Learning: Why you can’t remember names!

People learn in different ways.  One way of thinking about  learning relates to which side of the brain people use most.

Are you a left brain learner or a right brain learner?  Which side of your brain do you use to learn and why does it matter?

Well, it matters because when you know HOW you learn best you can learn easier and faster.  Now that sounds good!

So, lets look at the differences between right and left brain learners.  Everybody has a mix of both learning styles but the mix is not equal and that makes a difference, a difference that matters.

Look at left brain learners first.  Teachers love left brain learners because they are logical and controlable.

Left brain learners like to learn in sequential steps, they like order and systems and logical thinking and multiple choice questions … all the things that happen in class.  They like to think of one thing at a time, preferably about something that is concrete and controlable.  They look for differences between things as a way of understanding them.  They don’t put up with ‘wooly’ thinking.

Left brain learning skills are good at solving math problems and any problems that need to be thought about in a structured, step by step, way to get at a solution. And they only like problems that have one, or at most, two possible solutions!

Left brain learners remember people’s names.

Now to people who are right brain learners.

Right brain learners tend to be intuitive, spontaneous, and to act on emotions much more than left brain learners.  They are willing to take more risks and try new ways of learning.  They can, and do, think of many things at the same time – they can drive left brain learners nuts when they do this.

They like to solve problems wholistically and they may struggle to do things step by step.  They see the big picture and may not be interested in details.  Classrooms are not set up for Right Brain learners.  They don’t follow the rules.  Right Brain learners want, and need, to do things their own way and if the teacher does not trust the way they work they can feel constrained and restricted by classroom  learning tasks.

Right Brain learners are visionaries.  Being a visionary is always difficult because people may not share your vision and they may feel threatened by it.  Yet visionaries have lots to offer and we would be a less advanced society without their input.

Right Brain learners remember faces, not names.

So next time you forget someone’s name you can excuse yourself by saying that you are a right brain learner!  Well, that’s my excuse anyway!

Try it and let me know what happens!