From receiving a teaching to being able to live and share it
The school keeps the useful intuition behind the “Cone of Learning” - move beyond passive exposure - but replaces its invented percentages with practices supported by learning research.
We do not claim that reading retains 10% or teaching retains 90%
Edgar Dale’s original Cone of Experience described degrees of concreteness, not memory percentages. The later pyramid’s fixed numbers have no traceable research base. Method, material, prior knowledge, guidance and the learner all matter. The honest conclusion is simpler: pair clear explanation with purposeful activity, feedback and return over time.
A learning rhythm that ends by beginning again
No step owns a magical percentage. Together they give the learner several useful encounters with the same idea: clear input, effortful recall, guided use, dialogue, explanation and spaced return.
- 01
01 · Encounter
See and hear it clearly
Begin with the verse, idea or form in words and a meaningful visual structure.
What am I looking at?
- 02
02 · Recall
Bring it back unaided
Pause before rereading. Retrieve the meaning, sequence or form from memory.
What can I recover?
- 03
03 · Apply
Use it in a worked task
Follow one checked example, then complete a nearby example with less support.
Can I use it?
- 04
04 · Discuss
Compare and question
Articulate the reasoning, hear another view and notice what still feels unclear.
What changes in dialogue?
- 05
05 · Teach
Explain it in your own words
Give a short teach-back without copying the page. Gaps become visible immediately.
Could I guide someone else?
- 06
06 · Return
Revisit after a gap
Come back later and mix this idea with earlier learning so it remains usable.
Will it still be here tomorrow?
Research becomes interface, not a paragraph in a policy
Active participation
Pages ask learners to retrieve, compare, decide and explain instead of only scrolling through exposition.
Low-stakes recall
Answers are sometimes hidden until after an attempt, making memory an instrument of learning rather than only a final test.
Guidance that fades
New Sanskrit structures begin with checked, annotated examples before support is gradually removed.
Meaning through explanation
Prompts ask for the reason, a comparison, an analogy and a short explanation to another person.
Return over time
Learners are prompted to revisit material after gaps and mix current work with older forms and ideas.
More than one doorway
Text, script, audio where available, visual structure and different ways to respond reduce avoidable barriers.
More access, less avoidable friction
Universal Design for Learning does not mean labelling people by a “learning style.” It means designing multiple ways to engage, perceive important information and show understanding.
Engagement
Choice, relevance, reflection and a clear next step.
Representation
Script, transliteration, explanation, structure and audio when available.
Action + expression
Recall, write, discuss, practise or teach back.
Read the evidence behind the design
These sources inform the system; none supports a universal recipe or a fixed retention percentage. Effects depend on context and implementation.
- IES practice guide: Organizing Instruction and Study
- Learning Pyramid myth: Masters, Medical Education (2020)
- Active learning: Freeman et al., PNAS (2014)
- Retrieval practice: Roediger & Karpicke (2006)
- Distributed practice: Cepeda et al. (2006)
- Multimedia learning: Mayer & Moreno (2002)
- Universal Design for Learning Guidelines 3.0, CAST