From years of experience as a primary school teacher, I know that children are wired differently to adults – if a task is not fun, they get bored and shift their attention to something more interesting, unlike most adults who have learnt to complete a task, whether they like it or not. Although, I have observed that very intelligent people sometimes act more like children when disinterested.
Ringing bells takes a lot of concentration. The average adult is unable to concentrate continuously for more than 42 minutes – just about time for a quarter peal, but nowhere near long enough for a peal. So how do we learners improve our concentration and lengthen our ability to remain absolutely focused?
If I was helping kids to lengthen their concentration spans, this is what I would do:
Mary Jones, author of The Accidental Ringer blog and ringer at Reedham, Norfolk