According to Dr Stanislas Dehaene’s research, there are 4 Pillars of learning and he describes these as being the secret ingredients of successful learning in the human brain. This metaphor is an important reference for anyone involved in planning an effective early intervention program.
Literacy specialists and tutors are well placed to have an impact on a child’s learning through effective, targeted and carefully designed intervention.
A carefully designed early intervention program should include opportunity for the 4 Pillars of learning to be supported. According to Stanislas Dehaene, if one pillar is not being supported, then the whole structure can come crumbling down.
The 4 Pillars include:
Attention – A tutor giving 1:1 instruction is better positioned to attend to a student’s needs. Student’s attention can be focused to particular information and items. When the tutor can attend to a particular item, this amplifies this information for the student. This is essential for students with challenges.
Active Engagement – The brain is curious about the world and is constantly testing new ideas and hypotheses. A tutor giving 1:1 instruction can channel a student’s curiosity by keeping the student engaged while targeting their attention to the task.
Error Feedback – Students are constantly predicting, comparing and correcting their view of the world. A tutor giving 1:1 instruction plays a critical role in correcting errors quickly and with stress free feedback.
Consolidation – A tutor giving 1:1 instruction is constantly attempting to shift information from the frontal cortex into permanent stores in the brain. Through consolidation tasks, students begin to hold things in long term memory for automaticity and retrieval of that information in the future. Professor Dehaene also notes that a good nights sleep plays an essential part in this process as well. As tutors we can encourage our families and students to have healthy routines in the evening before they fall asleep.
When these 4 Pillars are addressed in our intervention programs, then we have captured the secret ingredients for successful learning experiences.
Find out more on Stanislas Dehaene including his publications at https://www.college-de-france.fr/site/en-stanislas-dehaene/index.htm
