Spaced Learning

Monkseaton High School in the North East of England (Tyne & Wear) is currently trying out some very interesting teaching methods called 'Spaced Learning', whereby they teach students chunks of the curriculum followed by an 'irrelevant' activity that engages different brain cells and then return to the same content and continue like this until the end of the lesson. 


The school refer to the process in the following way:

The core structure of spaced learning is based rigidly on Fields’ discoveries, with three stimulations separated by two 10-minute gaps, as follows:

• Teacher input of key facts/explanations (and therefore pathway stimulation).
• Ten-minute “break” from the input.
• Teacher input of key facts/explanations.
• Ten-minute “break” from the input.
• Teacher input of key facts/explanations.

This approach was developed by Paul Kelley and Angela Bradley and first reported in Kelley’s book, Making Minds.

The principle is based on memory acquisition and the theories of the Douglas Fields of the National Institute for Child Health and Development in the US, who noted that constant stimulus of the same cells does not lead to better acquisition of memory, but by adding time and our brains can create better links between cells and hence form memories more easily.


Interestingly, what is being taught in this lesson is the ability to think laterally to stimulate many parts of the brain simultaneously, which can be a very energising experience if modelled and encouraged by the teacher and especially if it can be brought back to reinforce prior learning. Often teachers who go off on tangents during their lessons are considered eccentric, but they are often the teachers that engage students the most and nurture an interest in their subject. Whether this leads to better exam results is difficult to say... but good memories often lead to a greater confidence in later life to continue learning about that subject.


To read more about 'Spaced Learning' please click here.

Edward de Bono on Creative Thinking

Edward de Bono discusses some of the skills required to think creatively, but also challenges us to reflect about how our notion of thinking is stuck in the ideas behind Greek philosophy and we need to develop new ways of thinking - specifically creative thinking. It is a fairly didactic presentation, possibly aimed at the business market, but interesting if we consider how some of these skills can be developed in a school context? De Bono also proposes his 'Six Thinking Hats' process, which involves people thinking in parallel, which he explains below:



As teachers, it makes sense that we employ a number of strategies and activities with students that will encourage them to take different approaches to thinking about a situation. Edward de Bono's methods can easily be adapted to help structure students' thinking towards a creative outcome although allow space for personal expression. You can read in more depth about the Six Thinking Hats by clicking here.

Here are some quotes by De Bono:

"An idea that is developed and put into action is more important than an idea that exists only as an idea."


"Creativity involves breaking out of established patterns in order to look at things in a different way."


"Creativity is a great motivator because it makes people interested in what they are doing. Creativity gives hope that there can be a worthwhile idea. Creativity gives the possibility of some sort of achievement to everyone. Creativity makes life more fun and more interesting."


"Most of the mistakes in thinking are inadequacies of perception rather than mistakes of logic."


"One very important aspect of motivation is the willingness to stop and to look at things that no one else has bothered to look at. This simple process of focusing on things that are normally taken for granted is a powerful source of creativity. "


"The need to be right all the time is the biggest bar to new ideas."

You can read more about De Bono by visiting the following websites:

• Official Edward de Bono website

• The Edward De Bono Foundation

• De Bono Consulting
• More quotes by De Bono

Or purchase this book from Amazon: