The upcoming school year has once again raised the question of how to learn more effectively. Educational psychologist Grete Arro said on the "Vikerhommik" radio show that the focus should primarily be on three aspects: understanding so-called complex concepts, as well as how to memorize information and how to read.

The importance of trying it yourself

Arro emphasized the importance of internalizing new types of tasks by making them your own. She explained, "When tackling such tasks at home, the most sensible approach is for the student to try as long as possible on their own: I know I can always look at the instructions, but I won't. I'll try it myself first. I'll try to get as far as I can. Maybe I'll come up with a hypothesis on how to solve it, maybe I'll reach a wrong solution or maybe at least I'll come up with a very good question, and only then will I check how it's supposed to be done."

She further explained that by solving tasks this way, the brain learns to become a problem solver. "The brain learns to be smart only through solving, not through copying. If a student looks at how it's done and then solves it according to the instructions, that moment of learning is wasted. At that point, they're not learning anything," Arro said, adding that it's crucial for students to struggle with the task.

"Even if I don't manage to solve the task on my own, which is perfectly fine, the important thing is that I tried to solve it myself. When I then look at the solution, it's much more likely to stick in my memory compared to if I just gave up, looked at the instructions and solved it that way. On paper, it may look the same to the teacher afterward, but the struggle is what's beneficial for learning," she explained.

Long-term memory

To ensure that knowledge is retained for a long time, it needs to be stored in long-term memory. Arro explained, "It's not effective to try to recall information by first reading through words, a text or a poem, then closing your eyes or the material and starting to recite it from memory. It's more beneficial to do this with a longer gap between reviewing and recalling – trying to dredge it up from long-term memory."

She further elaborated, "These recall episodes don't need to be long at all, but they do need to engage long-term memory. Students tend to want to look at the material first and then try to recall it from memory. However, this method of learning isn't actually effective." The educational psychologist emphasized that merely copying words doesn't help to remember them long-term.

"When we copy something, we don't really engage with the content. If the words are truly new, it's helpful to encode them – think about how to make them stick in your memory: does the word remind you of another word or does it have a funny part in it? If the words are entirely new, it's wise to reflect on them. The first phase shouldn't be just rote copying, but rather thinking about the words and finding similarities with existing knowledge. When I think about a new word in the context of what I already know, it ties them together in memory, and these old pieces of knowledge can help me recall the new word in the future," Arro explained.

Calm environment

Although some students enjoy listening to music or having background noise while studying, Arro suggests that learning should ideally be accompanied by silence. "Our brains are wired in such a way that other stimuli – whether it's sounds or something flickering on a screen in the background – are designed to capture our attention.

"It's also very difficult for adults to suppress stimuli that enter their sensory field. Our evolutionarily old brain knows that this could be a potential threat, so our attention is naturally drawn to unexpected sounds or flashes," she said, adding that the younger the child, the harder it is for them to maintain and direct their attention. Their working memory is constantly being interrupted by stimuli that are unrelated to the task they are trying to learn or complete.

"Research shows that even classrooms with emptier walls are more beneficial for children. In other words, classrooms that are heavily decorated are actually more harmful because the child's attention is so easily diverted to those things. The same applies at home. In some ways, a more minimalist, almost monastic environment is definitely more supportive. Especially when the task is challenging and requires the full capacity of the child's working memory, taking up part of that working memory to process external stimuli is a very bad idea. I recommend getting used to silence, seeking out that silence and providing it for children," she advised.

Parents' role

According to Arro, parents should avoid passing on their negative learning experiences to their children. "We should curb the instinct to signal that certain subjects are difficult or intimidating. Instead, we should convey that physics is cool – because physics is cool – and that math is amazing, because math is wonderful," she shared.

"The wrong approach would be to deepen a child's fear of certain subjects or to say, 'This was so hard for me.' Even if that was true, today we should instill in the child the belief that there is no reason why they can't come to love that subject. Our biggest concern may be that children don't love learning. Every school has the potential to teach in a way that makes children love learning, just as we see that many adults love learning."

Arro believes that parents should actually get excited about challenging tasks because those are the ones that are truly interesting. "Simple tasks are boring and don't help us grow. If a task is easily done, it's a wasted learning moment, because the child needs a more challenging task. If we could find that sparkle in ourselves – the excitement of 'Oh, this is hard, this is great because it requires effort, and we really need to use our brains' – that would be especially beneficial," Arro said.

Competitive and comparative education system

The educational psychologist emphasized that learning should be a cognitive effort, but if it is associated with factors that negatively impact a child's psychological, emotional or social well-being, the child may start to perceive cognitive effort as something bad or harmful. She highlighted the negative impact of rushing through tasks.

"For example, if tasks are timed and I find out that I'm the 'slow' one who didn't manage to come up with a solution in time, it creates a feeling of inadequacy. Competition or comparison fosters a desire to be in the 'good' group, and if I'm not, I feel very bad about myself," she explained. "If we could make our education system less hurried – because I honestly don't know why there needs to be so much rush – we would be doing a lot of good."

Arro stressed that a competitive and comparative education system undermines the future of the entire country. "It throws a wrench into everything we are trying to achieve here. It certainly diminishes the likelihood that children will grow to love deep and complex cognitive processing. Instead, the love of learning and becoming smarter tends to decline. The more we support learning that is always challenging yet free from anxiety, shame, stress, embarrassment, fear and intimidation, the better the outcomes will be. And then we'll see that children do love to strive – they work hard in areas they are passionate about."

She pointed out that the curriculum is constantly being developed because the current one is built around discipline rather than being brain-based. "But it's the brain that learns," she emphasized. "I really hope that these developments will lead to asking the right questions about how much time is needed for certain concepts, like percentage calculations, and how much time should be allocated to other topics. If we can get those answers right, the pressure might decrease."

Arro also argued that rushing through topics leaves significant gaps in knowledge. "We spend a lot of time doing the wrong things – time spent on activities that aren't actually beneficial for learning, yet we do them at a frantic pace. We waste a lot of time using methods that don't help," she noted, citing the example of tasks with monotonous solutions.

"Solving tasks with a monotonous approach doesn't reinforce anything because a task that no longer requires thinking doesn't reinforce learning. That same task should appear in a slightly different context, from a different angle, with a different nuance, to make the student pause and think. A good task is one that doesn't allow for a quick answer," she remarked.

Additionally, Arro highlighted the crucial role of dialogue in acquiring knowledge. "Complex concepts can only be learned through dialogue, conversation, debate and discussion – especially in mathematics, there should be a lot of talking. We still have subjects where there isn't as much dialogue as there could be, and dialogue should be more dominant," she reflected.

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