Ellen Langer on "Question of the Year"
Harvard Psychologist Ellen Langer is well known for her work on "Mindfulness." In her book "The Power of Mindful Learning" she challenges the traditional notion that learning new material is necessary before a student can then apply and achieve a deeper understanding of the content. Her research demonstrates that by teaching in a "mindful" way, that is having students think about and apply the material as they encounter it, they are able to demonstrate greater understanding, increased ability to apply concepts, and better retention than are those who are simply exposed to the material (in written or oral form) and expected to "learn it."
In the following response to our Educational Question of the Year, she shares her thought process on the future value to both students and society of providing learners with the skills and habits of mindful learning and thinking .
I think that mindlessness is at the root of virtually all of our
society's problems. That means that teaching people to be mindful would go
a long way in improving people's psychological and physical well being
and as such would reduce the desire to behave badly. (When people become
more mindful, they show an increase in self esteem, for example, which
then decreases unkindness (e.g. bullying) as a way to momentarily increase
self esteem.)
Mindfulness, in my terms, is both easy to teach and easy
to practice so that the goal stated
above is within reach. It relies on and results in a different
appreciation of uncertainty than most people now have. People tend to
confuse the stability of their mindsets with the stability of the
phenomenon in question. Things are all the while changing, so trying to
hold them still as we do when we seek certainty or teach unconditional
facts, is mindless.
In my book, The Power of Mindful Learning, I present research showing the broad
effects of mindful teaching and mindful learning and how to prevent
mindlessness. In my newest book, On Becoming An Artist: Reinventing
Yourself Through Mindful Creativity, I essentially deal with a way to
cure ourselves of the mindlessness that is now pervasive in our culture
and our daily lives.
Ellen J. Langer is professor in the psychology department at Harvard University. Her work has focused on the study the illusion of control, decision making, aging and mindfulness theory.