Further evidence has been provided by neuroscientists that we are not blank slates. This predominant view has been held by the western caucasian world for centuries. Therefore it has informed our major cultural institutions such as education.
It’s easy to understand the formation of the industrial learning system based on the belief that since you are born a blank slate, it is imperative that you be exposed to a certain set of experiences to ensure you become a capable, contributing citizen aka an employable unit.
But we’re past that. As the linked article above says, “this discovery redistributes the balance between innate and acquired [knowledge], and represents a considerable advance in our understanding of how the brain works.” Now the question is how long will it take us to catch up with this new understanding.
How do you invite in prior knowledge into your classrooms? Do you account for more than what the student learned in school in years past? How do you provide space for children to discover and articulate that which they already know (from in and outside of school) and use it to amplify current classroom lessons or explorations?