Learning to focus!
This is an important capability as a child begins to act in the world
Learning to focus (on a task, on an activity, on instructions, etc.) is an important step in a young child’s development and preparation for their formal learning journey. Under the Behaviourist paradigm, young children learn to focus by the straight application of reward and punishment.
As this paradigm has weakened, we see increasing numbers of children growing up with a limited capacity to focus. Fostering and encouraging the ‘getting things done’ core capacity (see here) as it emerges affords children the opportunity to properly learn how to focus without the limitations that the use of reward and punishment brings with it, for example, a dependence on external as opposed to internal motivation.
Fostering ‘getting things done’ within the Teacherly Authority paradigm (we don’t have a new name yet!) not only builds the capacity in the child to focus it also gives the teacher the opportunity to direct the child’s attention to tasks and activities that, as adults, we know are important for healthy growth.
Building the right relationship as early as possible sets the child up for success.
There are still places on the upcoming one-day Teacherly Authority program in Melbourne. Registrations close at the end of the day today.
Learn about Teacherly Authority at a one-day program (Re)Building Teacherly Authority on 27th October (Melbourne) and 10th November (Sydney). For more information and to register for either event, go here. To get a fuller overview of Teacherly Authority, 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 concept and practice of teacherly authority. Earlier blogs can be found here.
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