The Abilities We Use to Learn Something New

We often talk about whether a child can learn.

Can they read? Can they do maths? Can they remember what they were taught yesterday? Can they follow instructions? Can they work independently?

But perhaps we need to ask a different question:

What abilities does the brain actually need to use in order to learn something new?

Learning is not one single ability. Before a child can successfully learn and use new information, several different thinking abilities are involved.

First, we need to understand it

If somebody teaches us something new, the first thing we have to do is comprehend the information.

What does it mean? What am I being asked to do? How does this information fit together?

A child may be listening. They may appear attentive. But that does not necessarily mean they have understood the information in the way it was intended.

This is why repeatedly giving the same instruction does not always solve the problem.

Then, we need to remember it

Understanding something in the moment isn't enough.

We need to be able to bring that information back later.

Imagine being taught the first three steps of a task and then forgetting step two. Or understanding something perfectly on Monday but being unable to retrieve it on Tuesday.

From the outside, this can look like the child wasn't listening or hasn't tried hard enough.

But remembering and retrieving information is itself an ability involved in learning.

Then, we need to work out what to do with it

This is where problem solving becomes important.

Learning isn't just about storing facts. We need to be able to use information we already know to work something out.

A child might know a rule when asked directly but struggle to recognise when or how to use that rule in a different situation.

This can create the familiar question:

“But you knew how to do this yesterday, so why can't you do it now?”

Knowing something and being able to apply it are not necessarily the same thing.

We also need to evaluate

As we work, we are constantly making judgments.

Does this make sense?

Have I made a mistake?

Should I try something different?

Which option is best?

This is evaluation.

It matters in the classroom, but it also matters far beyond school. We use evaluation when making decisions, considering consequences, judging situations and deciding what to do next.

When this ability is difficult, we may see impulsive decisions, poor planning or repeated mistakes.

And we need creativity

Creativity isn't only about art or imagination.

When learning, creativity allows us to generate ideas, explore possibilities and make new connections.

It helps us take what we have learned and do something different with it.

That is an important part of moving beyond simply remembering information towards really being able to use it.

So what happens when one of these abilities is weaker?

This is the part I think we sometimes miss.

A child can be intelligent, interested and genuinely trying — while still finding learning incredibly difficult.

If understanding information is difficult, the learning process can break down at the beginning.

If retrieving information is difficult, they may understand something but struggle to demonstrate it later.

If problem solving is difficult, they may know information but struggle to apply it.

If evaluation is difficult, they may struggle to recognise mistakes or judge the best course of action.

And if generating new ideas and connections is difficult, transferring learning into new situations may be harder.

The five areas described here, comprehension, memory, problem solving, evaluation and creativity, are the thinking abilities highlighted in the SOI Thinking Skills framework.

This changes the question we ask

Instead of simply asking:

“Why can't this child learn this?”

We can begin asking:

“Which of the abilities needed for learning is making this difficult?”

That is a very different conversation.

It moves us away from assuming that a child is lazy, isn't listening, doesn't care or simply needs more repetition.

Sometimes repeating the same teaching again and again isn't addressing the actual difficulty.

We need to understand what is happening underneath the learning.

Because before we can expect a child to use what we teach them, we need to consider the abilities their brain has to use to understand it, remember it, work with it, evaluate it and eventually use it in new ways.

And when we can identify where those difficulties lie, we have a much clearer starting point for deciding what support or developmental work may help.

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