Voices in our heads

Joan of Arc got into no end of trouble for telling others about the voices in her head. Feeling relatively safe now that they no longer burn outspoken woman at the stake here is some thinking about the voices in our heads.

When I was growing up someone once told me that the first sign of madness was hearing voices in your head and the second was answering them! As a child I really worried that I was possibly mad because I always had a voice in my head that I interacted with.

It was with much relief that I finally learnt about self-talk and that we all do it. Self-talk got me through my years at home with young children as I constantly reminded myself as I battled dirty washing and never-ending housework "You don't have to like it- you just have to do it!"

The language we use in our schools is pivotal to the growth and development of a learning culture. Positive language that speaks of what can be done, of high expectations, effective relationships and collaborations slowly and surely changes the voices inside all learners heads.

Voices in students' heads can either say "I mucked it up again, I am so dumb" or "Mistakes are part of learning - I need to try again and this time I will...".

The adults in a community can change the voices that mimic the thoughtless comments made by others. It is a tough job. We can increase our effectiveness in changing the voices if we determine together the key messages we want to give the learners. Some of the messages I want to deposit in our learners heads are: 'some learning is tough,' perseverance is important', 'mistakes are great things to learn from', have a go you never know what you can achieve'.

What do you want the voices in your head to tell you? What do we want the voices in our student's head to say?

The power of language in our schools is that it does irrevocably change the voices. The more people saying the same thing the greater and quicker the change.

Now where are those matches...