From the Head of School

Executive Function

What quality do you need, above others, to master another language:  A good attention span, a willingness to persevere or the gift of a great memory?

This week, our Grade 7 Spanish students debated this very question, dividing into three teams - one for each quality.  They began with opening statements. Freyja talked about the experience of emigrating from Pakistan to Spain.  How, in this challenging context, perseverance was vital.  Rose, arguing for attention, took a different tack, explaining the its role in learning in the classroom, both the personal and social effect.  Ayomide was more assertive, saying that perseverance and attention were both perfectly fine, but without a good memory they would be of little use.

Students then cross-examined each other.  Ben, in the perseverance team, began with an articulate defence of his chosen quality.  Arlo, challenged him, ‘but what is the question?’  Ben stopped, considered and rephrased.  

So often in our interactions with others we are so concerned to make (and re-make) our own points, we don’t really engage with others; we don’t listen or explore their ideas.  The structure of this debate demanded students did something unnatural - consider opposing points of view.  Arlo was prepared not just to make points but to consider the terms of the debate.  Ben could think on his feet and re-phrase.

I am not a psychologist, but I would guess there is no real answer to the conundrum of the relative merit of particular qualities when learning a language. But that did not make this debate a futile exercise.  Not every question needs a correct answer; sometimes the act of exploring the issues is what is important.

Grade 7 were explicitly thinking about executive function skills - learning that they are not ‘receiving’ an education but are active partners in acquiring one.  By talking through their own experiences, considering the experiences of others they became more self-aware.  They learnt to fruitfully collaborate with others -  not just to listen to others, but to get them to open up.  

‘Attention’ were declared the winners.  But many students felt that was a technicality - that really it had been a draw.  I like to think that they were all winners.

ISA students will graduate into a fast changing world.  They cannot enter with a static body of knowledge that is expected to tide them over for the rest of their lives.  They will have to be lifelong learners - which will mean knowing how to learn.  Grade 7 may not have reached a final conclusion on perseverance, attention and memory, but they did learn things about themselves.