Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Wonderful Cincinnati Montessori Society Conference!

Saturday, I had the privilege of hearing Dr. Steven Hughes (pediatric neuro-psychologist) speak about brain development and how schools need to change and adapt to the many needs of children.
He talked about how 'School 1.0' (traditional schooling) is a broken system that is not working very well.  He made clear that he is not criticizing teachers, but he is being critical of the system itself.  Over the last 10 years school has become about testing.  Focusing on testing, 'extracts all developmental power and potential from the educational process'.  This focus on testing also, 'narrows the scope of what is considered legitimate activity to that which is related to standardized testing'.  Below are some of my favorite things he said:

-To bring about real change that will benefit children, schools need to maximize developmental opportunities and cognitive capabilities-meaning, learning and opportunities for learning need to line up with a child's brain development-not arbitrary curriculum content or standardized tests.
-We know so much about the brain; yet, schools continue to ignore what we know.  why is that?
-In the current system, teaching is telling-pouring information into the brains of children by way of rewards and punishments.
-Children experience developmental jumps and pauses in their learning as they go through life-schools need to provide space/time/materials that appreciate those developmental needs of children, not work against them.
-Schools should be enriching, nurturing environments that also appreciate children's social/emotional needs and development.
-Movement is intimately connected to cognitive development-children should have ample opportunity to move while they learn-sitting in desks/tables for a large portion of their day does not support cognitive development-this can be especially true for children with special needs (Sensory Integration issues, ADHD, etc).
-In a study, students were asked what they want from school.  some of their answers were this:  to leave confident and be able to handle change, learn to be independent, help developing their character, learn about career opportunities based on what they're good at or what they enjoy doing, be able to problem solve, communication skills, have opportunities for discussion/debate, encouraged to have opinions of their own, and how to have a successful marriage-do any of these things have to do with standardized testing?
-One of the wonderful things I walked away with yesterday was validation of Maria Montessori and her discovery of children.  She was brilliant!  what she learned about children was right on target and is now supported by brain research.  Dr. Steven Hughes is a Montessori advocate and has said "Maria Montessori essentially got everything right"...coming from someone outside of the Montessori community, this is quite validating.

I encourage you to read more about Dr. Steven Hughes.  On his website, www.goodatdoingthings.com  he has videos of his many talks-some on parenting, some on schooling, some on brain development.  He's fascinating to listen to.  Thank you CMS for bringing him to Cincinnati so that we could all learn from him!

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