25 October 2024

Connecting with  last week's ponderings ... I listened to an interview recently with NZ Psychologist, Karen Boyes. Whilst it was targeted more to parents and educators of teens, I thought there was plenty of relevant food for thought for us. Our Positive Education programme, a vital ingredient of our flavour, sung to me through the radio airwaves as the interview unfolded. The importance of messaging, the importance of language underlined.

The need to be honest resonated. We tend to stretch the truth to protect children. We want to inspire them, we want them to thrive. Of course! But sometimes our well meaning messaging just doesn’t prepare them well for the future.

The conversation centred a lot on the education system and this notion that 'learning is fun', when in fact learning is hard. All learning requires some difficulty and struggle. It’s normal. When the language centres on fun and not hard work, children can feel there is something wrong with them if they find it hard. I liked Karen’s mantra of 'everything is hard before it is easy'. She referred to learning to walk, to ride a bike…. and, I was thinking, what about learning to write!

It’s Perseverance that’s the biggy! We all had it in spades as babies and then over time, sadly for some, it doesn’t come easy…. especially when the world becomes more now, instant! I enjoyed this notion of the butterfly ….. it needs to struggle to get out of the cocoon. This is what makes it strong. This struggle also helps children grow strength in learning.

Another focus of the interview was the fact that high grades alone just isn’t enough. It’s pro social behaviours, resilience, adaptability and discipline. These days even course selection for some professions which was more traditionally based on purely academic scores has changed. It’s the affective skills that are also under the magnifying glass.

Karen shared her use of ‘the double F word’ with teenagers she works with - eFFort. It’s all about being OK with effort and the failure that will also occur.

The final thing that was a good reminder was 'practice makes progress'….. you  sometimes hear the saying 'practice makes perfect'.

So plenty of little titbits in this short interview.

Our Pos Ed teacher leaders will be focused on what progress has been made in the areas of Engagement, Perseverance, Optimism and Connectedness. We look forward to sharing it soon.