REBTOZ

Mind stretch or mind stretching has entered the lexicon of learning and teaching in recent times. DECD (Department of Education and Child Development) identifies this personal capability as being crucial to achieving learning goals. Joan Moran explains here  Joan Moran: 7 Tips to Stretch Your Mind at Any Age  what she believes to be the elements of mind stretch ability. Her yoga practise and life experience has taught her some essential insights into how to get the best out of her physical and psychological selves. One essential personal capability Joan suggests we hone is learning how to tune into what we are saying to ourselves; our self talk. What is self talk and why is it important to teach our children? Simply self talk is the dialogue you have with yourself in your head. The concept of 'mind' is harder to define. 'What's on your mind?' you may ask. 'What are you thinking?' 'What are you thinking or saying to yourself?' The 'mind t...

DECD (Department of Education and Child Development) hosted a day of professional learning for the Montague partnership of schools. There were about 400 people there at SFERA's (a conference centre in Modbury, South Australia) The topic was on learning and teaching in general and how we as teachers can challenge and change personal philosophies on learning. How can we engage students more to enhance their capacity to see discomfort as something essential for building on existing knowledge and capabilities; to realise new meanings and understandings. Guest speakers used many interesting terms to put across similar ideas like: 'intellectual stretch' - raising intellectual demand of the task to bring students to the 'edge of their thinking' encourage self directed questioning Mind growth - develop the 'psychological muscle' to hang tough Metacognitive strategies to 'enhance the ability to solve complex, unfamiliar and non-routine tasks.' Prof...