For those of you who may be interested, here are a list of topics of workshops and INSET days for the Spring.

Please feel free to download the outline and contact me directly if any are of interest to you or your school.

Course

Thinking Skills : Teaching Thinking

Listening and Counselling Skills : Listening Skills

Solutions Focus Behaviour Management : Solutions Focus Behaviour Management

Magic 4 Learning : Magic4Learing

Introducing NLP : NLP Intro

Specifically for Management or Aspiring Managers

Your Leadership Style and Effective Leadership :  Leadership Styles

Managing Change : Managing Change

It is hoped that some of these courses will run through Cornwall Learning, but if not please do not hesitate to contact me with regards arranging school based or cluster INSET or a workshop in your area.

Alan

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Brian Butterworth is Professor of Cognitive Neuropsychology in the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience at University College London (dyscalculia, dyslexia and speech) and Patricia Babtie is Joint author of ‘The Dyscalculia Assessment’

If you are going to the event then say ‘hello’.

I’ve been invited to give an opening address on our senses. world views and limiting beliefs as well as deliver a workshop in the afternoon based on the Magic 4 Learning programme.

As I think about this conference I am reviewing what I think about what we often simply call ‘blocks to learning’.

I guess its true that such ‘blocks; can be neurological, cognitive, emotional or social – or a combination of any or all of them.

A neurological or cognitive limitation I guess will be directly linked to emotional and social responses and I wonder if, when dealing with an issue like dyslexia or dyscalculia how far the coaching support explores each of these ‘domains’.

Of course in the ‘ideal world’ this should not be a question since its really obvious that there is some kind of link, but in reality does the ‘label’ of a specific ‘condition’ become the ‘label of the pain’  and thus dealt with by offering one-dimensional support?

The experience of parents with children having a range of ‘identified conditions’ is a different as the schools their children attend, BUT, I do often hear about interventions that focus on only one aspect of a complex issue…

And, to balance the equation as it were,

I also hear of teachers experiences of parents whose reaction upon having a label given to their child turn into single intervention focused guardians.

All human behaviour is complex. The underpinning causes and motives sometimes getting lost among the varying responses and adaptations to those responses we as human beings are able to create.

I guess what I’m arguing for here is an Educational Programme which supports the individual in an exploration of all of the things which ‘drive their bus’ rather than simply being ‘behaviour management’ programmes.

Alan

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Educators need to reflect upon it…

Parents need to think about…

Students should be consulted….

Related articles

• College Admissions: Between Applications and Acceptances (education.com)
• To be Told or To be Encouraged? (alanjoneseducation.com)
• The 5 Step Motivation Model (mindalignment.com)

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Your reaction to that statement may be one of incredulity which could result in you not reading the piece that follows – and when I tell you I stand by that statement then you’ll may even consider the possibility that I am either delusional or at least a bit ‘out there’.

So before you stop reading let me explain.

When we use the word motivated we generally have an internal representation of an individual who has the ability to be focussed, on task and able to complete a project that has been set.

In terms of pupils we often imagine motivated pupils as being fully engaged in the learning process; undertaking work set with a high degree of positivity.

However ‘motivation’ could be seen as that certain something which encourages an individual to engage in a behaviour which ‘moves’ them from one emotional, physical or environmental ‘state’ to another. In essence all behaviour is motivated by something… even inaction can be said to have some internal or external motivator.

Perhaps when we say that a person is ‘de-motivated’ we are really saying they are not behaving or moving in a ‘direction’ we think they should be.

We could consider every behaviour as being the result of MOTIVES, MODIFIERS and MODELS.

Our MOTIVES are our basic needs or drives. We can consider these drivers has having an biological, physiological, emotional, social and aspirational base.

We do not however, always behaviour directly on the whim of these drives. How we respond to these needs are MODIFIED by our values, attitudes and beliefs AND we defer to MODELS of behaviour which we have produced results in the past or have been observed in the actions of others.

The psychological make-up of the individual in this framework is seen as being the interplay between the unconscious drivers and internal modifiers.

In terms of LEARNING (which can be considered in behavioural terms and as a result of engaging in learning activities) students will engage positively or not depending upon a mix of unconscious “decisions”. These “decisions” are influence by the individuals own perception of:-

RELEVANCE of the learning objective (What’s in it for me)

EMOTIONAL CONNECTION to the learning activity or objective

COMPETENCE and SKILLS in terms of ability to undertake the task

In this mix there will also be the degree of compliance (or not) the student demonstrates in the learning situation.

COMPLIANCE may, in some cases drive pupil with a low estimation of their competences to excel because they like (or fear) the teacher; like (or dislike) the topic; deference to social groups which hold learning in high regard (or not).

The attached presentation below outlines some key points which could be used to promote debate about learner motivation. (There is also a PDF on Learner Motivation on the XTRA Ressources Page).

In short educational tasks are motivational IF..

They are RELEVANT (having a clearly defined purpose), EMOTIONALLY ENGAGING and given a REAL WORLD CONTEXT.

If a pupil perceives a task to be beyond their self-defined skill level they may become anxious.

If a pupil perceives a task to be below their self-defined skill level they may become bored.

When perceived skill level is just below the challenge of the task the learner; has emotional connectivity relevance and context we may find that there will be an increase in learner motivation.

Penair Parents Session 24/01/12 PowerPoint can be found here :   Penair240112

Related articles

• Strategies to ‘Boost’ Students’ Interest and Motivation (mmselsectionc.wordpress.com)
• The Influence of Beliefs on Motivation to Learn (mmselmath.wordpress.com)
• Mind, Brain Education (alanjoneseducation.com)
• It’s that time of year again… Revision (alanjoneseducation.com)
• The 5 Step Motivation Model (mindalignment.com)
• Self Esteem (alanjoneseducation.com)
• Brain Gym Nonsense! (alanjoneseducation.com)

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The thing about most pieces of ‘common knowledge’ is that it is often based upon rhetoric and misunderstanding rather than actual research. How many of you reading this believe that the poem ‘Ring a Ring a Rosy’ is about the Black Death? (see The Real Twilight Zone)

I’m assuming that many parents and teachers are familiar with the ‘generalisation’ that boys tend to be better at maths and girls better at languages but is there anything in such notions.

A recent piece of research reminds us of the importance of finding ‘excuses’ for educational performance rather than looking at cultural challenges and self- limiting beliefs.

A University of Missouri researcher and his colleague have conducted a review that casts doubt on the accuracy of a popular theory that attempted to explain why there are more men than women in top levels of mathematic fields. The researchers found that numerous studies claiming that the stereotype, “men are better at math” – believed to undermine women’s math performance – had major methodological flaws, utilized improper statistical techniques, and many studies had no scientific evidence of this stereotype.

This theory, called stereotype threat, was first published in 1999 in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. Essentially, the theory is that due to the stereotype that women are worse than men in math skills, females develop a poor self-image in this area, which leads to mathematics underachievement.

“The stereotype theory really was adopted by psychologists and policy makers around the world as the final word, with the idea that eliminating the stereotype could eliminate the gender gap,” said David Geary, Curators Professor of Psychological Sciences in the MU College of Arts and Science. “However, even with many programs established to address the issue, the problem continued. We now believe the wrong problem is being addressed.”

In the study, Geary and Gijsbert Stoet, from the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom, examined 20 influential replications of the original stereotype theory study. The researchers found that many subsequent studies had serious scientific flaws, including a lack of a male control group and improperly applied statistical techniques.

“We were surprised the researchers did not subject males to the same experimental manipulations as female participants,” Geary said. “It is reasonable to think that men also would not do well if told ‘men normally do worse on this test’ right before they take the test. When we adjusted the findings based on this and other statistical factors, we found little to no significant stereotype theory effect.”

The researchers believe that basing interventions on the stereotype threat is actually doing more harm than good, as vital resources are being dedicated to a problem that does not exist.

“These findings really irritate me, as a psychologist, because this is a science where we are really trying to discover what the issues are,” Geary said. “The fact is there are still a disproportionate number of men in top levels of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. We need more women to succeed in these fields for our economy and for our future.”

The study, “Can stereotype threat explain the sex gap in mathematics performance and achievement?” will be published in the journal Review of General Psychology

source : Kansas City Info

Related articles

• Shortage of female math geniuses not due to “stereotype threat” (dienekes.blogspot.com)
• ‘Women worse at math than men’ explanation scientifically incorrect, MU researchers say (eurekalert.org)
• Undoing gender math stereotypes (familyinequality.wordpress.com)
• Unique Reasons to Become a Teacher – All You Need To Know (alanjonesuk.com)

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• Unique Reasons to Become a Teacher – All You Need To Know (alanjonesuk.com)

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This has some very interesting consequences for job applicants who’s web-presence is, shall we say, less than positive. Of course, you could argue, that your Facebook page or Twitter comments are personal and only there for your friends, which may well be your intention, but it does not mean that those same comments, photos of ‘crazy nights’ will not be used to inform a potential employers ‘first impression’ of you.

Of course you could say that what is on-line is not really you … and so does not fully represent who and what you are. Again, that is true, but research undertaken last year by psychologists found that on-line behaviour was an indicator of off-line personality.

So there you go…

Some thoughts about first impressions …

Oh, Happy New Year by the way.

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The number of young people who approach their end of school or end of year examinations in a stressed, underprepared way is disproportionate to the amout of effort schools put into giving support and advice.

Sometimes young people are their own worst enemies in  this regard. They are given the advice and support but are either not interested at the time it is given OR simply do not take it in in the ‘form’ it is given.

The workbook below is designed as a weekly programme which allows students to focus on what needs to be done with regards exam preparation AND offers practical advice on how to set about ‘revising’.

It is available from

http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/alan1152

Everything You Wanted to Know About Revision

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I looked at my diary and found that the series of various school workshops booked as early as last March have now moved from ‘pending’ to ‘active’.

On Monday I will be in Helston School offering some, hoepfully,  motivational and forward-looking insights for the new Year 11.

I guess the challenge is to find out what kind of useful things to say to the class of tomorrow….

I mean afterall they will have heard much of the educational rhetoric that we, as educators, are so keen on quoting BUT the issue is that the world is very different now to when many of the current educators where wearing the ‘final year of school’ shoes.

For my own part I will keep promoting the four Key Skill areas of :-

• Collection and Evaluation of Information
• Communication of ideas (in all formats)
• Managing Change
• Emotional Reslience

BUT how to get the message through in a way that makes sense to the students and cuts through the political and educational agendas of schools, parents and government.

Certainly in the eyes of many parents and government officials all that seems to matter is the quality and number of examinations each young person ‘takes’, ‘sits’ and ‘passes’. Of course schools and professional educators are in the business, one would hope, of going beyond the limitations of ‘examinations’ and exploring ways of engaging young people in achieving beyond their potential whilst developing and inspiring them to take an active role in society; hopefully disuading them from joining the cult of anti-intellectualism. (see   http://www.alanjonesuk.co.uk/2010/05/cult-of-anti-intellectualism.html ).

So in order to get you thinking about your own educational agenda and ideas have a listen to this from Sir Ken Robinson…

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U.K closer to Removing Climate Change from the National Curriculum

If a government official’s recommendation is followed, children in the United Kingdom will no longer learn about “climate change.” Instead, British science teachers will go back to teaching “the basics” of that subject.

Earlier this year, Education Secretary Michael Gove called  for a review of the nationwide standardized curricula in core subjects. Upon announcing the review, Gove promised to reverse the “profound mistakes” made by the previous government and to restore “academic rigour” to the classroom.

http://www.thenewamerican.com/world-mainmenu-26/europe-mainmenu-35/7876-uk-closer-to-removing-climate-change-from-national-curriculum

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The idea that teaching according to the ‘specific learning style’ of the individual pupil for example.

We all learning in different ways, with different modalities in different contexts. The last of these citeria seems to me to be the most relevant.

I may have a VISUAL learning style preference in one situation and a KINESTHETIC preference in another…

I may need to be encouraged to explore ‘different ways’ of learning for different situations…

BUT in order to be an ‘empowered learner’ I would benefit from having access to a wide range of learning strategies and not just the one which some spurious questionnaire defines.

The widescale adoption of Brain Gym, which developed from something called Educational Kinesiology, is one of those ideas which perhaps need to be critically assessed.

In most schools Brain Gym is a movement based activity which is said to improve concentration and educational performance. Now whilst I agree that he use of ‘structured’ physical activity can provide a useful ‘break state’ within a learning session as well as inspiring a sense of fun and group participation (valuable things within he learning environment), it is some of the more ‘far-out’ claims made by “Brain Gymers’ that need to be questioned.

In many way Brain Gym has a pseudo-scientific feel about it. Appeals to ‘neurology’ through vague generalisations about left and right brain ‘connectedness’ and more concerning the idea that physical movement ‘frees the flow’ of some non-specific and mystical sounding ‘energy’ are of real concern.

When asked about the ‘research’ that has been conducted into the effectiveness of Brain Gym we are told that:-

Does Brain Gym® International have research on the effects of the Brain Gym activities?
Yes, we offer three primary publications that summarize our research: (1) A Chronology of Annotated Research Study Summaries in the Field of Educational Kinesiology, on the braingym.org website, offers summaries of research studies done by a number of our instructors through the last twenty years. (2) The Brain Gym Observer , formerly the Brain Gym® Journal, published three times yearly, offers in-depth articles as well as reports of an anecdotal, statistical, or theoretical nature, written by instructors about their use of the Brain Gym program in diverse settings. (3) The Research Packet offers expanded abstracts of some of the studies in the Research Chronology.

Internal research (anecdote) shared by in-house or certified practitioners – certainly lacking peer review. Dare I say ‘potential bias’ creeps into these reports?

Again I’m not challenging the notion that structured physical activities could punctuate learning activities in a useful way, but any claims beyond that can and perhaps should be questioned.

For example this kind of statement:-

For more than 30 years and in over 80 countries, we have been helping children, adults, and seniors to:

 
• Learn ANYTHING faster and more easily
• Perform better at sports
• Be more focused and organized
• Start and finish projects with ease
• Overcome learning challenges
• Reach new levels of excellence

These are claims which surely need some clarification and evidence.

Of course the promoters of this approach have a mechanism for how it all works…

Brain Gym, we are told, “focuses on the performance of specific physical activities that activate the brain for optimal storage and retrieval of information, Focus is the ability to coordinate the back and front areas of the brain…Centering is the ability to coordinate the top and bottom areas of the brain… Brain Gym movements interconnect the brain in these dimensions.”

Sounds good eh?

Ben Goldacre in Bad Science reports these interesting jsutifications for Brain Gym activities…

“you wiggle your head back and forth because that gets more blood into your frontal lobes for clearer thinking; you contort your fingers together to improve some unnamed “energy flow”; they’re keen on drinking water, because “processed foods” – I’m quoting the Brain Gym Teacher’s Manual – “do not contain water.””

Ben Goldacre, who has written much on this topic, was again forced to comment in his blog (June 4th 2011) because of the following…

“This week I got an email from a science teacher about a 13 year old pupil. Both have to remain anonymous. This pupil wrote an article about Brain Gym for her school paper, explaining why it’s nonsense: the essay is respectful, straightforward, and factual. But the school decided they couldn’t print it, because it would offend teachers in the junior school who use Brain Gym.”

Surely in an educational setting we should not only be encouraging students to question, but also question the very things that we do as educators.

If we want students to ‘question’ then we should ‘model questioning’…

Now, and before I get too many emails in protest, let me state again that Brain Gym activities, in my opinion, have a value as a ‘break state’ or ‘fun activity’ within a classroom setting and can promote ‘engagement’ in the same way that ‘visualisation’, ‘meditation’, ‘role play’ or any other shared task would. But to make some spurious claims about ‘hemispherical balancing’ or improving ‘energy flows’ surely demands the application of critical thinking.

Alan

Bad Science Blog

http://www.badscience.net

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