The Learning Success Blog

Australians are struggling to cope with recent world events, with around 13% reporting high or very high levels of psychological stress. In New Zealand, the situation is also somewhat worrisome, with around 31% reporting some level of stress. It isn’t only adults who are affected. Even prior to this year, teen stress rivalled that of adults, with issues such as academic and sporting pressure weighing on their minds.

Parents wishing to help their children improve their mental health often look to natural yet effective ways to lower stress levels. Some of the most powerful methods studied to date include mindfulness based activities like meditation, time spent in nature, a healthy diet, exercise and music - both as a hobby and in the form of therapy.

Since most learning is now moving into the digital age, teaching your kids about cybersecurity is a must. Here are some very real reasons why!

Identity Theft

Over 1 million children had their identities stolen, and that number is growing exponentially, according to a Javelin Strategy & Research survey. Children are often specifically targeted by hackers and identity thieves, since kids tend to have clear credit records compared to adults.

Once criminals obtain enough information to open up a bank account in your child’s name, they go on to rack up mountains of debt. To prevent this from happening to your child, it’s critical that they are taught basic cybersecurity protocols that prevent identity theft by not talking to strangers online or giving out sensitive personal information via email or text.

Malware and Viruses

How should you dress to get the job you want?  Does it even matter much what you wear for a job interview? 

This is an important question for young people making the transition from school or tertiary studies to the workforce. And perhaps going to their first ever job interview.

To get some answers to these questions I spoke with award-winning stylist, Bernadette Payne. 

Bernadette focuses on educating men and women about how their choice of clothes and personal styling can make important contributions to their success.

Her advice may be helpful if your child is attending interviews for jobs or even volunteer positions.

Listen to  our discussion on the Learning Capacity Podcast

Should we concentrate our teaching on trying to improve where students are performing badly, or focus more attention on helping them build on their existing strengths?

It shouldn't be an either /or choice. But according to positive psychology expert, Penny Nesbitt, working on a student's natural strengths will be more rewarding for both the student and their teacher.

Penny spoke to The Learning Capacity Podcast about the movement to positive education and how the strengths approach is being used in classrooms around the world.  She also spoke about the power to two little words:  "NOT YET".

I just read an inspiring article by Carole Meyer, a school Principal in Washington State, USA about how her school transformed its reading program. 

The problem at Salk Middle School in Spokane, Washington was that 328 of the 736 students were not proficient readers, based on the state’s reading assessment. This was almost half the students.

So in mid 2013 Meyer decided to find a way to get every student reading at or above grade level.

She succeeded.

The students in the new reading program:

• Achieved more than a year of reading growth in only one semester
• Lifted their pass rate so they were passing more than 90% of their classes
• Shifted their mindsets toward becoming better readers

Mike McKay is a retired superintendent of the Surrey County schools district in British Columbia, Canada.

He was a public educator for 35 years. The area he supervised has over 160 languages spoken. 

You can imagine it would be difficult to measure the potential problems with language and reading development in such a large and diverse region. 

But back in 2008 he attended a conference hosted by Scientific Learning Corporation, where he saw the research behind the Fast ForWord programs. 

When he came back, he asked his board to trust him, and give him $300,000 to get started. It was bold pitch. Mike tells the story of how things have panned out in this Learning Capacity podcast episode:

You might be wondering what coal seam gas has to do with learning.

But for ordinary Australian, and now film maker Dayne Pratzky, the “Frackman”, it’s become a major issue.

Australia is currently experiencing a “gas rush”, and when the Queensland Gas Company arrived at Dayne Pratzky’s home to inform him that drilling for coal seam gas was about to commence on his property, a battle started that would see Dayne become a global activist fighting against a multi-billion dollar industry.

Dayne learnt much about the coal seam gas industry, but also about himself, and what people can do to help themselves in the face of seemingly insurmountable tasks.

This is a message for all Australians, with particular focus on our next generations. Listen to this Learning Capacity podcast episode to hear Dayne tell his story:

Gabbie Stroud loved her job as a primary school teacher.

Eventually, what she calls the changing nature of teaching led to burn out, and her decision to leave the profession.

In an essay she wrote for the Griffith Review, she talks of her frustrations, but also of a future for education filled with hope and guided by a few dangerous ideas. 

While Gabbie is not in the classroom now, her passion for education remains strong, and she calls for things like profound commitment to teachers, trust, and renewed thinking on things like creativity, imagination and ingenuity.

And she does this for the sake of a student she calls Australia. In her essay she asks, “Who would teach her? How would she learn?" In an episode on the Learning Capacity Podcast, I continue this discussion with Gabbie as we search for the answers to some big questions.

Listen to the discussion:

“The single biggest thing that a parent can give their child is the encouragement to do better, and not give them limiting beliefs about their ability or what they could achieve”.

This is an opinion expressed by David Stanley, former math teacher and now Director of Learning Ecosystems Growth at Learn Fast Australia, in a wide ranging two part interview on the Learning Capacity Podcast.

 In the first part David discussed rote learning of maths tables, how this can improve a student’s learning capacity, the role of parents in helping students set goals, and the educational power of celebrating success.

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST

Recently, educator Colin Klupiec recorded our conversation where he teased out my understanding of how memorising maths tables can help students build learning capacity and the importance of the role played by parents. It is recorded in two parts on the Learning Capacity Podcast with the key points summarised below.

We discussed some findings from the neuroscientists around brain plasticity - the cognitive neuroscience and how it relates to what some people may think is a bit old-fashioned – rote learning, or learning by repetition.

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST