Why Don’t More Educators Desire to Teach Study Skills?
The phrase “study skills” does not win any excitement awards. Let’s face it, even the idea of 'studying' can sometimes be a real buzzkill.
It makes sense to me that students might groan at the idea of studying. But, why oh why is the idea of “study skills” a buzzkill for educators, as well?!
Shouldn’t educators jump at the idea of helping students be more effective solo-learners?! Wouldn’t that be everyone’s first goal in teaching?!
Apparently not. Let me explain.
Both students and teachers have study skills deficits
Over the last fifteen years, I first built my expertise in teaching struggling students how to study more effectively. As I peeked into thousands of classrooms around the world, I witnessed students’ study skill deficits first hand.
More than that, though, I witnessed teachers’ study skill deficits first hand. Even the most creative, engaging teachers often didn’t have strong skills in helping students figure out how to study most effectively for their test, quizzes, and applied projects.
I also noticed that teachers didn’t perceive they have a deficit! They seemed to think they were doing just fine in setting students up to study successfully, and seemed to blame the students for not actually taking the time to study effectively.
Why is this?! Why is it that teachers, principals, and other school stakeholders don’t seem all that interested in learning how to teach study skills more effectively to their students? Why do they assume they’re already doing enough?
The rest of this article is my attempt to unpack my own thoughts on this question, but I’d love to be in conversation with other stakeholders.
Studying is an optional skill students must learn by themselves?
It seems to be a basic assumption that studying is something students need to figure out how to do on their own.
Teachers can help a little bit — they can provide fun mnemonics or memory tools, or provide study guides for tests. However, it’s the students who are responsible for doing whatever it takes to learn how to learn the material on their own.
Just look at all the books out there about study skills. There are many, and an increasing amount of them as the pathway to college gets more pressurized. However, most of these books are geared towards students and not educators, as if learning how to study is an optional skillset.
In my observation, very few new books actually teach educators to teach students how to study effectively. There might be a chapter or two that address how to help students be more engaged and effective learners, but most of the book still addresses how teachers can be better deliverers of engaging and effective curricula.
If I’m wrong in my observation, please correct me! Maybe I’ve missed the genre of books designed to help teachers help students be more effective learners when they are studying at home on their own.
If you’ve noticed this pattern, too, though, please tell me you agree with me… I’d love to know I’m not alone in my observations.
From my corner of the academic skills universe, however, the question keeps on coming up:
Why don’t more schools get excited about providing “study skills training” to their teachers? Why don’t more teachers reach out for this kind of training on their own?
PD prioritizes strategies that depend on teachers teaching well, rather than students learning how to learn well
It is well known that in schools and education circles, there is always a “professional development du jour.” This was certainly something I noticed back when I was a classroom teacher.
Faculty are used to their districts, principals, or heads of school structuring mandatory professional development on the latest trends in education.
Some teachers love this learning, others roll their eyes at it…. not because the trend is bad, but rather because they know from past experience that professional development is often fleeting. It just requires more work on their part, rather than becoming a part of structural and long-term change at the school. As soon as another trend rolls around, they’ll be expected to learn and practice that instead.
So much training for educators is about what teachers need to do to work harder — not how educators can set students up with the know-how and willingness to work harder themselves!
Recently I consulted at a school with the goal of helping them figure out how to improve everyone’s self-efficacy by raising everyone’s study skill literacy — both teachers’ and students.’ I started by chatting with department heads and other teachers one-on-one. Over and over, I heard some version of:
“You seem lovely, Gretchen, and also very skilled as a teacher and trainer. But I know from experience that what you’re teaching us is going to last a year or two until our administration decides to change the focus of what’s important. It’s hard for me to invest too much in what you’re teaching if I know that my administration is going to change their focus in a few years anyway.”
I have so much compassion for the faculty members, and I remember feeling the same way when I was a teacher, too. So I get it.
That said, I still don’t fully understand why we wouldn’t prioritize training educators in the sort of skills that make students better students! And building those skills into the framework of schooling so that they are always emphasized!
Wouldn’t that make everyone’s lives easier — teachers, students, parents, everyone?
How has professional development for teachers changed over the decades?
As I sat at my kitchen table mulling over these questions, I suddenly got curious: What have the various professional development trends been for teachers over the last five decades?
Because I don’t have the time in this moment for a big research project, I consulted the most knowledgeable and immediately accessible expert to which I have access right now … ChatGPT!
Here’s what I found out about trends in what I assume to be teacher development in the United States:
1970s/1980s - Pedagogical Strategies: Basic teaching techniques, standardized curricula, classroom management. Instructional methods that improve student learning outcomes, educational technology.
1990s - Student-centered Learning: Formative assessment, engaging learning environments. How to address student needs and learning styles
2000s - Integration of technology: Educational software, digital literacy, technology for personalized learning, interactive whiteboards.
2010s - Data Driven Instruction: using data to inform instruction, evidence-based practices, more rigor in assessment and accountability.
2020s - Social-Emotional Learning and Equity and Inclusion. Supporting student mental health, implicit bias
Current - There’s one more ChatGPT mentioned as a “current” trend right now, but I want to withhold that one to the end of this blog post (though now that I mentioned it… are you scanning to the end to find out what it is, or are you going to patiently follow my step-by-step dissection of the issue first…?! Oooooh, I’m so curious to know what you chose)
First of all, I don’t want to denigrate any of these topics that are listed as important teacher development through the last decades. They are all important to the well-being of students and our world.
Second, I do want to ask any readers who are also educational historians, do you agree with this list? Is ChatGPT missing anything major?
Third, whether or not this list of professional development trends in education is as thorough as we desire, a throughline jumps out at me that seems important to name:
The emphasis in each decade seems to be what faculty can change in their own practice to help students be more effective learners.
Nowhere here does there seem to be an emphasis in training toward what students can do to more effectively teach themselves.
Yes, it’s good for teachers to consistently improve their ability to deliver quality curriculum to students, and to address students’ whole selves, and help them feel a sense of belonging regardless of marginalized and historically oppressed identities. All that is so important.
However, this emphasis on adult actions that improve learning leaves out an important stakeholder in learning — students themselves.
I suppose student-centered learning, with an emphasis on learning styles and differentiated instruction, gets the closest to building students’ learning to learn skills?
However, the emphasis in that realm is still on what the teacher can do to structure an engaging curriculum, rather than focus on the students’ ability to choose engaging actions for themselves based on an understanding of why that action helps their learning
Even in the coaching corner of education, training pushes study skills to the sidelines
In my quirky corner of education — the coaching industry, including academic, ADHD, and Executive Function coaches and tutors — I’ve noticed that study skills are often missing from coach training programs.
Well, there’s always a nod to building strong study skills in students. Every training program I know of always has a module about how to support students in learning more effectively.
But just like the books written for teachers, which include a gratituitous chapter on developing student self-efficacy in regards to learning, these programs (which focus on how to coach students) seem to focus more on developing students’ inner world (those are the life-coaching-oriented programs) or their Executive Function capacity (those are the Executive Function and ADHD coaching programs).
Wait. What is the history of study skills training for educators?
Ok. Time to back up. I love how the process of writing brings up new questions. As I try to bang out this blog entry quickly that I need to ask chatGPT a new question:
“What about the science of learning and study skills? Were those ever a professional development trend in education?”
Here’s the answer I got:
Yes, the science of learning and study skills have been significant areas of focus in professional development for educators, though their prominence has varied over time. Here’s how these areas have evolved as professional development trends:
Science of Learning:
1970s-1980s: Initial focus on cognitive psychology and learning theories. Limited influence on professional development, which was more focused on traditional methods.
1990s-2000s: Increased integration of cognitive science and neuroscience into teaching practices. Professional development began to emphasize strategies like active learning and brain-based methods.
2010s-Present: Strong focus on applying cognitive science principles such as spaced repetition and retrieval practice. Current professional development emphasizes evidence-based practices to improve instructional methods.
Study Skills:
1970s-1980s: Study skills were part of broader strategies, with limited professional development focus.
1990s-2000s: Greater emphasis on teaching effective study strategies and time management. Professional development included strategies for organizational skills and self-regulation.
2010s-Present: Integration of study skills with instructional strategies. Training now aligns with cognitive science principles and focuses on personalizing study skills to meet individual needs and educational goals.
In summary, while the science of learning and study skills may not have always been the primary focus of professional development, their importance has steadily grown. Both areas are now integral to many professional development programs, reflecting a broader understanding of how cognitive research can inform and enhance teaching practices.
Again, I ask any educational historians reading this to please update or correct anything ChatGPT, and, therefore, I got wrong here.
But if this is indeed an accurate trajectory of study skills’ integration into professional deveopment for educators, I feel hope.
Our Anti-Boring Toolkit helps educators build their study skillset
I do still maintain that study skills are an important skillset in and of themselves, for both educators and students, and shouldn’t simply be integrated into other professional development programs.
However, as far as I know, my Anti-Boring Learning Lab is one of the only programs out there that focuses on effective studying as a skillset that teachers and other educators need, and not just students!
In my not-so-humble opinion, every adult who works with students needs to equip themselves with two important toolboxes:
(1) the science of learning and the associated strategies that put that science into action, and
(2) the executive functions that allow students to actually get stuff done in their lives, including but not limited to studying.
In the Anti-Boring Learning Lab we have structured our training for educators around helping students become self-sufficient, skilled learners by teaching “the least educators need to know” about these two toolboxes: study skills and executive function strategies.
The goal is to help educators help students make more effective learning choices inside the classroom and out, to be less dependent on their teachers to be great teachers, because they have the tools to be great learners themselves… and not just in school, but for the rest of their lives.
The Anti-Boring Learning Lab rides the coattails of a new PD trend in education
Remember up above when I said that ChatGPT identified another professional development trend that is rising right now? Here’s the last trend that it identified:
There is a move towards personalized professional development tailored to individual teachers’ needs and interests. Ongoing and embedded professional learning, often in the form of coaching, peer collaboration, and micro-credentialing, is becoming more common. This approach aims to provide continuous support and development rather than one-time workshops.
I love this trend towards personalized professional development, because teachers deserve to prioritize their passion and creativity just as much as students do.
In the Anti-Boring Learning Lab, we shifted our training for educators from a 40-hour course … to a set of micro-credentials that educators can work through in any order, and at their own pace, depending on what feels most meaningful to learn at different points in the school year.
We are also organizing the first ever Art of Motivating Students, a free online summit to help educators inspire students with out-of-the-box study strategies that will re-energize them to finish the semester strong.
How can you begin to upgrade the way you teach study skills… for free?!
💥 Registration for the Art of Motivating summit opens on October 1, but you can sign up on the waitlist now if you don’t want to accidentally miss the opportunity.
👉 In the meantime, you can also work through our free Unlock Student Learning gift, that teaches you the least you need to know about teaching students study skills.
🌟 Finally, if you have additional ideas, observations, or corrections for me — please feel free to share them in the comments section below. All our writing is “thinking in action,” and we are happy to integrate your ideas to help us upgrade and flesh out our thinking on important topics in education. Your perspective is welcome and valuable!