Why we cling to our views so adamantly

'We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them', Albert Einstein.

I have said that if I were to draw a graph of my students learning to read, the graph would be horizontal to the X axis for about a month before it suddenly and sharply moves upwards. You may read it here.

It takes about one month to get my students to unlearn the wrong things they have learned. You may read my post on 'unlearn' here.

I watched a YouTube video last week that depicts what I have learned over the years from teaching my students including teaching them to unlearn what they had learned wrongly

Please watch the following video to the end and let us see what we learn from it.

When you have a rigid way of thinking in your head, sometimes you cannot change that, even if you want to.

The guy in the video practiced 5 minutes every day and only after 8 months could he ride that bike. One day he could not ride the bike and the next day he could. It was like he could find some kind of pathway in his brain that was unlocked.

His son had been riding a normal bike for 3 years and that was over half his life.

The father wanted to know how long it would take for his son to ride a backward brain bike.

In two weeks his son did what took him 8 months to do.

It took him 20 minutes to be able to ride a normal bike again after having learned to ride the backward brain bike.

What does this tell us about what has been covered in my blog?

i.               Do not teach a child the wrong sounds of alphabet as they can get stuck with what they have learned.

ii.              It takes considerable effort and time to unlearn what a child has learned.

iii.            The earlier a child is re-mediated the better because of brain plasticity.

iv             The older you get the more difficult it is to unlearn what you have learned wrongly.

v.              “One day he could not ride the bike and the next day he could.” This is the day the line parallel to the X-axis moves upwards. Exactly what I had observed in my students.