Learning Makes Itself Invisible. This month I am guest blogging at School of Everything, the website that helps people who want to learn meet people who want to teach.
I’ll be posting here and there about what psychologists know about learning. Below is my first post… Once you have learnt something you see the world differently. Not only can you appreciate or do something that you couldn’t appreciate or do before, but the way you saw the world before is now lost to you. This works for the small things as well as the big picture. This means it is hard to imagine what it is like for someone else who hasn’t learnt what you’ve learnt. The reason this occurs is because of two facts about the mind that are not widely appreciated. The second important fact about the mind is related to the first. We can see this in microcosm if we look at a small example of what is called one-shot perceptual learning. Now probably you don’t know, but I would like you do savour the feeling of not knowing. One-shot learning is unusual. Exams, Demand, and a Short Lesson in Controlling Public Discourse.
Dan observes that exams may or may not be getting easier, but journalists are as disingenuous as ever Edited to add: As somebody points out in the comments below, I'm kind of a dick to journalists in the article and for that I do genuinely apologise, I make some unfair overgeneralisations about the profession which were cheap and unsupported.
As always when this sort of thing happens, I am leaving the text as originally published, because I believe it is important to own your mistakes. Ofqual, the UK regulatory body overseeing qualifications, published a report last week which – according to journalists across the country “proves” that exams “are getting easier” which is leading to “falling standards”. The BBC opens with the only-slightly-sensationalist “Science and geography exams easier, Ofqual says”, while the print edition of the Daily Mail opened with “It's Official!
Before we do anything else, let's look at what the report actually said: And that's it. Short answer: Probably. Derailing for Dummies. In attempting to communicate with you, the Marginalised Person™ may bring up examples of the sorts of daily manifestations of discrimination they face.
Many of these examples seem trivial to Privileged People® but clearly reflect the way the Marginalised Person™ has been “othered” by society. “Othering” is a system of social markers that defines “Us” and “them”, neatly and conveniently categorising people into their appropriate places within society. It’s a way of defining a secured and positive position in the world by stigmatising “others”. In other words, it’s the process of dehumanising anyone different to the Chosen Privileged. The Marginalised Person™ you’re dealing with has been subjected to this “othering”. This means that their body is viewed as public property and the personal, intricate details of their lives and being are perceived as free information. Without a doubt, one of the most powerful tactics to use here is comparing male circumcision to female genital mutilation. Classic Burger Recipe, How to make burgers.