Excelling at English, Literature and the Social Sciences
Advanced Reading and Study Skills are Critical
Students of Social Sciences and Humanities subjects such as Psychology, Philosophy, Sociology, Economics, English Literature, Law and Education require very sophisticated reading and study skills to master the complex content.
Memory is NOT Enough
Many students approach study with the mistaken belief that learning means remembering a whole bunch of facts by rote, when what is really required is an in-depth understanding of the concepts so that they can be applied to various situations. This misconception means that many students put a lot of effort into unproductive work and so waste much of their time and effort when they are studying. Not only that, but much of what is learned is soon forgotten if the learning has not gone hand-in-hand with understanding – the best way to get good long-term memory of a concept is to understand it deeply first.
Vocabulary Skills
These subjects all contain a lot of specialised vocabulary that must be understood and remembered so students must learn to use effective strategies to deal with all these new words and concepts.
Analytical and Logic Skills
Analysis is the process of breaking complex ideas down into their component parts. Good analytical skills are required in all subjects, but are particularly critical when dealing with the abstract concepts in the Social Science subjects. For some strange reason, analytical and logic skills are rarely taught in a systematic way in schools or universities – it seems that students are somehow expected to work them out for themselves. Consequently, many otherwise capable and hard-working students do poorly with their studies because they focus WHAT they are trying to learn rather than having clear strategies for HOW they are going to learn it.
Synthesis
Synthesis is the process of bringing together information into a complex whole so that it can be incorporated into the person’s world view and used in new situations. Essentially it is the process of:
- turning words into facts by comprehending them,
- turning the facts into information by organising and summarising them,
- turning the information into knowledge by incorporating it into previous knowledge,
- turning the knowledge into a decision-making tool so that it can be applied in other situations.
Sophisticated Communication and Essay Writing Skills are Critical
Getting What You Know OUT When You Need It
With knowledge, it is not what you can get into your head that matters, it is what you can get out – in other words, what you can communicate effectively to others in written, visual or spoken form. Far too many students spend nearly all their time trying to get information in without ever thinking about HOW they are going to get it out again, so writing essays is a slow and laborious process for them. Study and Essay Writing should be treated as complementary processes.
Essay Writing (and Speech Writing) Strategies
All students should be following a step-by-step process for writing essays and other materials from Junior High School on. As students progress to higher levels, the strategy does not change although it does need to be adapted slightly as the concepts discussed become more abstract and sophisticated. The process is easy to learn and follow, but does require practice so that it is mastered to the point that essays can be written quickly under exam conditions.
The Killer Topics – Statistics and Research Methods
Many students in the Humanities and Social Sciences did not do well in Math at earlier levels of their education so they get a big shock when they find out that Statistics and Research Methods are major components of most courses, and are usually compulsory subjects. Unless the key concepts in these subjects are mastered early it becomes almost impossible for many students to keep up with these courses, let alone get good marks. This is one of the main reasons people drop out of Social Science courses.
Don’t Miss the Point of English Literature and Story Writing
People like to be entertained when they read but that is NOT why most authors write in the first place – authors usually have some message to pass on to their audience. Consequently, to be successful, authors need to entertain their audience so they will read or view their work.
English Literature is the study of the authors and their ideas about the world, so students must be skilled at understanding fiction as a metaphor (a way of hiding a message or argument inside a story). Once this is understood and appropriate techniques learnt, even studying writers such as Shakespeare becomes a much more straight-forward and rewarding process.
Basic Reading Problems are a Big Cause of Failure
Many students struggle to get through all the materials required in these language-rich courses because their basic reading skills are not strong. Speed reading courses are not the answer and often lead to great frustration and even worse results. Unless the cause of the problem is dealt with, or suitable techniques are used to compensate for the problem, students will need to put in enormous amounts of time to succeed in these subjects.
The Best Time to Fix Educational Problems is NOW
If you or your child is falling behind it is important that you act promptly to fix the underlying causes of the problem. Loss of confidence at school, college or university can lead to serious emotional difficulties which will make the problem worse and cause disruption to your whole family.
We Understand . . .
We understand how to fix the blockages that slow down or stop your child’s development – we teach the exact skills required to overcome each blockage so your child will be able to excel at school. This success will mean your child will be much happier, both at school and at home. Homework will become a pleasurable and rewarding experience, and the stress levels in your whole family will be reduced.
CONTACT US NOW to arrange a FREE – NO OBLIGATION – 15 MINUTE CONSULTATION
to discuss your child’s educational problems and how we can help you solve them.
FREE 15 Minute Consultation
Talk to a Specialist Educator to find out how we can help you and your child.
Only a limited number of places are available each month so click here now to find out exactly what is involved and make a booking.