Aug 14, 2020

The Dialogic Learning Weekly #184

By Tom Barrett • Issue #184 • View online

Friday seems to come around quicker than ever. Who else has lost track of time? Welcome along to this little collection of weekly ideas. If you are new here, hi!

I look forward to my Friday email as it is always thought-provoking.

Today I am excited to share a new resource that I am sharing with subscribers first, and some short video links about learning and performance. Enjoy.

On Your Marks

I enjoyed this short video (see link below) exploring some of the strategies elite athletes use, from sports psychology, to support their growth, development and performance.

Here is the description of the visualisation technique often used by athletes:

Many of the world’s top athletes use visualisation techniques before a big event they’re mentally rehearsing it in their minds. This can increase motivation, build confidence and improve your performance. The more realistic this visualisation and preparation is, the more successful it will be. Athletes will think about the sounds they might hear - like the crowd. What they might smell - like freshly cut grass. And imagine what they are going to see. And how they might feel.

The four strategies outlined are:

Reframe Anxiety - recognise your nerves as excitement
Create a Support Team - develop a network
Mentally Rehearse - visualise
Talk to Yourself - use positive self-talk

I have definitely used the first one during my approach and preparation for leading workshops or teaching. To me, any nerves signal that I am excited and that I care about what I am doing. Reframing anxiety has helped me to stay focused and cope with any pressure in a situation.

What resonates with you? Which strategy have you had success with?

Four tips from elite sport you can use in everyday life - BBC Ideas

From talking to yourself to rehearsing your mind, here are four secrets from the world of sport psychology that you can apply to your own life

www.bbc.co.uk • Share

Learning Zone vs Performance Zone

Thanks to Chris Harte for this recommendation about the different experiences we have of learning on the path to mastery.

Eduardo Briceño outlines the difference between spending time in the Learning Zone (experimentation, low stakes) and the Performance Zone (flawless execution, high stakes).

Briceño shares an interesting provocation and perspective on what it might be like for a student.

[Students] learn that mistakes are undesirable inadvertently when teachers or parents are eager to hear just correct answers and reject mistakes rather than welcome and examine them to learn from them, or when we look for narrow responses rather than encourage more exploratory thinking that we can all learn from. When all homework or student work has a number or a letter on it, and counts towards a final grade, rather than being used for practice, mistakes, feedback and revision, we send the message that school is a performance zone.

[Particularly relevant in the UK at the moment as students have just received their A-Level results]

I wonder how much we alternate between the two different zones without realising. It makes me think about another idea I have heard from sport:

practice like you are performing, then you will, perform like you practice

I wonder if the zones are always distinct and separate? Can they occur at the same time? Do they overlap? What exists between them?

What do you think?

Eduardo Briceño: How to get better at the things you care about | TED Talk

Working hard but not improving? You’re not alone. Eduardo Briceño reveals a simple way to think about getting better at the things you do, whether that’s work, parenting or creative hobbies.

www.ted.com • Share

A New Resource to Download

I am excited to share with you a brand new resource you can download. Chris Harte and I have co-authored an introductory guide to The SOLO Taxonomy, and we are sharing it with you first.

The SOLO Taxonomy is a model for the process of learning. It articulates the journey of learning from surface to deep, to conceptual understanding.

Here is a snippet from the PDF.

A powerful strategy is to design proxies for learning that help to generate clear signals of learning growth. But even once we filter out the noise, we still need a structure to help us better understand what the signals mean.

The SOLO Taxonomy is a sorting tool which helps us make sense of the complex, often noisy, sometimes muddled, outcomes of learning.

Click the link below to download your copy of the PDF.

Looking for more? Chris and I are working on more resources and courses to help you learn about The SOLO Taxonomy. By downloading the guide you will add you name to an email list, which we will update about our progress.

A Quick Guide to THE SOLO TAXONOMY

A practical introductory guide to the SOLO Taxonomy. Download the PDF to support your learning and teaching, and kickstart your understanding of the SOLO Taxonomy.

dialogiclearning.com • Share

–

A focus on learning this week. I hope you enjoyed it. Let me know what resonates.

In dialogue we trust.

[From lockdown]

~Tom

Did you enjoy this issue?

By Tom Barrett

Ideas and inspiration about Leadership, Learning and Innovation. Every Friday.

"nobody else shares such inspiring work on innovative education."
"I look forward to my Friday email as it is always thought-provoking."
"Not too long, not too short, just right!"
"exactly the nourishment I need on a weekly basis."
"I particularly enjoy the way Dialogic Learning readers are given insight into thinking processes in grabs large enough to be meaningful but small enough to chew on and digest."

Tweet

Share

If you don't want these updates anymore, please unsubscribe here.

If you were forwarded this newsletter and you like it, you can subscribe here.

Carefully curated in Melbourne, Australia