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RE: Forget the New Year’s Resolutions, Instead Try a 30 Day Challenge
I was unaware they did that. That's awesome! Do you have any links to info about it?
I was unaware they did that. That's awesome! Do you have any links to info about it?
Not off the top of my head, as that's just a bit of info I remember from looking at it ages ago, but if you google flow Montessori, it will probably pop up.
I believe Maria Montessori observed flow or something very similar herself and referred to it by a different name but it sounds to be pretty much the same thing, and then some people practicing Montessori adopted the name of "flow" while some didn't but the similarity is recognised. She basically noticed that when the conditions are right (just like in flow), children concentrated better and achieved more. It is part of the reason that Montessori "lessons" / "periods" are in 3 hour blocks, rather than switching subjects roughly every 40 mins or so, like traditional schooling often does. Kids don't have to do one task that whole time as they have some degree of autonomy (they still must meet the curriculum and will be directed to certain tasks, but they have some choice within boundaries set by the teachers), but they can work on one task for a long time with the way the class is set up and Montessori does focus quite a bit on improving students' concentration abilities. Some things talking about it in regards to Montessori will use the term flow and some won't, but even when not, they do appear to be talking about similar, if not the same, concepts.
Keep in mind though, that the name Montessori is not regulated, so while Montessori done right is a good alternative education model, anyone can take the name and say they are Montessori unfortunately (and anyone can write about it on the internet - which is the case regardless - which I'm also doing now but I'm not claiming to be a Montessori teacher), so not everyone who claims to be Montessori might actually be following all the correct principles etc for that system.
I am curious what the difference between flow and hyperfocus is though. All I can think is that flow is often more deliberate - i.e. we try to get into a state of flow, rather than accidentally get super focused on something - and that hyperfocus is associated with disorders whereas flow isn't. Functionally I imagine they are about the same, apart from the fact that hyperfocus may occur in a way that makes a person productive or it may occur in a way that makes someone focus intently on something that isn't the most important thing they should focus on right now.