The Cultural Myths and the Realities of Teaching and Learning

Abstract

In this article I describe evidence that most teaching follows the standard patterns of a cultural ritual that has remained largely unchanged despite many attempts to reform and change it. A series of research studies show that teachers are largely unaware of individual student learning and base their practice on the cultural ideal of the busy active classroom. Although evidence shows that differences in student learning are primarily the effect of motivation and cultural background, myths about academic ability have evolved to explain these differences and shift the blame onto students. Research is needed to replace myth and ritual with reliable evidence.