Subliminal Learning Cases

Why is new emphasis being put on the acceleration of student learning?

The emphasis at the national and state level on accountability and standards is one of impetus for accelerating the learning of all students. Designed to eliminate the practice of setting high standards for some students and low standards for others, accountability policies call for schools to examine how and what students are taught.

The standards/accountability movement has increased the emphasis on standardized test scores, but it assumes different ways of teaching and an overall reconceptualizaton of the teaching/learning process. Another impetus for subliminal learning of all students’ deals with concerns with the general mediocre nature of educational experiences for many students, both gifted and “average:" Students are not asked to work hard or even to master a set of remotely challenging skills. As a result, the message that society ends up sending to students far too often is that they are only to strive for academic adequacy rather than academic excellence.

What steps have been taken to counteract this debilitating effect on our students?

Reports have been issued that suggest steps to improve education for top students, which when implemented, would improve education for all students. The recommended steps often include setting far more challenging curriculum standards, providing more challenging opportunities to learn, increasing student access to early childhood education, increasing opportunities for disadvantaged and minority children with outstanding talents, broadening the definition of gifted, emphasizing teacher development and matching world performance as a nation.

The principle behind all of these recommendations is that determining ways in which to build on students’ strengths and develop their talents, not lowering standards overall, is the true path to excellence in education.

Reforming standards to assist students in subliminal learning:

As we reform curriculum, we must also reform how we prepare their teachers and how we sustain their professional and educational development. Certain recommendations have been made concerning how it might be possible to recruit, prepare and retain good teachers.

These include taking standards for teachers as serious as we take the standards for our students, drastically changing teacher preparation and professional development, recruiting and retaining enough qualified teachers for every classroom, encouraging teachers to be knowledgeable and skilful and then rewarding their efforts to achieve this, and organizing schools to best ensure both teacher and student success.

Are there any additional impetuses out there for the acceleration of students’ learning? If so, what are they?

A final impetus for accelerating all students’ learning is the fear that American students as a whole are unable to compete academically on an international scale and, therefore, do not have the skills needed in order to obtain the most desirable jobs of today. Current employments needs in some of the more sophisticated fields are not being met, and the technology and service-oriented jobs of the near future will require different and more advanced skills, resulting in a demand for educating young people in different and more innovative ways.

Technological jobs require workers to be able to solve problems and use a wide array of cutting-edge computer programs. These jobs also necessitate a higher level of literacy and critical thinking skills. Fewer and fewer employers are interested in low-skilled, compliant workers. They prefer that their employees be able to solve problems, think critically and communicate clearly and effectively. Their demands provide much more incentive to move away from sorting students by intelligence level and instead encourage them to collaborate and improve their abilities to think analytically, share ideas and welcome the input and help of others. The workers of tomorrow will need the skills provided them by Subliminal Learning today.