“All Kinds of Minds” at Aiglon College

For six days in August, Aiglon hosted a teachers’ conference run by the organisation “All Kinds of Minds” (AKOM). Its founder, Dr Mel Levine, has appeared on national television in the USA and is highly esteemed for his practical and compassionate approach to the learning needs of children of all ages and all abilities. This is the first time that AKOM has moved outside of the USA and Canada, and Aiglon is proud to be supporting this important development. The organisers were impressed by Aiglon’s beautiful alpine setting, and with the high quality of our facilities, as were the 65 participants, mainly teachers and administrators, from other international schools in Switzerland.

It’s hard to overestimate the high standing which AKOM has in the USA. There are two main reasons for this. Firstly Dr Levine’s personal reputation and, secondly, the effectiveness of his teacher training programme in schools.

Dr Levine’s first appearance on the Oprah Show was so impressive that it provoked a veritable flood of enquiries from parents and school board officials from all over the States. That led quickly to a second appearance on the show as the sole guest - and another flood of enquiries. Additionally, earlier this year, the New York State Education Department initiated a complete shake-up of its teachers and administrators, following concerns about the effectiveness of its schools. It then asked AKOM if it would provide training for 20,000 of its teachers, spread over the next five years! One of AKOM’s most experienced facilitators, Claire Wurztel (herself a New Yorker and one of the main facilitators at Aiglon), was hired full-time to head this initiative. It’s clear that there is a huge and growing demand in the USA for what AKOM has to offer.

So what is it that AKOM does and will it translate to European schools? Basically, AKOM shows teachers how to get ‘into the mind’ of the student. Every person has an individual profile of strengths and weaknesses, interests and disinterests, and this plays a huge part in school performance. AKOM courses give teachers the understanding and the techniques to describe this profile in ‘neuro-developmental’ terms. Neuroscience has taught us that individual brains are uniquely ‘wired’ and then shaped by environmental pressures - which together account for our uniqueness as learners. So, armed with this information, I might identify a student as strong in receptive language but weak in expressive language, strong in some but not all areas of attention, short-term and long-term memory, but with a very serious weakness in active working memory. (It gets very specific!)

What can I do about it? Here is where AKOM’s practical orientation kicks in. The week-long programme focuses ultimately on putting together a ‘management plan’, tailored to a student’s unique neuro-developmental profile of strengths and weaknesses. Practical strategies are chosen to exploit given strengths in order to strengthen perceived weaknesses. To be successful, however, it’s really important that students understand and buy into the plan, so great care is taken to ensure that they are ‘tuned into’ to their individual profiles and the strategies that can help them. The programme is potentially empowering and motivating and, when successful, leads to students taking more responsibility for their own learning and being more courageous and honest about their weaknesses.

The 65 participants finished the course challenged and tired but seemingly inspired. Many expressed a determination to go back to their schools and continue working to put things into practice. The course carries certification, but only when a further ten hours of work (the Practicum) has been completed in school. Time will tell, but the experience of the States would indicate that demand from Swiss-based schools for this approach is likely to increase in the coming months and years. If so, Aiglon will be glad to have played a small part as host of the first ever European AKOM conference.

- David Rhodes