Is teacher training missing some fundamental generalisations about what students have in common?

In addition to setting out a vision of what teachers should be taught, Willingham is clear about what should be left behind. Willingham is concerned that grand theories of learning can generate incorrect predictions. For example, he argues that Piaget’s theory of cognitive development, which is widely taught in teacher training and based around the idea that children progress through distinct stages of development, can underestimate the capacity of a child at a given age. You might have a high-attaining younger child who can think about abstract concepts, for example, which Piaget’s theory wouldn’t predict.

Likewise, Willingham suggests that broad claims – for example, learning is a social process – are too general to be useful. If a teacher follows this, they might focus on the impact of group norms on student motivation, emphasise expectations about classroom behaviour, or prioritise collaborative enquiry as a core pedagogical approach on the understanding that students will learn more from their peers. The problem is that almost nothing is ruled out.

Instead of focusing on theories or assumptions, Willingham argues that teachers should be taught a small number of well-defined generalisations that are supported by robust evidence and work in a variety of different settings. These ’empirical generalisations’ could include: that practice is essential to gaining expertise; that probing memory improves retention; and that sleep improves memory.

Willingham believes that each generalision should be academically uncontroversial and practically useful. While academics constantly aim to discover new ideas, Willingham suggests that for teachers novelty is unhelpful. Thus teachers should have a mental model of the learner ‘that would bore researchers’.