Focus vs concentration; Some Disruptive learning Strategies – DLS

Are Focus & Concentration interchangeable terms and same processes? How they affect our learning?

We often say ‘Concentrate hard you will get it’ or ‘You need to concentrate on work/ studies if you want to be something in life’. Parents and teachers look for ways and means to increase concentration. Have we ever thought what concentration is and how do we achieve it? More so WHY THERE IS EVEN NEED TO CONCENTRATE?

Most of us would respond saying; ‘Yes! Of course, we need to concentrate… the child need to concentrate otherwise how they will score marks or something better’ or ‘Because they don’t concentrate they make mistakes’ and so on… which are probably right answers till we release and understand ; What is that we are wanting to achieve?

So let's take few minutes here to reflect; Remember those experiences when you are engrossed in any activity be it reading an intense novel, watching a deep thoughtful movie, painting, singing for your soul.. There can be numerous such activities. When the engagement is from core such that you are so engrossed and forget everything else, these are most joyful moments for our soul! Take a moment to realise were we forcing us to concentrate for this joyous experience?

You see the point! So what is it that is making such engagement possible? We know it well… our heart was in it… We were focused on the activity or pursuit of it… When we are focused on something we apply our all our resources physical and mental to the task with most ease without any external force. When we are focused we pursue the activity as a long term endeavor. Whereas ‘concentration’ is transactional. It is characterised by external forced.

So, our kids be better with Focus on their studies or Concentration! Of course answer is Focus ! So next question is - How that becomes possible?

For that we would want our kids to love and endure the learning process. The good news is ; IT IS POSSIBLE! And right from the age of pre-primary classes.

Denial Goleman (2013). 'Focus: The Hidden Driver Of Excellence'

Denial Goleman, author of famous book Emotion Intelligence, in his book on 'Focus: The Hidden Driver of Excellence', emphasis on how now more than ever we must learn to sharpen focus to meet the ever increasing demands of complex world we are in today.

Young children at that age are made for playing in the open but class room setting requires them to sit confined to their allotted seats; the first detractor.. how will they enjoy the classroom! And the dangerous Smartphone menace; child is pacified these days by handing over a smartphone to watch videos before they even start walking...there can be countless examples to note that how much we need to teach our kids the important life skill FOCUS so they can direct their attention on learning, and of course the challenge is to make learning interesting and a creative process.

Yes something can be done about it… This can happen by deploying efficient classroom Management techniques, by teaching effective learning methods to children. Methods which provide the following –

1. Providing them a self-directed ability to stay on task with focus.
2. Mechanism to maintain their physical energy appropriate for the task at hand. 
3. Engage them by letting them using their creativity in every learning task.
4. Confidence to make mistakes. (Mistakes are learning opportunities
5. Reach out to kids to every learning style can be exploited.

All above points are The recipe for generating lifelong love for learning in children and satisfaction galore to teachers….

Where we get these methods! We adults’; teachers and parents will have to unlearn and learn many ways of dealing with kids… but at the same time these are simple enough to learn and implement. Sure these are disruptive.

What am I talking about here; These Davis Learning Strategies - DLS, the methods developed in California in 1993, by Ronald D Davis and Sharron Pfeiffer (www.davislearn.com) . Since then these methods are followed across the world in many schools and each such school has a great success story to share.

I personally got opportunity to mentor teachers at an international school in Chennai, India and recently at a charity run school in Mumbai. In both the schools my experience has been amazing and much rewarding. These schools fall on a wide range of spectrum from size, scale and resources. But when you talk of kids they are same energetic bundle of enthusiastic learners and the teachers, the dedicated souls who try to make all ends meet to provide their best to let kids bloom.

Teachers find these strategies as answers to the missing puzzle piece what they were looking for e.g. Being able to reach all the students out equally,

Want every child to apply their creativity,

Want them to love their studies,

Not want to get them board….

These are some of the actual answers from teachers when I ask them what single most important thing that they feel they would to make different for their students. During the training, they could reflect on the all practical difficulties they face in the classroom and could relate to make their teaching more effective by applying these methods.

What more can be a proof that teachers happily came early to school than their scheduled time, so they can attend training to learn the techniques which they saw spelling wonders on the kids in the classrooms, when I volunteered to take 1 period to teach some of these strategies to children. Now if I need to tell how children felt; where do I start to describe the enthusiasm and fun children had in the classroom. It will be subject for another blogpost J

These are my personal experience examples. In the recent International Davis Symposium I got chance to meet many facilitators/ teachers who are instrumental in bringing a sea change in the way education in being given in schools. In particular a group from New Zealand, their success story was a tale of their determination and resolve… they are now in the process of talks with their education ministry to provide funding as more and more teachers what to get trained. Here is the link to a TV documentary film that says all….
https://www.facebook.com/202530493222647/videos/920134424795580/

My personal vision is to reach out as many children and teachers as possible and impact them this lifelong learning skills… so we nurture innovators, inventors, artists and happy humans for tomorrow! So, if you are a teacher or parent or associated with schools in anyway, please reach out... lets scribe a success story of ours!