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“We learn many things in our formal education and lifetime. Unfortunately, understanding
and learning how to concentrate is not one of
them.” (Bailey 2012) 2
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Overview
• Recent developments in the understanding of concentration skills• Introduction to the Bailey/ Brown Concentration
Assessment Profiling system and The Concentration Bug• Activities• Further training
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Concentration is a……
‘state of mind which reflects the ability of the individual to apply themselves to a task without interference from distractions ‘
Bailey / Brown 2012
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The ability to direct one’s thinking in whatever direction one would attend’
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Reframing Concentration
• Everyone can concentrate: Sometimes you just happen to be in the wrong mode for the task at hand!
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Reframing Concentration
• It can be a pleasurable mental process
• Sometimes it may be more difficult, but you can learn ways to help you succeed
• It is a skill to expand and develop
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Research Background
Neuroscience Brain connections can change
ADHD Brain is in an immature state
Meditation Alters brain states
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The Brain Can Change
• Brain plasticity: ‘ The capacity for continuous physical, chemical and functional change’. ( Michael Merzenich, PhD)• Daily intensive, effortful learning that
requires close attention.• Careful listening, precise movement
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ADHD
• Brain immaturity: delayed pattern of maturation • Combined• Predominantly inattentive• Predominantly hyperactive-impulsive• Classroom implications
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Meditation/ Mindfulness
• ‘The Wandering Mind’• Attention and auto-pilot•Mindfulness for problem solving• ACTIVITY : Watching the mind roam
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Mindfulness• Mindful techniques help with general ‘wellness’ but may not
address/ transfer to improved classroom performance.• MacConville and Rae noted improvements in:
On
ConcentrationEmpathyPerceptual AcuityLevels of stress and anxiety
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Mindfulness: An academic perspective
• Mindfulness works: If you practise.• To be actively
attentive and aware enables you to be more calm.• It is about noticing
and processing all that is going on around you.
Mindfulness can help staff as well as students.Mindfulness on its own is not always enough.
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Key Points from Research
• Effortful learning changes the brain• The more we do, the more we can do• The path to better performance does
not necessarily start with exceptional genes, but requires some key skills:
GPS14
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Key Characteristics
• Grit• Curiosity• Persistence• A growth mind-set
• A sense that the power to increase your abilities lies largely within your own control, mediated by appropriate environmental, physical, emotional and psychological factors
Paul Tough: How Children Succeed
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Neuroscience: Changing the Brain
•What you tell yourself about your ability plays a part in shaping the ways you learn and perform: how hard you apply yourself for example and your willingness to persevere in the face of difficulty’.
Brown, Roediger III, McDaniel
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Nettle (2005)
•With effort the quality of performance can be transformed as inner life gradually becomes stronger.• If you want to be top-class you have
to practise AND HAVE A SKILLED COACH
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Dweck’s Growth Mindset
• ‘Why do some people become helpless when they encounter challenges and fail at them?’ •Why do others respond to failure by trying
new strategies?’
• ATTRIBUTION: ‘I’m not clever’. ‘I can’t help it, I can’t concentrate’.
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What interferes with concentration ?
B] For your students
A] For you
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Distractors
Internal
I’m tired
I’m hungry
My back aches
Shopping list
Bills to pay
Lesson plan
I want to chat I can’t understandI am not good enough
Body Actions
FeelingThinking
Nervous
Bored
Irritated23
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Distractors
External
People
Playing
Competition
Threatening
Place
Too hot / cold
Noisy
Messy
DemandsOutside
Beautiful daySnow / wind /rainLove to go for a walk
Listen / take notesReports to write
Too many tasks24
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You can concentrate on your games, why can’t you do it in history!ACTIVITY• Take a minute to think about 3 things that help you to
concentrate more easily when you are not motivated.• Write down one strategy you use in the classroom to improve
student concentration.
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How can you alter the messages you give to yourself and others about concentration?
What could you begin to do to improve your concentration.How might you start to help others to improve their concentration?
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The Concentration Assessment ProfileBailey & Brown CAP©2013
• Development of the CAP• Concentration as a process• Domains intrinsic to concentration • The Bailey/Brown process model of
concentration• The significance of motivation • A practical and practicable model
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Assessing and Improving Concentration
Bailey & Brown CAP©2013Using the CAP
• Self-assessment• Self-understanding• Self-management• Self-development• Student/client assessment• Student/client understanding• Student/client management• Student/client self-development• Group assessment/understanding/management
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Training ActivitiesSelf Awareness / Analysis
Enhancing Focus
ThinkingListening / Receiving
Doing Emotions / arousal
Understanding concentrationAssessmentAnalysisreframing
MindfulnessVisualisationRelaxationManaging distraction
Positive thinkingProblem-solvingPlanningQuiet contemplation
Listening skillsObservationsDetails vs big pictureMemory
PlanningTime managementTask managementGetting started
Mental preparationStress managementDealing with anxietyEmotional regulation 33
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Tips for Teachers• Explain how
concentration works.• Teach students
different ways to concentrate• Create desirable
environmental conditions• Practice regularly
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Resistance to change is linked with insecurity
To lower resistance and build momentum for change you need to increase the students sense of security.
You can do this by:-1. Allowing the student to feel secure and valued2. Developing a culture of active concentration3. Praising effort : GPS 4. Daily embedded school level approach
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Strategies
WAIT TIME: Increase from 3-7 seconds leads to significant and profound changes in the classroom ‘Percolation time’: Particularly for students who need more processing time
Use of stillness and silence as a practice built in at whole school levels
Use of reflection: It promotes retrieval
Slow down when concentrating on reading: make images as you go.
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Strategies• Mindfulness as a beginning ritual at the start of each lesson as
a way of alleviating anxiety, establishing calm and getting lessons off to a positive start.
• Breathing and relaxation : Brief rests/ intentional resting ( MacConville page 30 : Teaching Happiness)
‘Practitioners know that a pupil’s ability to direct and maintain attention on a task at hand has a direct impact upon successful learning. Mindfulness has the capacity to nourish the quality of one’s attention’.
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The New ABC• Rather than the adversity itself, it is our belief about the cause
that triggers the feeling response and behaviour.• What was the problem? ( Adversity)• What did I believe about it? ( Belief)• What was the result? ( Consequence)Children can work to identify pessimistic thoughts and replace them with more favourable viewpoints.With practice children learn to reframe and consciously generate ways to concentrate automatically.(MacConville 2008)
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Further Reading• Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning: Brown et al ,
(2014) Harvard University Press• Mind-set: The New Psychology of Success: Dweck, C. (2006)
Ballantine Books• How Children Succeed: Tough, P. ( 2012) Houghton Mifflin
Harcourt• Silence in Schools: Lees, H. (2012) Institute of Education Press• Helping Students Take Control of Everyday Executive
Functions: The Attention Fix : Moraine, P. (2012) Jessica Kingsley Publishers
• How to Detect Developmental Delay and What To Do Next: Mountstephen, M. 2010) Jessica Kingsley Publishers 39
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Further Reading• Happiness, The Science Behind Your Smile: Nettle, D. ( 2005)
Oxford University Press• Teaching Happiness: A ten-step curriculum for creating
positive classrooms: MacConville, R. (2008) Optimus Education• Publishing Jan 2015: The Concentration Bug : Mountstephen
and MacConville
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Contact Details
Roy Bailey and Elvie Brown: [email protected]
Mary Mountstephen [email protected]( School training: The Concentration Bug The Concentration Assessment Profile) 41