It is truly an exciting time to be involved in education. The world is changing and the institutions which were important guides and actors in the past can no longer be relied upon (e.g., religion, politics) to lead the way. Young people can no longer just follow, they must themselves be creative.
It is education that can encourage the full and healthy development of every child to do this.
Read MoreI don’t know about you, but I have the sense that we are on the edge of significant change in the world. The pandemic has cracked the mould and we are unlikely to go back to where we were. Geopolitical changes are occurring in unprecedented ways.
Yet the future remains unclear. We are continuously bombarded with managed narratives – another way of saying falsehoods and distortions – with the purpose of keeping us hewing to a certain world view.
Read MoreWe have all grown up with a red brain and a preference for using focused attention when responding to both people and events. For our own wellbeing, and our effectiveness in engaging fully in our work whilst continually improving it, we need to act.
We need to re-balance our attention so that we use focused attention on tasks and problems and use sustained attention with people and in responding to unexpected events. It is the practice of mindfulness that is the key means to achieve this re-balancing, we can only practice mindfulness using focused attention, vigilance or alertness. The three forms of global attention.
Read MoreI first mentioned perspectival knowing nearly a year ago in this post. I keep coming back to it as it is the key form of knowing that underpins our ability to develop our practice and our relationships with those around us. Emotional intelligence is an example of this form of knowing.
When we receive feedback on some action we have taken, and our first response is anger or dismissal then our practice does not change. If someone says something challenging and we respond defensively then our relationships remain superficial.
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