This monthly article will feature a different learning skill each month and instead of talking theory will ONLY give ideas for targeting/strengthening that learning skill for ages 2 to 102! Remember that you can find ALL the learning skills in a free interactive tool.
Listening to self: tracking the focus of your inner voice and
Perceiving emotions: recognizing and identifying your own affective responses
These skills are about creating an independent awareness—thinking and feeling separate from those around us or even in charge of us. They are the foundation for metacognition, emotional awareness (perceiving emotions), and healthy social interactions.
“Non gustibus disputandum” (You can’t dispute taste)
Prompt for separate feelings and provide the time and space for individuals to have them. Ask “What do YOU think/feel?” but model differences between people and how one thing can make different people feel differently and think different things. A self voice only makes sense in context; theory is too much for little ones.
Trigger warnings and content warnings are one way to broach this topic and very short reflective essays, where students examine their reactions to new ideas or subject matter can help draw attention to the individual’s own self-awareness. This isn’t about psychological introspection but the inner voice and dialogue we all have. Again, “listening to self” only makes sense when there is a focus, so use art or readings as that focus. Discuss taste. Students often benefit from small group discussion as a way to see what others say/think/feel. It can prompt them to be more aware of their own thinking and feeling. Classrooms are usually considered COGNITIVE ONLY spaces so there is a need for instructors to model reflecting. Use something like, “Here’s what it made me feel/think…” Be sure to reiterate that this is a basic but foundational and important skill.
This is similar to what can be done in an ARTS classroom but requires instructor awareness and willingness to confront the tendency we have as a culture to see STEM subjects as emotion-free and their best practitioners as completely objective and purely cognitive beings. The real world and human beings not only come with emotional contexts and emotions, but require it. Consider tasking learners with a self-reflective writing assignment as part of any self or team assessment. Ask that they share their reactions (what they thought and felt) in response to different stages of a project or task. Even if they don’t have a clear answer or prefer not to share very deeply, the prompts themselves will help bring their attention to their inner voice and individual reactions and generally aren’t acknowledged, let alone dealt with in the context of these courses.
“What does this make you think and feel?” Use a common prompt (food, song, picture, movie, location, etc.) and survey everyone. No one is allowed to say “Ditto” or “Me too”! Additional restraints can be added for older groups: Use at least 3 words in another language, give your response in rhyme, use charades, etc.