SILENCE: CREATING UNITY IN SCHOOLS

The ground of my pedagogical approach lies in silence and reflection. Silence and reflection slow down the thinking process. 'Thinking' takes time: thinking through time is punctuated by moments of generative silence and imagination. When thinking slows, awareness of our perceptual and cognitive experience (metacognition) emerges. This is foundational to critical thinking, inquiry and learning. (Senge, 2000, 69.)[1] Essential to higher order thinking, metacognition provides a pathway to learning agency.

Interestingly, student agency, when activated, brings the teacher and student closer together.They find themselves engaging naturally in a mutual experience of authentic inquiry.


[1] Senge, Peter; Schools That Learn:  A Fifth Discipline Fieldbook for Educators, Parents, and Everyone Who Cares About Education. Doubleday, Random House Inc., New York, 2000.

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