In every class, every teacher will tell you that no matter how carefully they explain a task there are always children who don't know what to do once the lesson begins and it is the same children every day.
Everyday, parents ask their children to get ready for school and give a string of instructions only to find the child has only managed to remember one of the things they are asked to do.
But why?
Very few adults would see this as a sign that the child has working memory difficulties.
As many as 1 in 10 primary school students have working memory impairments which impact their performance in school and at home.
Recent research by Maehler and Schuchart shows that working memory is an important predictor of school success. Those with good working memories perform well academically but those with poor working memories underachieve. Studies by Susan Gathercole show that working memory difficulties have substantial impact on learning particularly in the early years of education.
However, few teachers really understand what it means in practice and they often do not correctly identify those children with working memory difficulties. They often describe them as having attention problems or simply not listening.
These children are often told off or criticised for a genuine difficulty they can not control.
Why is there so little awareness of this important issue?
Memory is complex and there are many types of memory. It is not as simple as having a good memory or a bad memory. Each type of memory may not function at the same level. You could have a good visual memory and a poor episodic memory for example.
A child can have an amazing memory for facts, particularly in topics that interest them or they may recall previous events in great detail but they can not remember an instruction a teacher has just given. It is this inconsistency that confuses many adults. Often it can seems like a child is not trying hard enough rather than a having a specific difficulty.
Working memory can be described as the brain's notepad, it is the part of the brain which we use to temporarily hold information while we process it or act upon it. We also use it to process information so that we can store it in our long term memory. For example it is the part of the brain you use to write down a telephone number, but once you have written it down it is forgotten. Its capacity is limited and can vary greatly from person to person. This is another source of confusion for parents and teachers, when so many children can remember a series of instructions with no difficulty, why can't everyone.
Learning in the early years of school relies heavily on working memory. When you are reading for example and are sounding out a word you need to remember the sounds to blend them together. In order to understand a sentence you have to remember the beginning by the time you get to the end. Writing is even more demanding as while you are trying to work out the spelling of a word, you still need to remember the sentence you intended to write. In maths, when you perform a calculation you need keep one number in your head while you add on another. Many tasks that are typically presented in a primary school classroom have a series of steps that need to be followed. Those with working memory difficulties will often forget what all the steps are. They may lose track of where they are and miss out or repeat a step. They may not be able to complete a task because they don't know what to do.
In addition as working memory is important for remembering information long term, those with working memory difficulties can struggle to learn number bonds and times tables or spellings. If too much information is given in a lesson it will not be processed sufficiently to be remembered long term.
Although, we still do not completely understand how the working memory works we can clearly see what happens when it is overloaded.
Common signs of working memory difficulties are:
- forgetting the sentence while in the middle if writing it down
- only remembering one of a series of instructions
- not remembering materials taught from the previous day
- missing or repeating steps in a longer task
- seeming distracted
Teachers and parents need to be proactive in predicting when task relies heavily on the working memory. They need to consider how they can offer support and encourage success. Giving shorter instructions and asking the child to repeat back what was said is helpful. As is providing checklists of tasks that need to be done or the steps within tasks. Establishing routines were activities are always done in the same order reduces the need to use the working memory. Also making it acceptable for students to ask for instructions to be repeated. Teachers can actively encourage the use of memory aids like visual checklists and help to teach children memory strategies.
See my article on Supporting working memory difficulties for more practical suggestions.