Sticky Ideas
photo credit: projectbamboo
I recently read a book called Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath that I wish I had read my first year teaching. The focus of the book was on how to make ideas stick — whether as a parent, a teacher, a marketer, etc. In order for an idea to “stick,” the audience (whether students or offspring) must:
- Pay attention
- Understand and remember it
- Agree/Believe
- Care
- Be able to act on it
Six qualities were identified in sticky ideas:
- Simple – Identify the intent and therefore core of any idea, and then make it as compact as possible.
- Unexpected — Explore the power of a good mystery and notice how humans are compelled to fill gaps in our knowledge (the source of curiosity): “Unexpected ideas are more likely to stick because surprise makes us pay attention and think. That extra attention and thinking sears unexpected events into our memories. Surprise gets our attention.” (68)
- Concrete — Effective examples included proverbs (specifically “sour grapes”) and how effective teachers should imagine a theoretical student and keep the “Curse of Knowledge” in mind at all times.
- Credible — Since people tend to believe their past experiences, family, faith, or other people they know, utilize anti-authority and testable credentials. In other words, if you can’t be an example to someone, then serve as a warning.
- Emotion – The “stickiest” ideas address our emotions — not surprising. But what was interesting is how often we act in the best interest of our group, and not just for ourselves. “…people make decisions based on identity. They ask themselves three questions: Who am I? What kind of situation is this? And what do people like me do in this kind of situation?” (190) Also, empathy emerges from the particular rather than the pattern — once people take off their analytical hats regarding a situation (like world hunger), they are better able to concentrate on the individuals actually affected (and help a child).
- Storytelling – The interesting dynamic in storytelling is how our brains “can’t imagine events or sequences without evoking the same modules of the brain that are evoked in real physical activity” (212). In fact, one study found that “mental practice alone produced about two thirds of the benefits of actual physical practice.” (213) The Heaths compare our memory to velcro — the more hooks, the better — and a good story provides the most sensory hooks.
Consider this quote: “The way you deliver a message to [people] is a cue to how they should react. If you make an argument, you’re implicitly asking them to evaluate your argument — judge it, debate it, criticize it — and then argue back, at least in their own minds. But with a story…you engage the audience — you are involving people with the idea, asking them to participate with you.” (234) Teachers and parents of the world, listen up!!
Two of the above ideas are crucial for every teacher to not only understand but internalize — core and the Knowledge Gap. We so quickly become lost in the details of teaching — whether testing or requirements or simply making through each day — that we forget to answer that all-important question: “So What?”
Why is it important that our students learn the particular concept we are teaching? How will this knowledge be relevant in their present or future life? Why are we spending precious time on this and not on something else?
Once we identify these core answers, and then explain them to our students, it becomes much easier to compete with the daily demands of text-messaging, Guitar Hero, and the latest, greatest craze.
So, the next time one of your squirmy 9th graders asks, “WHY do we have to learn this?” Have a thoughtful answer at the ready!
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
Related Posts
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Comments
No comments yet.
Leave a comment