Cultivating Situational Awareness Part I
Executive Literacy is The Meta Minds collective term for ‘the multiple cognitive processes that must synchronize for an individual to purposefully participate in the act of learning’”.
This extraordinary journey begins with the basic foundation of presence.
Situational Awareness (SA) describes the elusive state that can be likened to that of consciousness… it is what primes the brain for new incoming information.
Most research into this phenomena stems extensively from the fields of military, emergency response and medical professional development and performance. A pioneer, John Boyd developed a framework of how we react to stimulus, self regulate and act toward a goal. He named this process: OODA: Observe, Orient, Decide and Act.
As for everyday tasks, like gathering materials for a math lesson or getting ready for school, they too begin with Situational Awareness. Simply stated, "learning requires observation and orientation to the task in order to decide what is needed to do the task to completion". A heightened interactive state of perception is required for the brain to interact with the environment efficiently.
What does this look like? observing the organization of the space and where materials are located. Staying in the correct space for the task. Knowing how much time for a task and adjusting to complete the task on time while also being aware of what comes next in the schedule. Gathering the correct materials needed.
Why it Matters? These skills allow the learner to integrate and navigate where and what they are perceiving… for the purpose of understanding what is happening.
Presence is the foundation that must be cultivated patiently in preparation for new learning.
To Be Continued...
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