Why Your Family Needs to Develop Core Values

The benefit of core values goes far beyond the workplace, explains Marc Gutman. Marc is an EO Colorado member, the founder of WILDSTORY, and father to Ruby, Charlie and Nathan.

Many of us have core values at our organizations. These values provide a common nomenclature and a North Star that guide our choices, our language and our priorities—at work. It’s these values that let us know we are working toward a shared mission—at work. These core values are our non-negotiables, the things we won’t compromise on—at work.

And, truth be told, core values are amazing. They are one of the first things we walk clients through in our brand storytelling process because everything emanates from them.

So, if core values are so great at work, then why don’t we have them at home? I wish I had been “woke” enough to see this myself, but I didn’t see the light until I heard Warren Rustand speak on this topic at the EO Entrepreneurial Masters Program (EMP). After hearing Warren speak, I rushed home and announced we were going to have family core values!

You can imagine the groans and eye-rolls from my wife and three kids. “Great, dad. You just went to an EO event, got all fired up and now you have a new idea to test on us!” was the response. I couldn’t blame them for their initial reaction, but I convinced them to give it a try.

We started by listing all the people we admire in our lives, whether they were friends, grandparents or celebrities. Then we asked “why”? “Why do we admire them? What qualities do they possess that we admire? If we were building a family out of people we knew, who would we want there?”

Marc was an EO Accelerator participant before becoming an EO member in 2013. He says, “I love everything EO stands for. Being an EO Accelerator participant was a transformational experience and I’m looking forward to becoming even more involved now that I’m a member.”

Once this was complete, I summarized the qualities and we started to combine them, culling down the list. When we arrived at five distinct ideas, I did some wordsmithing and came up with these:

1. Think big. No limits
2. Acceptance
3. Kindness
4. Family first
5. Own it

I put some examples and defining behaviors next to these and returned to the dinner table to review with the family. Everyone agreed that these ideas reflected what we had come up with. That was the easy and fun part!

The hard part is living them. Working them into your everyday nomenclature and conversation.

My wife, Lindsey, and I often start dinner by playing a game called “roses and thorns.” This is where each member of the family goes around and says something that was great (a rose) about their day and has the chance to voice anything that wasn’t so great (thorns)—one rule is you can’t mention a family member that gave you a thorn! At least once a week we’ll announce that this round also includes a “bud,” which is an example of how you displayed family core values or any example of family core values.

We also go out of our way to let the kids know if they aren’t upholding the family core values. “Own it” is all about owning when you’ve done something wrong or right. And it’s our way of making sure everyone takes responsibility.

Sometimes, having family core values can force you to face some harsh truths. One night after dinner, there was talk of a school event for my middle child, Charlie. Caught up in my entrepreneurial ways, I mentioned that I was not attending because I had work. Instantly my daughter Ruby, our youngest, piped up and said, “Family first, dad!” That stopped me in my tracks. She was right. That is one of our core values—a non-negotiable, our guiding north star and how we want to build this family for the future. I thanked her for the reminder and let her know this is exactly why we have family core values, to keep us on track. Even when we happen to get off track.

In addition to being the guideposts that help us to shape the life we’ve envisioned, the core values have been a great way to create a common language with the kids. It allows us to have tough conversations through a lens that we all understand, through values we all agree are important. Plus, since there are only five, they are easy to remember and manage.

This exercise has been an impactful way for us to talk about values with our kids as well as have honest conversations about their values and where they are going in the world. I can’t wait to see what that future looks like!

> https://blog.eonetwork.org/2019/06/family-needs-develop-core-values/

Lessons Learned in Parenting and Entrepreneurship

When we asked EO members to share how their entrepreneurial and parenting endeavors inform each other, we heard from Matt Doud, a member of the EO Baltimore chapter and co-founder and president of Planit. Matt shared what he considers a must-have for both areas of life.

"The parallels between parenting and entrepreneurship are countless. There are no playbooks for either endeavor, so you must enter both believing in yourself. This is not necessarily the same as having confidence.

You must know deep down that you can do it and no one else can instill that self-truth but you. Having said that, it's also important to have humility and a willingness to fail. As long as you fail fast and learn from it. In both roles, I have learned more from the failures than the successes.

The skills necessary are aligned, too. At the kitchen table or on the soccer field or in the boardroom, being an entrepreneur as well as a parent requires wearing many hats, including those of an evangelist, a cheerleader and a coach…as well as expert, servant and practitioner.

And lastly, as a 25-year entrepreneur, husband of 20 years, and the father of 16- and 15-year-old sons, I would offer one bit of advice for anyone starting either of those paths: You need to be ready to go all in; otherwise, don't do it at all. Running a business, like parenthood, is a 24/7, 365 endeavor. You need to be passionate about what you're doing. Passion makes things possible. It can never be about the money.

My kids taught me early in their lives about the rewards of being firm and decisive, while also being adaptable and open to feedback. To be a good listener. To trust my gut. I incorporate these into my entrepreneurial life on a daily basis, too."

> https://blog.eonetwork.org/2019/06/lessons-learned-parenting-entrepreneurship/

For the sake of kids, embrace math

Mathematics is causing headaches in schools across Canada, Australia and many other parts of the world. Teachers in both Canada and Australia feel neither competent nor confident in math and, frankly, they are the first to admit it.

As researchers, educators and authors who have advised globally about best practices for improving learning and achievement, we have had opportunities to notice common trends and obstacles, and notable gains, in math education.

Up close, we've heard from teachers in Ontario, Canada, and in Australia and we've considered how people can best collaborate to protect and grow students' love of learning.

We've seen that some math improvement efforts get bogged down by fears of the unknown. Others get an initial spark but soon lose energy.

Let's start with the bad news.

'Way more effective?'

In response to a year-on-year decline in math scores, Ontario, for example, has started to give math achievement high priority. An underlying principle of the Ontario mathematics curriculum is to "investigate ideas and concepts through problem solving." A September report from Canadian think tank The Institute for Competitiveness and Prosperity pointed out that inquiry-based approaches to mathematics actually get better results than more "basic" alternatives.

But many parents and some educators remain skeptical, if not downright hostile, towards unfamiliar math strategies.

In Australia, critics of inquiry-based mathematics curricula have suggested a change of course. In a recent story in the Sydney Morning Herald, with the headline "There is a better way of teaching bored Australian students," a research fellow at Australian think tank the Centre for Independent Studies lamented that "explicit, direct instruction across the board is way more effective in achieving higher student outcomes." One could not help but wonder how many parents might have been nodding their heads over their coffee.

But while we can't resolve the math problem simply by getting "back to basics," we can revive good ideas about math education.

More oxygen please

From the early 2000s, Ontario's government pledged to improve achievement in literacy and math (or numeracy, as it was then called). The government invested significant resources and established a Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat to spearhead the effort.

Principals made literacy their top priority. Expert coaches worked alongside classroom teachers, demonstrating effective strategies and giving teachers feedback on how to use them with students.

The gains in literacy were impressive and are now the envy of the world.

But, like in a number of other countries, the literacy strategy consumed all the attention and left math with too little oxygen. It's almost impossible to reform literacy and math all at once — the scope is too great, so the effort either leaves one of them to fall by the wayside by default or just burns teachers out.

It's time to give math reform the same treatment as literacy. But math reform has to confront an obstacle that literacy reform didn't: Almost every primary and elementary teacher in many countries, including Canada and Australia, loves reading, writing and books, as do many of the kids.

Literacy reform had a lot to build on. This is not the case with math.

In interviews one of us conducted last year with more than 200 Ontario educators, teachers would say things like:

"I'm not a math person."

One principal reflected how they had all been "amazing readers and writers." But she also wondered:

"Did we share that similar passion and appetite for numeracy?"

Fear of math vs. higher salary

Compared to literacy, there is a shortage of teachers who feel competent in math and confident enough to teach students what mathematics is and what mathematicians do. Many schools also have shortages of colleagues with the expertise to help them.

Some of the current answers to this problem — such as more hours allocated to how to teach math during elementary teacher training, or assigning professional development days to improving math teaching — won't do any harm. But we must also address how confident and comfortable, and not just minimally competent, elementary teachers need to feel about math.

In Ontario, for example, 80 per cent of elementary teachers have no university qualification in math. However, in Finland, one of the world's leading performers in mathematics, around half of elementary teachers have studied math or science and how to teach them effectively during their university degrees.

Second, in Singapore, the world's No. 1 performer in math, elementary teachers are paid as much as engineers when they start teaching. This means students who are good at math choose teaching based on their mission and purpose in life, not on salary differentials. Perhaps Canada and Australia need to think harder about how to attract more people with math and science backgrounds into elementary teaching.

Teacher and parent aid

Third, improving teaching mathematics should be built on collaboration between experienced teachers and those with less confidence in schools. This coaching should focus not just on how to teach math but also on teachers' relationship to math generally.

Intensive coaching was a big factor in raising literacy achievement. Because math expertise is now thinner, teachers need more resources and resourcefulness in classrooms.

Last, parents have a responsibility for their children's math development too. But two-thirds of surveyed Ontario parents don't know how to help their elementary-aged children with mathematics.

Supporting school interventions known as family math that help parents converse about numbers and shapes with their children as easily as they might about words could do a lot to rectify this.

We need to make math as much a priority now as literacy has been. We need to get teachers in primary or elementary schools just as comfortable as well as competent with math and how to teach it successfully to all children as they are with reading in their lives as well as in their classes.

If we avoid falling for simplistic solutions, then eventually, the words "I am not a math person" may become a thing of the past.

> https://theconversation.com/for-the-sake-of-kids-embrace-math-106433

Robots likely to be used in classrooms as learning tools, not teachers

Robots are increasingly being used to teach students in the classroom for a number of subjects across science, maths, and language. But our research shows that while students enjoy learning with robots, teachers are slightly reluctant to use them in the classroom.

In our study, which saw staff and students interact with the Nao humanoid robot, teachers said they were more skeptical of robots being integrated into the classroom.

They preferred the robot to not have full autonomy and instead take on restricted roles in the classroom. The teachers also wanted full control over the robot. We observed that the teachers were in general unaware of robots and hence there was a technological bias associated with their opinions.

They said they did not trust the technical capabilities of the robot and wanted the robot to function and behave as a learning "buddy" of children and not as a teacher. We think this reluctance may have occurred primarily due to an uncertainty of how best to incorporate robots in the class, and a lingering concern that robots may eventually replace teachers.

This is despite research showing that robots are much more likely to be used as learning tools than as teachers in a classroom.

The students, on the other hand, were much more enthusiastic about a robot in their classroom, enjoying the human-like interaction.

However, they wanted the robot to adapt its behavior to their feelings and display a wide range of emotions and expressions. Such fully autonomous behavior will require further research and development in robotics.

For example, some of the children felt the robot’s voice was unnatural and did not adapt to situations by changing tone or pitch.

The children preferred as natural behavior from the robot as possible, even to the extent that they were untroubled by the robot making mistakes, such as forgetting. It was clear the children were imagining the robot in the role of their teacher.

How robots are currently used in the classroom

Numerous types of robots are being incorporated in education. They range from simple "microprocessor on wheels" robots (boebot), to advanced toolkits, (mindstorms) to humanoids (robots that resemble humans).

The choice of the robot is usually dictated by the area of study and the age group of the student.

Smaller robots or toolkits are particularly used to teach robotics or computer science. These toolkits can be physically manipulated allowing students to learn a variety of disciplines across engineering. However, the human-like shape of humanoids makes them easier to interact with, and for this reason, are often used for language lessons.

Humanoids have the ability to provide real-time feedback, and their physical shape increases engagement. This often leads to a personal connection with the student, which research shows can help resolve issues related to shyness, reluctance, confidence and frustration that may arise in dealing with a human teacher. For example, a robot will not get tired no matter how many mistakes a child makes.

Humanoid robots are being widely utilised in classrooms in many countries including, Japan and South Korea.

Nao, Pepper, Tiro, IROBI, and Robovie, for example, are primarily used to teach English.

Telepresence – where a teacher can remotely connect to the classroom through the robot – is also being used as a way to teach students English. The teacher can participate in the classroom by being virtually present through a display mechanism. In some instances, the display is embedded in the robot’s torso.

Western countries have been much more hesitant in acknowledging the integration of robots in classrooms, with privacy, developmental hindrances, the rise in unemployment and technical deficiencies stated as the major drawbacks.

Robots as learning tools, not teachers

Humanoid robots are still a fair way away from being autonomously situated in schools due mainly to technological limitations such as inaccurate speech or emotion recognition.

However, the intention of most researchers in robotics is not for robots to replace teachers. Rather, the design goals of most robots are to function as an aid in the classroom and to enhance the added value they can bring as a stimulating and engaging educational tool.

In order to facilitate the integration of robots in the classroom, we need to be able to provide appropriate interfacing mechanisms (software, hardware or even mobile apps), allowing the human teacher to control the robot with minimal training.

Explainer: what makes Chinese maths lessons so good?

Chinese students begin learning their maths facts at a very early age: maths textbooks begin with multiplication in the first semester of second grade, when children are seven years old. In order to understand multiplication, pupils have to memorise the multiplication rhyme: "four times eight is 32, five times eight is 40" and so on, which was invented by ancient Chinese scholars 2,200 years ago.

Stemming from this tradition, most classrooms have few concrete teaching materials for maths lessons. The cultural traditions of Chinese maths education lead people to believe that routine practice is the most efficient way to learn.

This continues today. And as a result, schools in Shanghai have scored highly in recent years on international tests of maths ability. It is this aptitude for maths among Chinese schoolchildren that has led the UK government to announce plans to bring over 60 maths teachers from Shanghai to help teach in centres of excellence.

15 hours a week

The Chinese curriculum in maths is a nine-year programme divided into four mathematical stages, running from primary school to grade 9, when a child is 14 years old. The curriculum sets out four teaching periods a week for maths in primary and junior high schools. However, most schools arrange more than five periods each week.

Because of China's standardised curriculum and teaching, the national exam system, and the one child policy, teachers and parents in China have big expectations for their students from early on. There is a high degree of parental involvement and parents prioritise their children's education, especially in maths, which is one of three core curricular in national exams.

A typical teaching period in primary schools is approximately 40 minutes, extending to 45 minutes in secondary school. Teachers often set at least half an hour of homework every day for primary school pupils and more for secondary pupils. So it's normal for Chinese pupils, particularly secondary and high school students, to spend more than 15 hours per week on maths both in and outside the classroom.

Made to understand

A new compulsory mathematics curriculum was introduced in 2001 and revised in 2011, setting out standards for "number and algebra", "space and graph", "statistics and probability" and "practice and applications".

The goal of maths education in China is to develop conceptual and procedural knowledge through rigid practice. In comparison, the UK maths curriculum is less focused and consistent. China uses whole-class instruction, engaging all students in the material and prompting feedback. This is different to the UK model teaching of maths, which is more focused on small groups and individual attention.

Chinese students are taught to understand numerical relationships and to develop and prove their solutions to problems in front of the whole class. This means students understand whole concepts of maths, allowing them to apply previous knowledge to help them learn new topics.

When a Chinese teacher introduces a new topic, they tend to use different kinds of examples that vary in difficulty.

This way of teaching with variation has been applied either consciously or intuitively in China for a long time. In class, maths teachers also emphasise logical reasoning, prompting pupils with questions such as "why?", "how?" and "what if?".

Chinese maths teachers also emphasise the use of precise and elegant mathematical language. In secondary school maths exams, if pupils do not write according to the mathematical format required, marks will be deducted.

Teachers' time

Nearly all Chinese teachers teach a single subject, rather than multiple subjects. Most of them teach only two classes per day in primary and secondary schools. But compared with their counterparts in the UK, most Chinese math teachers have to deal with larger class sizes without streaming for ability.

Chinese maths teachers usually spend a considerable amount of time each day writing out detailed lesson plans, or correcting homework and marking examination papers. They also have access once a week to locally-organised teachers' research groups, where they can get suggestions for good lesson plans.

Compared with their counterparts in the UK, Chinese maths teachers are not very good at integrating concepts across the curriculum. Even though pupils spend 15 hours per week learning maths, teachers often complain that they lack time in their teaching schedule. They have to deal with frequent grade-level tests every two or three weeks and school level tests every term.

Some good maths teachers, particularly those who come from quality schools, encourage pupils to learn about the interrelationship mathematics has with daily life. They also give full consideration to meeting the individual needs of the students. They frequently use active participation to check for individual understanding during a lesson, and integrate methods and real life projects in teaching mathematics.

However, most pupils in rural areas have few chances to access to this high-quality teaching. Many Chinese teachers who face the pressure of an examination-oriented education system do not see a reason to do activities that connect maths to real-life. It's easier to just give students the information required and teach them the process.

> https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-makes-chinese-maths-lessons-so-good-24380

Children put in the bottom maths group at primary believe they’ll never be any good

Jayden wasn’t getting on with his maths work. “Can I help you Jayden?” I asked. “I can’t do this work, Miss, I’m only a moped.”

Jayden was six years old. Like many primary schools across the country, Jayden’s separates children into different groups according to their ability – in his case, named after different vehicles.

Jayden knew he was a moped and not a Ferrari, and had made a link between being a moped and not being good at maths. Whether groups are labelled by vehicles or animals, colours or shapes, children and their parents understand the implied meanings.

As ability-grouping becomes increasingly common in primary schools, my recently-published research looked at the experiences and feelings of the young children affected.

While teachers, children and parents often concern themselves with the level of the tasks assigned to each group, I found that group labels do more than this – they say something to and about the children in the groups, too.

Ferraris and mopeds

Grouping children by ability seems like a reasonable response to government directives to schools to address the needs of every child. It also fits nicely with the idea in English society that being "good" at something, or having a "talent" – be it sport, music or maths – is more about having the right genes than putting in effort, and that we can assess and group by "ability".

But we now know that genes do not dictate destinies. We also know that while being in a top stream may benefit some children, ability-grouping is not a panacea to raising attainment. It may also have detrimental effects on children’s attitudes to a subject.

There are other problems, too. Teacher stereotypes, the month of birth, social background and special educational needs all impact on which group a child might be placed in, and therefore on the educational opportunities afforded to them.

Despite a wealth of research arguing against the use of ability-grouping, this has little impact in schools. Primary school children, sometimes from the age of four, are increasingly experiencing structured forms of ability grouping.

Children understand

Children know what their placement means. Eight year-old Louise, sat on the bottom table, told me: "It makes you know you’re worst at maths."

These views were not uncommon among the 24 primary-aged children I interviewed from both top and bottom groups, who all study maths as part of the National Curriculum. Over 70% had fixed mindsets, believing that maths ability was determined at birth.

Nine-year-old Yolanda, who was in a bottom group, explained why some children were good at maths: "Their brain’s bigger … it just happens. They were born like that. They were born clever."

Children bought into the ability labels they were given, but also felt constrained by them. Despite being in a top group, Peter, who was about to embark on secondary school, adamantly stated that his improvement could only be minimal because: "There’s only so much you can do, isn’t there?"

Labelling or grouping children by ability appears to place real limits on the willingness of many to "have a go". Many children in my study also saw their ability as fixed not just now, but in the future, too. As Samuel, also at the end of primary school, reported angrily: "I’ve always been last in every maths group … I’ll just be low now in my next school, too."

Sadly, Samuel’s assertion may well be true. Ability-driven group placements appear to persist into adulthood. The mopeds may always be the mopeds.

Splitting up friends

In some schools, young children are expected to move to different sets (and so to different classrooms with different teachers) for different lessons – essentially a secondary school practice brought into the primary environment. But this can simply be too much for a young child whose main concern may only be who they’re going to play with at lunchtime. Being in different classes, children have to manage a greater range of friendship groups.

As Louise told me: "You know in the groups? It takes you away from your friends." This is important. By breaking up friendship groups, teachers may actually limit the possibility of collaborative work. Ability-grouping also takes young children away from the pastoral support of their class teacher.

Many children rely on school to provide nurture and consistency. Traditionally, the primary school teacher develops a holistic understanding of their class, knowing how well each is doing, what motivates them, their fears, interests, aspirations and home background. Teaching children in sets and streams may make this harder.

The increase in ability-grouping in primary schools brings with it many different experiences for young children. Grouping children by ability affects how children feel about themselves, both now and in the future. I believe these are not the experiences and feelings we want such young children to have.

> https://theconversation.com/children-put-in-the-bottom-maths-group-at-primary-believe-theyll-never-be-any-good-54502

Schools could teach children how to be happy – but they foster competition instead

Diagnoses of mental disorders and drug prescriptions among school-age children have skyrocketed over the last two decades. The World Health Organisation (WHO) reports that 20% of children experience mental disorders – such as depression, anxiety and ADHD – at any given time.

This is a significant problem in the UK, where one in eight children between the ages of five and 19 has been diagnosed with an emotional or behavioural disorder. Even children as young as five are getting ill: according to the latest reports, 6% of five year olds suffer from a mental disorder. The challenges are greater still for children from low income families, who are four times more likely to develop mental health problems than their better off peers.

While home life, friends, social media and body image all have an impact on the mental health of children, a recent report from The Children’s Society found that more young people feel unhappy about school than any other area of their lives. Yet a growing body of research from around the world shows that schools can actually help children lead happier lives – if they value such outcomes.

Under pressure

Generally speaking, the UK's education system – like many others around the world – is geared toward competition. International rankings such as OECD's Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) rate the performance of schools, placing pressure on governors, teachers and pupils. As a result, schools seem to value the academic achievement of students over their mental health and well-being, which is reflected not only in the way students are taught, but also how they are assessed.

Teachers also face a lot of pressure to ensure their students obtain the highest grades possible. This is also contributing to poor mental health among teachers, with many developing mental health problems such as burnout, which negatively impacts their performance and can ultimately lead them to quit the profession.

While there are requirements for UK schools to teach pupils how to stay physically and mentally healthy, it's clearly not enough. All too often, academic demands on pupils provoke a sense of rivalry, rather than teaching them how to enjoy life and cultivate positive emotions. Yet educational performance does not need to come at the cost of children's happiness and well-being.

Education systems, including the UK's, have the capacity to respond to the growing mental health crisis among children. And research shows that promoting mental health and well-being in schools, on a par with core skills such as maths and literacy, has a positive impact on the self-esteem, academic achievement, social relations, motivation and career prospects of pupils.

The Nordic way

To see how schools can teach pupils to be happy, consider the education systems of some of the happiest countries in the world. For instance, all five of the Nordic countries – Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Iceland – appear in the top ten happiest countries, according to the World Happiness Report.

It's well known that Nordic countries place a greater emphasis on social-emotional learning, which gives children the skills and knowledge to recognise and manage emotions in effectively. This forms the basis of well-being, and can significantly improve academic achievement among students.

Nordic countries also value the judgements of teachers over national examinations, and schools are not rated or ranked as they are in the UK or US. This prevents the education system from placing needless pressure on schools, leading to less rivalry, stress and anxiety among students, and lower rates of burnout among teachers.

Finding happiness

When it comes to being healthy and happy, research suggests that money only matters to a certain extent. What matters most is developing self-knowledge – that is, knowing how you think, behave and manage your own emotions – and positive social relationships. This is evident in some Latin American countries. For example, Costa Rica and Mexico also score well on the World Happiness Index, and rank among the happiest countries according to the Happy Planet Index (which takes into account well-being, life expectancy and inequality, as well as ecological footprint).

These nations have a culture of promoting social networks of friends, families and neighbourhoods. Despite living on the most unequal continent in the world, research indicates that Latin American people are extremely resilient, meaning they have the ability to successfully overcome adversity and enjoy life in spite of difficult circumstances.

According to recent UN reports, schools in Latin America are also doing a good job in promoting resilience among children. Environmental sustainability is also a key part of education policies in places like Costa Rica. This promotes empathy toward other members of the society – a core skill of social-emotional learning.

My own research has found that education systems in both developing and developed countries value forming responsible citizens through valuing equality, harmony and diversity among others. Yet none of the countries included in the analysis – China, England, Mexico and Spain – seem to place an explicit value on mental health in their education systems.

Education systems around the world can tackle the mental health crisis among children – if they set out to do so. And countries that prioritise children's happiness and well-being offer a strong starting point. By promoting positive relationships over rivalry, and learning over league tables, children around the world can be given the chance to flourish.

> https://theconversation.com/schools-could-teach-children-how-to-be-happy-but-they-foster-competition-instead-121669

Forest schools: how climbing trees and making dens can help children develop resilience

Despite all the research that tells parents how good it is for their children to spend time playing outside, they are spending more time indoors than ever before. It seems that concerns about the dangers of climbing trees or getting lost means that many parents are nervous about allowing their children to engage in risky play.

But research suggests that this element of outdoor play has significant benefits for children and can help to develop their emotional resilience.

Over the last decade and a half, schools have started to recognise the importance of outdoor time for children – resulting in the development of programmes that take learning outside the classroom. One of these programmes which has increased in popularity over recent years, is Forest School.

What is forest school?

Forest School is an outdoor learning initiative which embraces outdoor play in wooded spaces as a tool for learning and development. In the UK, the Forest School movement can be traced back to the early 1990s when a group of early years educators at Bridgewater College in Somerset day went on a trip to Denmark.

They noted how the Scandinavian values of open-air living were embedded in the education system. Upon their return from Denmark, they developed the first Forest School in the college creche, followed by a B-Tech qualification in Forest School practice. The Bridgewater group set in motion the development of Forest School provision through structured training programs for Forest School practitioners. Today the Forest School Association – the UK professional body for Forest School practitioners – has more than 1,500 members.

During Forest School, children and young people are provided with opportunities to explore the natural environment, experience appropriate risk and challenge, and direct their own learning. Researchhas shown that Forest School stimulates imaginative play through hands-on engagement with the natural environment.

In our research, which included more than 30 interviews with children aged between four and nine, we wanted to understand how play in Forest School might facilitate learning. We found that during Forest School, children felt more independent, and as a result, had a greater sense of personal, social and environmental responsibility.

Children felt that they were able to apply skills they had learned in school in more meaningful ways and developed a range of non-academic skills. Forest School encouraged them to think creatively – to step out of their comfort zone and take risks – and to work more closely with their peers. They also reported being more physically active during Forest School – learning how to move safely in the unpredictable and challenging space of a woodland.

Making movements matter

The World Health Organisation has recently argued that young children need more opportunity to play in order to grow up healthy. But despite the clear benefits, Forest School is still somewhat misunderstood.

To the outsider, it is often considered as a separate form of education provision – and indeed, there are some full-time outdoor Forest School nurseries operating in the UK, such as Wildawood Forest School in Cambridgeshire. But most Forest Schools operate within mainstream state schools, where children leave their classrooms for a half or full day, usually once or twice a week, to attend Forest School.

We spoke to children, headteachers and Forest School leaders in two primary schools and found that this bridging of formal and informal learning can be complementary to one another. Children and headteachers acknowledged that the school system can stifle children’s natural curiosity about the world. Children recognise that while they learn a lot in the classroom, this tends to be directed by teachers and focused on passing tests.

Headteachers also recognised the pressure children are put under from a young age, and of the need to frequently demonstrate pupil progression against set targets. Forest School, for both pupil and teacher, is an opportunity to move away from the monotony of classroom learning and instead to engage in hands-on, self-directed learning.

This gives children the opportunity to develop other skills beyond the academic – including negotiation, resilience and independence. And in this way, the blending of these approaches to learning ensures that children have opportunity to develop a broader range of skills. All of which, prepares them for later life, while helping them to harness a love of the great outdoors from an early age.

> https://theconversation.com/forest-schools-how-climbing-trees-and-making-dens-can-help-children-develop-resilience-117920

New autism early detection technique analyzes how children scan faces

Imagine that your son Tommy is about to turn two. He is a shy and sweet little boy, but his behaviours can be unpredictable. He throws the worst temper tantrums, sometimes crying and screaming inconsolably for an hour. The smallest changes in routines can throw him off.

Is this a bad case of the so-called "terrible twos"? Should you give Tommy some time to grow out of this phase? Or, are these signs of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) — the neurodevelopmental disorder that affects around two per cent of the population, the equivalent of about one or two children on a full school bus? And how will you find out?

Our research group at the Applied Mathematics Department at University of Waterloo has developed a new ASD detection technique that distinguishes different eye-gaze patterns to help doctors more quickly and accurately detect ASD in children.

We did this because there are so many benefits of early ASD diagnosis and intervention. Studies have found that interventions implemented before age four are associated with significant gains in cognition, language and adaptive behaviour. Similarly, researchers have linked the implementation of early interventions in ASD with improvements in daily living skills and social behaviour. Conversely, late diagnosis is associated with increased parental stress and delays early intervention, which is critical to positive outcomes over time.

Current ASD interventions

Symptoms of ASD typically appear in the first two years of life and affect the child’s ability to function socially. Although current treatments vary, most interventions focus on managing behaviour and improving social and communication skills. Because the capacity for change is greater the younger the child is, one can expect the best outcomes if diagnosis and intervention are made early in life.

Assessment of ASD includes a medical and neurological examination, an in-depth questionnaire about the child’s family history, behaviour and development or an evaluation from a psychologist.

Unfortunately, these diagnostic approaches are not really toddler-friendly and can be expensive. One can imagine that it is much easier for children to just look at something, like the animated face of a dog, than to answer questions in a questionnaire or be evaluated by a psychologist.

Mathematics as new microscope

You might wonder: What do mathematicians have to do with autism detection?

This is indeed an example of interdisciplinary research our group is involved in. We use mathematics as a microscope to understand biology and medicine. We build computer models to simulate the effects of various drugs and we apply mathematical techniques to analyze clinical data.

We believe that mathematics can objectively distinguish between behaviours of children with ASD from their neurotypical counterparts.

We know that individuals with ASD visually explore and scan a person’s face differently from neurotypical individuals. In developing the new technique for detecting eye-gaze patterns, we evaluated 40 children, mostly four- or five-year-olds. About half of these children are neurotypical, whereas others have ASD. Each participant was shown 44 photographs of faces on a screen, integrated into an eye-tracking system.

The infrared device interpreted and identified the locations on the stimuli at which each child was looking via emission and reflection of wave from the iris.

Patterns of eye movement

The images were separated into seven key areas — which we named features — in which participants focused their gaze: under the right eye, right eye, under the left eye, left eye, nose, mouth and other parts of the screen. We used four different concepts from network analysis to evaluate the varying degree of importance children placed on these features.

Not only did we want to know how much time the participants spent looking at each feature, we also wanted to know how they moved their eyes and scanned the faces.

For instance, researchers have known that when looking at a person’s face, a neurotypical child focuses more on the eyes whereas a child with ASD focuses more on the mouth. Furthermore, a child with ASD also scans faces differently. When moving their focus from someone’s eyes to their chin, for example, a neurotypical child likely moves their eyes more quickly, and via a different path than would a child with ASD.

Child-friendly diagnostic process

While it is not yet possible to enter a doctor’s office and request this test, our hope is that this research may eventually make the diagnostic process less stressful for children.

To use this technology would require an infrared eye-tracker, which is commercially available, plus our network analysis technique. We have explained the algorithms so any software developers who wanted to could, theoretically, implement them.

By removing some of the barriers to early diagnosis, we hope that more children with ASD can receive early intervention, resulting in improved quality of life and more independence in the long term.

> https://theconversation.com/new-autism-early-detection-technique-analyzes-how-children-scan-faces-120820

What ‘The Lion King’ teaches us about children’s grief

The Lion King is a movie about a young lion cub named Simba, who idolizes his father, King Mufasa, and is eager for his own royal destiny. Scar, former heir to the throne before Simba’s birth, sends Mufasa to his death and convinces Simba that the king’s death is the young cub’s own fault.

For more than 20 years, since a 1994 version of the film, and now with a new remake, The Lion King has taught children lessons about the circle of life, the importance of following your dreams and the possibility of learning from mistakes.

Most importantly, The Lion King teaches about children’s grief — specifically their emotional responses to the death of a parent.

Heart of the child’s existence

When Mufasa brings Simba to the highest point of Pride Rock to show him the kingdom’s boundaries and to help Simba understand the responsibility he’ll one day inherit, Simba places his paw in his father’s footprint.

The scene suggests Simba will one day have large shoes to fill. It portrays the respect and admiration the young lion has for his father.

The impact of the parent’s death on the family, and the loss of a significant role model for the child, changes the child’s existence. Children progress through what Swiss-born psychiatrist Elisabeth Kübler-Ross identified as the five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance.

Immediately after his father’s death, Simba displays a range of typical grieving emotions, from self-blame and anger to profound sadness.

Denial

Denial is an important part of the grieving process as it helps individuals to cope, survive the loss and progress through feelings of grief. Individuals go numb, and wonder how they can continue.

Simba’s character shows how death can be a difficult reality for children to accept. When Simba finds his father’s body, the cub is in shock. He circles Mufasa. “Dad?” he asks. “Dad, come on, you have to get up.”

Simba also experiences guilt: If only the young cub had listened to his father’s request not to explore on his own. If only his father hadn’t been trying to rescue him from a stampede.

Feelings of guilt associated with a parent’s death are not unique to Simba. Between ages of three to six, children enter what psychologist Erik Erikson called the initiative versus guilt psychosocial stage. The line between reality and fantasy is blurred. Children believe they can make things happen with their thoughts and wishes. If a parent dies during this time period, children might feel responsible.

Anger

When Simba escapes Pride Rock with his hakuna matata (no worries) mantra, he pushes away his thoughts and feelings about his father’s death. It’s not until Simba meets up again with an old friend, Nala, that the growing lion has to face his self-blame and anger about his father’s death.

Without the cognitive ability to understand death’s finality, children often think of people who have died as being far away or on a trip. They may feel angry when their loved one doesn’t return.

It is not until children are between ages five and seven that they develop an understanding of the irreversibility and inevitability of death, allowing them to acknowledge the deceased parent hasn’t abandoned them.

Bargaining and depression

Eventually, individuals who are grieving find themselves bargaining. A child, for example, may promise to pick up their toys or stop arguing with their siblings to get back what was lost.

Depression is an appropriate response to loss. Depression in childhood can present as sadness, frequent crying, changes in appetite or sleep patterns or unexplained aches and pains.

Simba's bargaining and depression appear in the same scene.

Once Simba stops shouting blame at his father for leaving, Simba says: "It's me. It's my fault." Rafiki, a character who can be interpreted as a spiritual healer, reminds Simba that although Mufasa is dead, his spirit lives inside Simba. When Simba looks into the lake at his own reflection, he sees his father and is reminded of past hopes and dreams. Simba now enters the bargaining stage, pleading with Mufasa to stay.

Acceptance

Timon and Pumbaa famously teach Simba that " … bad things happen and you can't do anything about it … you can either run from it or learn from it."

Pictured here, Simba, voiced by JD McCrary, Timon, a meerkat, voiced by Billy Eichner, and Pumbaa, a warthog, voiced by Seth Rogen, in a scene from ‘The Lion King.' (Disney via AP, File)
Grief is a multi-tasking emotion that people don't move on from. Children have to learn to move forward with grief. Even with grief's weight, it's possible to follow dreams.

It isn't until a bereaved adult recognizes that they have to continue through life with grief that they are able to transition into the final stage, acceptance.

At the movie's end, Simba accepts his father's death and his own rightful place as king.

How parents can support grieving children

If your child is bereaved, be direct. It's important to talk to children about death.

Depending on their age, a child will be confused and they may think they caused the loss.

Provide children with facts about death, using language such as "death," "his body stopped working," rather than language such as "passed away," and "lost." It's important to help children understand that death is part of life. The more children are shielded from reality, the more confusing and frightening death can be.

Provide continuity and maintain routine and normalcy in the home and at childcare or at school. Talk to your child's educators so they can provide extra support.

Maintain boundaries and family roles. Sometimes, the death of a parent can overburden children with the responsibility of protecting the surviving parent or siblings. Psychologists call this situation parentification, where a child undergoes a functional or emotional role reversal. Children sacrifice their own needs in order to care for the needs of their living parent.

Encourage children's self-expression. It's important to tell children that it's OK to be sad and it's OK to be happy.

It's helpful to have these difficult conversations with children, but to also provide materials for them to express their emotions such as through play with blocks, dolls or in drawing pictures.

Most importantly, remember that the young Simba survives, grows and eventually embraces a future with the help and love of his friends, family and community after his parent dies. So can your bereaved child.