I was aghast to read an extract from Malcolm Gladwell’s new book, David And Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits And The Art Of Battling Giants in The Guardian yesterday. Not because it’s bad, but because it’s the book I wanted to write!
Or rather, it’s not. The David & Goliath metaphor is intriguing, but not really what I’m interested in. What got my heart rate up was an oblique reference to Professor Bjork’s work on ‘desirable difficulties’. This extract from David and Goliath is, for the most part, about dyslexia. In it Gladwell contends that adversity creates conditions for surprising greatness:
Conventional wisdom holds that a disadvantage is something that ought to be avoided; that it is a setback or a difficulty that leaves you worse off than you would be otherwise. But that is not always the case. Can dyslexia, for example, turn out to be what’s known as a “desirable difficulty”? It is hard to believe that it can, given how many people struggle with the disorder throughout their lives – except for a strange fact.
An extraordinarily high number of successful entrepreneurs are dyslexic.
Obviously, Gladwell will have written something wildly successful, eminently readable and a lot better than anything I might write, but I’ve been fascinated by the idea that making the conditions in which students learn more difficult might increase their chances of retaining and transferring new knowledge and skills.
Gladwell’s big idea here is that the adversity of reading difficulties may well create the conditions where dyslexics compensate by developing better listening skills and memory. This may in turn mean that they are able to think faster on their feet and, hey presto! they’re a successful entrepreneur.
Now, of course I’m caricaturing the argument; Gladwell himself makes the point that those who suffer with dyslexia wouldn’t wish the condition on their own children. Add to the that the vast numbers of dyslexics who are not multi-millionaires and I think we can agree that reading difficulties on their own are hardly likely to make a person successful. I will read the rest of the book with interest and look forward to the inevitable insights that Gladwell’s restless mind always sheds on the fascinating crevices of popular psychology, but in the meantime I think there is important thinking to be done in the sphere of education. Bjork’s experiments are conducted under laboratory conditions and, while they provide compelling evidence of how we learn, think and remember, these things become massively more complex when released into the roiling cauldron of real classrooms. In reality, if I make it harder for my pupils (particularly the ones I’m currently teaching) to learn I’ll just annoy them. I find it challenging enough to motivate truculent teenagers without asking them to swallow the hare-brained theorising of cognitive scientists and become my willing lab rats.
And this is a problem with education research. Much as I find the theory of desirable difficulties compelling, putting it into practice is fraught with, dare I say it, difficulties. The problem is, short term gains in performance are what our education system is all about: kids want to feel they’ve made a step closer to passing an exam each lesson, teachers want to feel that they’re working their way through the curriculum and that pupils are on track to make three or, please God, four levels of shiny progress and the Byzantine accountability systems that oversees it all doesn’t really seem to give a stuff about actually learning. Who cares if pupils actually retain and apply what they’ve learned in school? As long as they pass those exams nothing else seems to matter. If as teachers we try to cast ourselves as researchers into our practice, will we be supported if what we’re interested in researching doesn’t align with these short-term goals?
Against this backdrop, the prevailing winds in education research blow steadily towards finding out ‘what works’. And when we say ‘works’ we tend to mean, ‘produces the best exam results’. This is why so much time and effort is spent intervening with Year 11 pupils who might not make the grade. I don’t think anyone really believes that this is the best way to expend our resources but those short term boosts in performance that come from intensive massed practice are all the excuse we need to keep on doing it. For as long as we’re held so rigidly to account on whether Year 11 can perform at C grade on a given day, no one is really going to care enough about experimenting with spaced and interleaved curricula for Year 7.
Are all difficulties desirable? Does adversity always bring out the best in us? One of the other fascinating nuggets Gladwell unearths in his new book is that the death of a parent greatly increases the chances of ‘genius’ emerging. The number of British prime ministers, American presidents and various other highly distinguished folks across history who lost a parent in childhood is compelling. This would suggest that we are at our best when things are hardest. Diamonds are created from tremendous geological forces and so too, it seems, are great people. But for the most part people are broken when put under enough pressure. That’s not to say everything will break, but there’ll always be casualties. At what point will the difficulties inherent in trying to do the best for the young people we’re supposed to be educating become too great? How much stress can the system be put under before it snaps? Or is the millstone of shifting league table measures, high stakes inspections and one-shot opportunities to pass merely a useful way to sort the wheat from the chaff?
Related posts
Stress – how much is too much?
Deliberately difficult – why it’s better to make learning harder
Does dyslexia exist?
John Tomsett on the announcement that retakes won’t count in schools’ accountability measures
A fascinating subject and one that shaves particularly close. The consideration as to the impact of challenging life events and their potentially positive impact upon the path you subsequently tread is unending and occasionally a little disturbing. I’m not sure how many would wish for such adversity, but subsequent reflection can help to reveal that it is indeed that which we have overcome that truly and most definitely moulds us.
[…] via Are all difficulties desirable? | David Didau: The Learning Spy. […]
It has often been said that ‘what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger’, but to argue that difficulties such as dyslexia are actually desirable because they will be ‘character-building’ in some way is simplistic. One only needs to look at the high proportion of prison inmates who have literacy difficulties, to know that for the vast majority of children, learning difficulties are not a stepping stone to career success and wealth.
Yeah – isn’t that the point I made?
I once told a bottom set English group that English and Literacy were important because of the statistics about inmates and reading. Talk about backfire! They immediately assumed I was assigning them to a life inside. It’s difficult to sidestep simple cause and effect and in his other book, Outliers, Gladwell discusses the less obvious things which often lead to an outcome which are then simplified in retrospect; simplified usually into a human interest story. Perhaps the two should be read in conjunction. I’m definitely reading this one too so thanks for the review!
Hello David
I think it’s about ensuring that children and young people have opportunities to be in their “Stretch” zone – in other words, in situations that test them beyond what they are comfortable with, but does not completely knock them for six.
It’s one of the reasons I teach outside. It’s often more unpleasant (think of the weather in the north of Scotland). It’s often in less-than-ideal circumstances (I am cursed by grass cutters who must have memorised my timetable). There are constant disruptions (those gulls will try to eat anything lying around after break). But all this makes the learning sticky. It becomes more memorable. And both myself as a teacher and my students are constantly having to adapt and think on our feet. I feel it has made me a more resilient teacher. And I have children who are “tough” learners as a result too.
Another reason I teach outside, is to meet the needs of children, such as those who have dyslexia. There are many different routes to literacy and numeracy skills acquisition and sitting at a desk being bombarded with text is not always necessary. I use sticks rather than chalk or clipboards for much of my work. If a child makes a mistake, such as putting a stick in the wrong place, he or she can move it. There is no reminder of “the mistake” which is simply part of a process of trial and error that is learning. And the increased challenge here is trusting children to use sticks…!
I appreciate I’m coming at this thread from a very different perspective but hopefully it will add to the debate. I would like to make it clear too, that going outside to learn is not a panacea for all that’s needing sorted in education. Also, with the best will in the world, it will not compensate for dealing with major life events such as deaths, abuse, etc. Although there is interesting research emerging year-on-year about the restorative benefits of time in nature.
Best wishes
Juliet
[…] I was aghast to read an extract from Malcolm Gladwell’s new book, David And Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits And The Art Of Battling Giants in The Guardian yesterday. Not because it’s bad, but because it’s the book I wanted to write! […]
Here’s the deal. To make it simple and realistic.
In the effort to teach them too much, we certainly lose out on the opportunity to let them ‘waller’ in their struggle . .hopefully long enough for them to figure out the intended objective.
couple variables–a student’s individual capacity to deal with adversity.
So, in the course of an education, rather than setting up contrived problems so they can all struggle. —
Can we empower them with the understanding that the DIFFICULTY is exactly what we are overcoming. That there is joy in discovering the exact place we struggle, so we can overcome it. Then revel in the glory of persevering?!
I first started teaching this when I watched my students attack an –easy– problem, that just required some time to sort out. It was on one of those high-stakes tests. I couldn’t bail them out …so I learned something. They had the skills! They lacked PERSEVERANCE.
That idea transformed my instructional practices.
I know that it must be intentionally taught. That idea of a growth mindset. That we are all born with varying levels of skill in whatever pursuit. But with perseverance we all have the opportunity to be great.
I believe the way to look at this is in a dual way. It’s both true that a person under great stress might grow considerably and another will cave in. Our minds tend to want to see causes and effects so we can explain things. But we rarely see all what’s playing onto circumstances. I think the merit is usually not with the fact (for example, the difficulty, the assignment, or the catastrophe), but with the person. The person is what varies. Even more, each case is a case. Yes, it’s true difficulties makes us grow, but only if we tackle it, if we give in we die. Some people (kids or adults) are survivors, have more energy, others will give up and succumb. (thus: ‘what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger’). And there is no explanation for this, although our minds would love to find one.
@Ana . .Yep, that is what I have learned while working with others and teaching about the idea of accepting struggle as an ‘opportunity’. It really does depend on the person. “couple variables–a student’s individual capacity to deal with adversity.”
So, I do teach that all of us are born with varying levels of capacity to deal with adversity. Just like the ability to play soccer or learn math, everyone has the opportunity to overcome but persevering. It is proven by endless studies.
Even the The US Dept of Education determined that there is a need to address the issue of Grit, Perseverance and tenacity.
The trouble becomes how to teach youngsters in such a way that each one who needs it, feels empowered to employ whatever resources, however minimal . .
to overcome.
is that possible. .do you know of any resources?
Yes, it can be difficult, specially with so much lack of understanding we as a society have about kids. To get a better response when dealing with kids I learned it’s necessary to look at each of them individually, with care, earnest attention. Easier said than done? You bet— specially because it mostly hasn’t been done to us—but there is not other way that I know. Though redundant, I feel the need to say ‘we’re dealing with human beings, not robots’. Formulas won’t do. Kids come equipped to get what they need. They give away signs ALL the time, if we pay earnest attention we’ll get those signs. They will welcome the challenge if it’s in them, but you will have to find out the right balance between freedom and rules, and that’s an art, a most beautiful and useful one.
I want to emphasize a piece of “David and Goliath’s” book that precisely gets to a point rarely made: http://sdrv.ms/1cPNolE.
Also, read “Prisoners of Childhood: The Drama of the Gifted Child and The Search for The True Self” (http://www.alice-miller.com/books_en.php?page=1) to learn more on how kids’ minds work. Make sure to read the 1981 edition, the others have been maimed.
Another article you might have read already: http://sdrv.ms/1bZicjN
And more on Education here:
http://www.insidemoves.org/HelpfulLinks?rpp%5Bvalue%5D=50&Resource_Kind%5Bvalue%5D=&category_id%5Bvalue%5D=92&stage_id%5Bvalue%5D=&Keyword%5Bvalue%5D=§ion=HelpfulLinks
Finally, I don’t listen to the experts without doing my own research, observation, experimentation, and learning. Have fun.
One more thing: I don’t think the point of the book is to suggest we should add more difficulty to our lives (like to hope our kids are born with dyslexia), but to create awareness that existing difficulty can be turned into a positive, if we can’t avoid having it.
Furthermore, it invites us to shift the way we see/perceive difficulties, so we’re not constantly avoiding it, since some are “desirable” (meaning = it’s better to tackle it and grow than to do everything possible to avoid it, possibly creating even other problems on the way) and other “undesirable” (meaning = the damage overpowers the growth). And based on that, make more conscious and productive decisions. This subject is very subjective, so honesty is of upmost importance.
I’d say between two things, we shall choose the easiest way, life is difficult enough, and there is not such a person who won’t encounter difficulties in their paths. The message of the book to me is not to invent difficulty, but to tackle the ones we have already, and we all do, be it material or immaterial. Or better, just because it’s a difficulty, it doesn’t mean it should be avoided and fought. Obstacles are natural.
Now, one has to be earnest, specially when dealing with kids, so authority doesn’t turn into control, and difficulty into torture. We work with the kids, not against them. Obvious, but not what I see out there.
This can be such a dangerous argument for those who the system has let down – too many leaners with reading difficulties in PRUs and being excluded to justify this often.
The ‘challenge’ argument for them is lazy.
For those that are coping.
In the current climate of more tests, less coursework and no avenue to show verbal ability, those learners who do work three times as hard as their peers to counter their difficulties are being punished further. Many students with dyslexia have great resilience but are having the alternative assessment route to show their ability pulled from under their feet. This is when ‘challenge’ becomes ‘a challenge too far’.
@julesdaulby
No difficulty is desirable if it doesn’t lead to success. Does that help?
Yes it does actually. Good point. *walks way placated*
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Currently I am in the challenge stage of my own learning journey.. being a ‘desirable’ dyslexic trainee teacher. I was not fully aware of my Dyslexia until age of 21 ( final year of BA hons) I am only learning now at 30 how I have managed by choosing many creative outlets instead of choosing to read and write. I am only hoping this challenge and sense of difficulty ( which has almost broken me several times ) gives me something positive to help my students. But I also face the challenge of being partially deaf, I guess this means I have to really concentrate on listening and memory? I guess that what doesn’t break you makes you more empathetic.