Learning How to Learn
How to Reframe Your Ability to Learn and Heal
Can we talk about the sentence that changes everything?
Last week, I met with a new Grade 11 student, tears in their eyes. They'd just received another test back. Another disappointment. Another piece of "evidence" that they weren't smart enough.
"I think I'm just broken," they said. "Everyone else gets it. I study for hours and still fail."
I asked them one question: "Has anyone ever taught you how to study? HOW to learn?"
Silence.
Then: "Wait... that's something you can learn?"
The Hidden Curriculum Nobody Teaches
We teach WHAT to learn:
Photosynthesis
Quadratic equations
Geology, geographical locations, geopolitics
Shakespeare's sonnets
But we rarely teach HOW to learn:
How to break projects down to make them less intimidating and easier to start (and start sooner)
How to study effectively for YOUR brain
How to repair attention when it feels fragmented
How to approach multiple choice tests strategically
And then we wonder why learners struggle. Students get labelled "lazy," "unmotivated," "not academic," or "just not a _____ person" (fill in the blanks: math, science, writing, or school writ large).
What if they're none of those things?
What if they just never learned HOW to learn?
Meet Three Learners Who Aren't Broken (At All)
Jamie, Grade 8:
Before: "I'm stupid at French. I study vocabulary for hours and remember nothing."
Discovery: 4 hours of rewriting vocab the night before a quiz just doesn't work; period.
Now: Jamie practices 5 vocab words a day, whether there's a test or not; total daily study time is 10 minutes.
Results: Went from 52% to 82% in one term.
What changed: Not Jamie's intelligence, just their strategy.
Aisha, University First Year:
Before: "I can't focus. Everyone else can sit and study for hours."
Discovery: Aisha was trying to study at the end of the night after 2-3 lectures/day and a 2-hour round-trip commute.
Now: Studies in 3 x 20 minute bursts, 4 days/week: after breakfast, on the train ride in, and before leaving campus.
Results: Dean's list.
What changed: Not Aisha's brain, just their timing.
Marcus, Grade 10:
Before: "I'm not a reader. I've read the same page five times and remember l-i-t-e-r-a-l-l-y nothing."
Discovery: Marcus needs context before details. Was reading without framework.
Now: Scans opening and closing paragraphs, and any headings, first.
Results: Suddenly books make sense.
What changed: Not Marcus's ability, just their approach
The "How to Learn" Revolution
Google’s top AI scientist says ‘learning how to learn’ will be next generation’s most needed skill.
Here's what I know after years of working with learners:
99% of "struggling students" aren't struggling with ability, they're struggling with strategy.
They're using someone else's learning blueprint for their beautiful, unique brain, energies, and rhythms. (Which would be like wearing someone else's glasses and wondering why everything's blurry.)
The Five Learning Myths That Create a Sense of "Brokenness"
Myth 1: "There's One Right Way to Study"
Reality: There are as many ways to learn as there are brains.
The student studying with music isn't distracted. They might be using it as a sound-wall to drive focus. The student who can't sit still isn't defiant. They might consolidate learning through gestures and movement. The student who draws during lessons isn't unfocused. They might be encoding visually.
Myth 2: "Smart Kids Don't Need to Be Taught How to Learn"
Reality: Intelligence and learning strategies are completely different things.
Brilliant students often struggle most because they've never had to develop strategies. When content gets complex, they discover they're tool- and strategy-less. This isn't failure, it's a missing skill set.
Myth 3: "If You Were Motivated, You'd Figure It Out"
Reality: Motivation without strategy just leads to burnout.
Imagine being highly motivated to build a house but never being taught to use tools. That's what we do to learners every day. An essay is assigned without explaining how to get from today to the deadline; a test date is given without the learning science underneath how to remember and apply information.
Myth 4: "Learning Styles" (The Myth That Won't Fade)
Reality: There are preferences, yes, but there's no such thing as a "visual learner" or "kinaesthetic learner."
Here's the truth backed by decades of research: matching instruction to so-called "learning styles" has zero impact on achievement. Four meta-analyses show the effect size is 0.0—literally nothing. What's worse, these labels create harmful assumptions. Students labelled "hands-on learners" are judged as less intelligent than "visual learners." This isn't just ineffective, it's damaging.
Myth 5: "By High School/University, They Should Know How to Study"
Reality: How would anyone know what they've never been taught?
We don't expect students to know calculus without instruction. Why do we expect them to magically know how brains learn?
The How-to-Learn Toolkit Every Learner Needs
1. The Strategy Discovery Process
Finding what actually works for YOUR brain
For one week, track:
When you feel most alert (not when you "should" study)
What environment helps you focus
Whether you need silence or ambient sound
How long you can maintain quality attention
What helps information stick
There are no wrong answers. Only feedback and data about what works for you.
2. The Method Menu
Evidence-based strategies that actually work
Instead of labelling learners, teach flexible strategies:
For memorization:
Spaced repetition (reviewing at intervals)
Active recall (testing yourself)
Elaboration (explaining in your own words)
Dual coding (words + pictures)
Interleaving (mixing topics + question types within a subject)
For understanding:
Pre-reading structure (headings, summaries, and assignment instructions first)
Question generation (what do I need to know?)
Connection-making (relating concepts to other readings, lessons, lectures, or weeks)
Teaching others (or a pet, stuffie, or potted plant)
Concrete examples (making the abstract specific)
The key is to experiment, combine, and personalize.
3. The Failure Reframe
From verdict to valuable data
When something doesn't work:
"That strategy doesn't fit this task" (NOT "I'm stupid")
"I need a different approach" (NOT "I can't do this")
"What information does this give me?" (NOT "I give up")
Every unsuccessful strategy teaches you more about what does work for you. (That's research, not defeat.)
4. The Energy-Task Matching System
Working WITH your natural rhythms
Stop forcing performance on demand. Instead:
Map your cognitive peaks and valleys
Match difficult tasks to high-energy times
Use low-energy times for review or organization
Protect your optimal performance windows
Maybe that learner who can't focus at 8:30 AM isn't “broken.” Maybe we're asking their brain to perform at its worst time. The key then becomes, how can we strategize around and towards this, experimenting with sleep, energy-nourishers, and attention restoration.
5. The Study System Builder
Creating YOUR personal learning protocol
Every learner needs to build their own system. Consider these for your individual repertoire and toolbox:
Daily Practices:
5-minute end-of-class brain dump
One key post-lesson or -lecture question per subject to discover in your notes, the text, or in an email to your teacher or TA
Brief 5-min review of 2 tricky concepts before sleep
Weekly Rhythms:
Sunday afternoon weekly reflection and planning session
Wednesday energy check-in
Thursday evening note consolidation
Test Preparation:
Start 14 days out
Active practice, not passive reading
Teach-back sessions
Connection time with friends and family
Strategic rest before
What This Means for Parents
Instead of saying: "Try harder."
Start saying: "Let's try differently."
Instead of assuming: They're being lazy.
Start investigating: What barrier exists between their effort and their results?
Instead of asking: "Did you study?"
Start asking: "How did you study? Did that method work for your brain?"
Your role isn't to teach content, it's to help them discover their learning blueprint.
What This Means for Educators
Every learner in your classroom has unique cognitive patterns and needs, histories with schools and teachers, health and family hurts and traumas. You can't possibly optimize for all of them simultaneously. But you can:
Teach learning strategies explicitly: Spend 5 minutes showing HOW to study your subject, not just WHAT to study.
Offer methodological choice: "Practice these problems using flashcards, by teaching someone, or by creating a practice test."
Model different approaches: Show multiple ways to solve problems or understand concepts.
Normalize cognitive diversity: "Everyone's brain works uniquely. Let's find what works for yours."
See struggle as information: Not "this student can't learn" but "we haven't found the right strategy yet."
The Story We Need to STOP Telling
"Some kids are academic and some aren't."
"She's an auditory learner."
"He's just not a math person."v
No.
Some kids stumbled onto strategies that work; others are still searching in the dark, believing they're broken because we've given them the wrong map for their terrain.
The Story We Need to START Telling
"Every brain can learn. We just need to find the right strategies."
Your struggling learner isn't lacking intelligence. They're lacking their personal learning manual. And that's something we can build together.
Your Two-Week Challenge
For Parents: Have the conversation: "If you could design your perfect study session—time of day, location, method, duration—what would it look like?" Then try it. Without judgment.
For Educators: Teach ONE learning strategy explicitly. Not content—method. Watch who lights up when they finally have a tool that works.
For Both: Pause on using learning style labels. Start talking about learning strategies instead. Notice how it changes everything.
Reflection Questions to Try
Were you shown how to study? More than one way? If not, what might’ve changed for you?
Were you shown how to study? More than one way? If not, what might’ve changed for you?
Were you taught how to “manage” your time? Use an agenda? Break down big projects? Cope with overwhelm when your workload felt too much?
What of professional and parental burnout would we love for students not to inherit? What approach to work (and that elusive work-life / school-life balance) are you hopeful this generation of students might learn?
The Bottom Line
It's time to stop trying to “fix” learners who aren't broken. They’re not problems that need solving
It's time, instead, to start teaching them HOW to learn, not just WHAT to learn.
Because once they crack their learning code? Everything changes. The "struggling" student becomes strategic. The "unmotivated" learner becomes engaged. The "broken" learner becomes empowered.
They were never broken.
They just needed their tools.
