Date and time

Wednesday 14 June 2023, 9.30 am to 3.30 pm

Delivery mode

In person at ISV, 40 Rosslyn St, West Melbourne

Audience

Primary Teacher, Leader

Description

Students will respect Indigenous cultures more if they learn from them rather than just about them.

This one-day program will teach you some of the extraordinary memory techniques that have been used by Indigenous cultures who were dependent on their memories for everything they knew. These methods are hardwired into our brains, which explains why they are so effective.

The session will consider the value of using songs, story, dance, and characters to encode even the most abstract of information. You will discover the way Aboriginal songlines, like memory palaces, use the brain’s natural ability to associate information with physical locations. School buildings and grounds are the perfect landscape to use as a songline for your curriculum. You will also experience the way simple decorated objects can act as practical memory devices.

Having reliably memorised the basic information of any topic, students are far better able to layer higher-level thinking skills.

This workshop is based on Dr Lynne Kelly’s PhD research and four subsequent books on memory techniques.

Key takeaways               

• memory techniques we can learn from Indigenous cultures
• understanding of how music and dance can be used to make information memorable
• appreciation of the value of adding characters and narrative in learning
• knowledge of how to use buildings and grounds as memory palaces
• techniques for making memory boards and using them in class
• memory techniques that aid teachers as well as students.

Presenter information

Dr Lynne Kelly AM         

Dr Lynne Kelly has over 40 years’ experience in education. Teaching mostly in secondary schools, she has also offered programs at primary and tertiary levels. The author of 20 books, mostly for education, Lynne has lectured in Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom on topics including enrichment programs and memory. With degrees in engineering, information technology and education, she completed a doctorate researching Indigenous memory methods and their application for archaeology and contemporary life. Lynne’s thesis was published by Cambridge University Press. Her subsequent books, The Memory Code, Memory Craft and her co-authored books, Songlines: the power and promise and A Guide to Songlines (for children) have been published in Australia and internationally.

Link(s) to relevant VRQA Standards 

• Curriculum and Student Learning – Student learning outcomes