How kids learn has changed over time

A recent session with leading education consultant Mark Treadwell at Hadlow School, Masterton was hugely beneficial and positive for parents and teachers alike, said principal Michael Mercer.

Mr Mercer said the visit by the education expert who had written "more than a million words" about changing practices in learning and had over the past five years presented more than 300 sessions on the the future of education to national and international audiences was "very positive".

He said the visit went well and Mr Treadwell has subsequently been invited to visit the school again before the end of the year.

"The teachers were very positive and enthusiastic about what they have learned and they can now bring that to the classroom," Mr Mercer said.

"He was showing them how the brain works and how we need to change the way we teach in order to better fit the modern world."

Mr Mercer said the world we live in today is quite a different place from the one that parents grew up in as students at school.

"We realised we have to change our teaching because our children are now learning in different ways," he said.

The Hadlow principal said young people are now exposed to a multitude of information and communication tools via the internet as well as changes in the social structures around home and parenting.

"Mark also informed the staff that how the brain actually learns is different to what we have thought," he said.

About 30 people attended the talk to hear more about future-focused learning from the parents' perspective and to learn more about research into how children really learn and the impact this has on the way schools should be run.

Last month, Hadlow distributed a survey to the school's parents "to provide an opportunity for people to have their questions about future-focused learning answered by an expert in the field".

At that time Mr Mercer said there had been a ministry call for "our current education model to be changed to address the needs of 21st century learners" and leading researchers and educationists also are promoting "a similar passion for change".