Oliver Caviglioni
Seeing teaching as a loop
As viewers of Strictly Come Dancing have witnessed, the dance professionals know that the quality of the performance depends on a successful partnership between the experts and the novices. That principle can apply to the classroom too.
Instead of a one-way, linear dynamic, the relationship that generates the best performance is more of a loop. One where "the learner’s questions, answers, and expressions, both quizzical and satisfied, let the teacher know how to proceed” to quote from The Art of Systems Thinking. The student learns both what is taught and, also, how to be a better learner by focusing on what works best and taking responsibility for their learning. This sort of breakthrough needs well-designed guidance.
As Gary Klein discovered in Sources of Power, when observing experts at work, simulation is often more effective than rehearsal. But what exactly does it involve?
Mental simulation
Simulation is the mental activity involved in projecting yourself into the learning situation and ‘seeing’ yourself succeed.
The Heath brothers have reported on this type of phenomenon, captured in research studies: "Mental practice alone produced about two thirds of the benefits of actual practice… Sitting quietly, without moving, and picturing yourself performing a task successfully from start to finish improves performance significantly.”
Capitalising on the breakthrough
Schools have already started incorporating these sorts of approaches into their lessons, dovetailing them with effective teaching techniques for optimal performance. In some schools leaders lead assemblies on the techniques and mentors use them for personalised support of individual students or small groups. Teachers focus on particular skills and dispositions in their tutor groups and they form part of teaching assistants’ ongoing training, especially when tailored to specific individual profiles.
As part of a larger, community loop, schools are beginning to explore their use in parent evening presentations. Knowing exactly what your child is learning in how to become a more successful student, is enormously helpful to parents. With such technical yet plainly explained accounts of what’s involved in better learning, parents have points of access for better, more fulfilling conversations with their children.
Where to find out more?
If you’d like to know more about mental simulation and other learning strategies, Learning WalkThrus is a compendium of visual step-by-step guides to better learning, designed for students and mediated by teachers and parents/carers. Its 60+ techniques are broken down into five-steps, each with an accompanying visual that depicts both the learning behaviour and its internal state.
The 60+ techniques were illustrated by me and written by Tom Sherrington with a team of eminent educational thinkers: Peps McCrea, Sarah Cottinghatt, Emma Turner, Jennifer Webb, Sara Milne-Rowe and Christopher Such.
References
- O’Connor, J & McDermott, I (1997). The Art of Systems Thinking. Thorsons.
- Klein, G (1998). Sources of Power: How People Make Decisions. MIT Press
- Heath, C & Heath, D (2007). Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die. Random House.
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