Realising

This is a final set of just two characteristics that make use of all the other learning skills in a way that best ensures high performance. The two characteristics are: 

• automaticity 
• speed and accuracy. 

In summary, these characteristics relate to efficient learning. There is much to learn as a young person and they can move on much more quickly in their learning if they learn to do some things so well that they can do them without thinking–automatically–because that saves them mental time and space. 

Accuracy is critical to moving forward in the work they do as they learn because it speeds up the process of learning and makes it possible for them to reach high levels of performance while they are still at school. 

1) Automaticity–this is the ability to use some skills with such ease that they no longer require active thinking. If you are an experienced driver, you are practising automaticity every time you get behind the wheel. You no longer have to think about changing gears or checking the mirrors or any of the other things involved in getting a car to move safely–that’s automaticity. For a child it might be learning their multiplication tables. 

To practise skills and learn facts to the point at which their execution or application no longer requires conscious thought is of great value in reaching advanced learning performance. Automaticity frees up cognitive/thinking resources. Multitasking, so common in our fast moving world, requires a high degree of automaticity. 

2 Speed and accuracy–this is the ability to work with accuracy at speed. If we learn from our mistakes rather than constantly repeating them we make faster progress. Accuracy is more of a factor than speed in making fast progress. 

Extract from  ‘Great Minds and How to Grow Them: High Performance Learning’ by Wendy Berliner and Professor Deborah Eyre