Tackling learning myths among trainee primary teachers: A case study

Jonathan Firth, Teaching Fellow, University of Strathclyde, UK Jennifer Zike, PhD Student in Education, University of Strathclyde, UK Myths and misconceptions about learning are pervasive among the teaching profession. Myths such as ‘learning styles’ or the idea that some pupils are ‘left brained or right brained’ have been endorsed by over 90 per cent of participants in some studies (Howard-Jones, 2014). This case study describes the development and evaluation of a short course on memory and misconceptions that was trialled with a group of second-year undergraduate trainee primary teachers in Scotland. Myths and misconceptions By ‘myths’, we mean popular ideas about learning that are not in line with the consensus among researchers. Many learning myths represent a flawed attempt to account for individual differences in learner attainment (Kuepper-Tetzel, 2017). Probably the best known is the concept of VARK (visual, auditory, reading/writing and kinaesthetic) learning