Learning how to exercise some control over how and what you think

 

Photo by kevin turcios on Unsplash

Writer David Foster Wallace on the importance of controlling your attention:

"Twenty years after my own graduation, I have come gradually to understand that the liberal arts cliché about "teaching you how to think" is actually shorthand for a much deeper, more serious idea: Learning how to think really means learning how to exercise some control over how and what you think. It means being conscious and aware enough to choose what you pay attention to and to choose how you construct meaning from experience. Because if you cannot exercise this kind of choice in adult life, you will be totally hosed."

Source: This is Water (courtesy of James Clear)

I cannot teach anyone anything, I can only make them think (Socrates)

Photo by Jason Strull on Unsplash

Early days in the evolving school year with new rules around face coverings and social distancing but things have settled pretty quickly in our new Learning Centre after just two days (you'll remember that we moved the senior Learning Centre downstairs and combined it with the Year 9 and 10 students).

We are certainly all about that Socratic school of thought; the Learning Centre is set up to encourage self directed learning via the encouragement to think and make good decisions. Our school motto is Learning to Learn.

We aim to provide the right thinking tools and we share Lloyd Alexander's view that we learn more by looking for the answer to a question and not finding it than we do from learning the answer itself.

Part of that thinking process is providing a calm, settled environment with choices for students - where to study, where to take zooms, where to have face-to-face lessons and where to collaborate.

Every week is different and every day presents fresh challenges and the need to be resilient in the face of covid-19 restrictions, but week 1 was a winner.