They’re moving earlier!

Children are developing earlier; another take on differentiation

Post WW2 schooling has been structured to ensure children develop through the Rule oriented stage of ego development and into the Conformist stage, ideal citizens for the societies that were prevalent then.  In fact, it is likely that the timeframes put on these stages; 5-12 and teenage years, respectively, match what schools were producing rather than being set in some developmental stone.

We now need children to make the shift from Conformist to Expert whilst still at school so that they can adopt twenty-first century skills.

This begs the question, are younger children ready for the Conformist stage BEFORE they leave primary school?  If they are, then holding them back will delay their later development.

Cyrille Besset - Route blanche de Provence - 1898

Without being held back, children in traditional year 5 and 6 classes may well be ready to transition to Conformist, which would make them better prepared for secondary school and for an earlier transition to Expert.

Differentiation – the focus on tailoring learning opportunities to an individual child’s ability to learn – now takes on a new meaning.  Rather than holding a child at Rule oriented (which is what the system was designed for, and makes the teacher’s job easier), supporting individuals to make the transition when they are ready will better meet the child’s need.

This might mean that the later years of primary school become a mix of these two development stages.  This would lend itself to organising classes by development level.

Brisbane Independent School (principal, Jennifer Haynes) does this already with considerable success.

I am offering a one-day workshop on 10th March - The Foundations of Collective Teacher Efficacy - based on my latest book Red Brain Blue Brain.  Registration is now open.  This is suitable for teaching staff at any level from the newly graduated to those in senior positions and is a good way for a school to get a taste of what is possible.    For more information and to register go here.

John Corrigan is an expert in helping individuals to bring their whole of mind to their daily life and increase their effectiveness and the effectiveness of those around them. This expertise scales from the individual to the team to the organisation. At the core of this work is the practice of encounter.  Earlier blogs can be found here.

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