Chapter 2: Zombie Concepts in Education: Why They Won’t Die and Why You Can’t Kill Them

The moon landing was faked, the Earth is flat, climate change is a hoax, vaccines cause autism. These are myths you have likely heard before or perhaps endorsed yourself at one time. It is likely that individuals have succumbed to myths for as long as humans have used stories to understand their world (Lévi-Strauss, 1995). Sailors feared sea monsters, ancient people thought eclipses were caused by dragons eating the sun. Prior to Galileo, the Earth was thought to be the center of the universe. Today, with the ubiquity of the Internet, myths propagate quickly and perpetuate indefinitely.

Education is not immune to myths. You only use 10% of your brain. You are either a right-brain or left-brain person. Today’s students are “digital natives” and thus are savvy about how to learn with technology. Individuals have their own unique learning styles. These and dozens of other education myths have been well documented (for an overview, see De Bruyckere, Kirschner, & Hulshof, 2015).