27 May 2022

“Inspect the neighbourhood of thine life every shelf, every nook of thine abode.” Jean Paul Richter


I’ve been thinking……


Every time I start a sentence like that I can almost feel a sharp intake of breath in the staffroom, “What’s she going to be on about next?!”

Well, since University days, I’ve always been fascinated by the nature - nurture debate, identical twin studies, New Zealand's very own world renowned longitudinal study, the ‘Dunedin Study’ and all things similar.


More about The Dunedin Study and a video.


Last week, I was learning more about genomes - our entire manual - of genetic information - and the increasing knowledge about the importance of the environment in its interaction and impact on genomes and outcomes. Not being an expert in the field, I was just skimming the surface, but it got me onto thinking about the influence we have as parents and educators as to how we may help shape our children’s worlds for optimal opportunity to flourish. All of these environmental factors that when children are young - is pretty much up to us.


Another one of the studies I always remember with intrigue is that of Harvard Psychologist, Ellen Langer. Ellen spent decades studying the field of the mind and aging. Back in 1981, she conducted the 'Counterclockwise study'. In a nutshell, eight men in their 70s were transported back to 1959 when they were in their prime. Furniture, decor, news, sports, TV, movies and every cultural reference. Around the spaces were only photos of the men in their 20s and no mirrors. Sure enough - the signs all showed that they came out of the study more supple, dextrous, eyesight improved as well as their hearing, etc. It wasn't published until much later as it was slightly unorthodox at the time (like many studies back then!) but has been repeated numerous times in different ways since. The conclusion being: "Whether it's about aging or anything else, if you are surrounded by people who have certain expectations for you, you tend to meet those expectations, positive or negative", says Langer.


You can read more about Ellen Langer's work here.


We may think “We are not sporty people so it’s not in my child’s makeup”, “I wasn’t very confident in a group”, “I wasn’t a Maths brain so…..”

Please don’t! Let’s remember the power we have to alter the nooks and shelves of their neighbourhoods!


You are now able to book into your child’s Progress Meetings. See below for bookings and instructions. Keep an open mind as to what may be possible for home and school to work together on to get the learning environment working as optimally as we might - grounded in reality, of course!


In the meantime, please check out this short video on Visual Maths that Ximena and Nicola have put together for you.