us through homeworks. See\u00a0Rethinking Homework\u00a0\u00a0and\u00a0Truth about Homework\u00a0.<\/td><\/tr>
Grading (carrot and stick) is must for enhancing learning.<\/td>Intrinsic Motivation is inversely proportional to extrinsic motivation such as grades (carrot and stick).<\/td><\/tr>
\u00a0<\/td>\u201d\u00a0How Children Fail\u00a0\u201d by John Holt<\/td><\/tr>
\u00a0<\/td>\u201d\u00a0From Degrading to De-Grading\u00a0\u201d by Alfie Kohn<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
\u00a0<\/td>\u201d\u00a0Grading: Issue is not how but why\u00a0\u201d by Alfie Kohn<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
Learning requires knowledge to be broken down in narrowly defined subject boundaries and delivered in measured installments.<\/td>Learning is non-linear. We learn through processes that are entire different from the way an expert designs the curriculum. See Frank Smith\u2019s \u201d\u00a0Insult to Intelligence\u201d<\/td><\/tr>
\u00a0<\/td>Linearity of school\u2019s curriculum kills creativity. See Ken Robinson \u201d\u00a0Schools Kill Creativity\u201d\u00a0at ted.com.<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
\u00a0<\/td>\u00a0<\/td><\/tr>
\u00a0<\/td>See Sugata Mitra in \u201d\u00a0Child Driven Education\u00a0\u201d at www.ted.com<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
\u00a0We need predictable assessment points with well defined contents to enhance learning.<\/td>\u00a0Kids can learn much more than and more quickly than what we think is possible. See Ron Hunter on ted.com\u00a0World Peace Gam\u00a0e what 4th graders can achieve which many of our universities are unable to train the highly accomplished students.<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
Regimented school environments provide a better learning environment<\/td>Lives of great men remind us that we can make our lives sublime:<\/td><\/tr>
\u00a0<\/td>Life of\u00a0Benjamin Franklin\u00a0tells us that most of his learning happened on jobs outside the school.<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
\u00a0<\/td>Life of\u00a0Edison\u00a0tells us that this great inventor was self-taught and he spent only 3 months in school before dropping out.<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
\u00a0<\/td>Skills vs Grades [degree qualifications]. Need for experiential learning<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
\u00a0<\/td>\u00a0<\/td><\/tr>
Mandatory homework followed by penalty for non-doers is the only way to cement the learning<\/td>Burdening the child with homework and robbing him of his time to play and learn in the natural environment is cruelty. It robs him also of time for introspection and reflection.<\/td><\/tr>
\u00a0<\/td>Learning happens when we are interested, willing and not threatened. \u201d\u00a0How Children Learn\u00a0\u201d by John Holt.<\/td><\/tr>
\u00a0<\/td>How many of us can still remember the concepts that were drilled in to us through homeworks. See\u00a0Rethinking Homework\u00a0\u00a0and\u00a0Truth about Homework\u00a0.<\/td><\/tr>
\u00a0<\/td>\u00a0<\/td><\/tr>
Grading (carrot and stick) is must for enhancing learning.<\/td>Intrinsic Motivation is inversely proportional to extrinsic motivation such as grades (carrot and stick).<\/td><\/tr>
\u00a0<\/td>\u201d\u00a0How Children Fail\u00a0\u201d by John Holt<\/td><\/tr>
\u00a0<\/td>\u201d\u00a0From Degrading to De-Grading\u00a0\u201d by Alfie Kohn<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
\u00a0<\/td>\u201d\u00a0Grading: Issue is not how but why\u00a0\u201d by Alfie Kohn<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
\u00a0<\/td>\u00a0<\/td><\/tr>
Learning requires knowledge to be broken down in narrowly defined subject boundaries and delivered in measured installments.<\/td>Learning is non-linear. We learn through processes that are entire different from the way an expert designs the curriculum. See Frank Smith\u2019s \u201d\u00a0Insult to Intelligence\u201d<\/td><\/tr>
\u00a0<\/td>Linearity of school\u2019s curriculum kills creativity. See Ken Robinson \u201d\u00a0Schools Kill Creativity\u201d\u00a0at ted.com.<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
\u00a0<\/td>See Sugata Mitra in \u201d\u00a0Child Driven Education\u00a0\u201d at www.ted.com<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
\u00a0<\/td>\u00a0We need predictable assessment points with well defined contents to enhance learning. \u00a0Kids can learn much more than and more quickly than what we think is possible. See Ron Hunter on ted.com\u00a0World Peace Gam\u00a0e what 4th graders can achieve which many of our universities are unable to train the highly accomplished students.<\/a><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n<\/div>\n
\n \t\t\t

References<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t