Guy Claxton

I had the pleasure of listening to Guy yesterday. He likened curriculum to a braod fitness programme, the classroom to the gym and the brain a muscle. We need to challenge and stretch children through the activities we provide. Children need to 'flounder intelligently' and that learning should be hard/difficult as this is how we stretch the brain. The thinking, social and emotional skills we teach children need to become habits and the challenges and risks are all important to developing our brain to meet life in the twenty-first century. A lot of what he said was not new to me and is the way I teach and how my children learn as well as how we do things at Wanaka Primary. But he challenged me and made me think more deeply about what I do and why. Brain developing stuff! He introduces us to four new ‘Rs’ that he would like to see replace the three traditional ones: •Resilience: 'being ready, willing and able to lock on to learning'. Being able to stick with difficulty and cope with feelings such as fear and frustration. •Resourcefulness: 'being ready, willing and able to learn in different ways'. Having a variety of learning strategies and knowing when to use them. •Reflection: 'being ready, willing and able to become more strategic about learning'. Getting to know our own strengths and weaknesses. •Relationships: 'being ready, willing and able to learn alone and with others'. He emphasis is on equipping students to lead more fulfilling lives, but the promise is that these methods will also lead to results in the classroom.