Prime Minister's Awards for teaching Excellence

ARCHIVED—Learning how to learn

Archived Content

Information identified as archived on the Web is for reference, research or recordkeeping purposes. It has not been altered or updated after the date of archiving. Web pages that are archived on the Web are not subject to the Government of Canada Web Standards. As per the Communications Policy of the Government of Canada, you can request alternate formats on the "Contact Us" page.

Psychological research into human cognition — the study of how we perceive the world and how we learn — has made remarkable gains in recent years. Not surprisingly, teachers are beginning to apply some of these findings to their teaching. Virtually all of this year's contributors to Exemplary Practices have taken advantage of some of these new ideas.

Here, four teachers — Jane Skinner, Johanne Patry, Edward James and Kanwal Neel — discuss how they have adapted ideas developed by psychologists to help shape the material they present to their students and to help students learn how to learn. The teachers point out that these techniques are, in many ways, familiar and that many educators already use them instinctively. But, by taking advantage of the latest research to further develop teaching techniques, teachers can make the payoff for students greater.