Map your mind

MANILA, Philippines – “Mind mapping is a technique based on memory and creativity and comprehension and understanding, so when the student or a child uses the mind map, they are using their brain in the way their brain was designed to be used and so the mind helps them in all learning and cognitive skills. It simply helps them in what the brain does naturally. It helps them release their potential.”

Internationally-acclaimed author and educational consultant Tony Buzan, the proponent of techniques of mind mapping and mind literacy, sees a new paradigm shift in the field of learning in the Philippines.

Here in town to talk about his world-renowned mind mapping technique for the first time to Filipino teachers and students, the famous Buzan said the Philippines is very active educationally.

Buzan held a two-day educational conference dubbed “Educators and Teachers Conference 2009” last Monday at the RCBC building in Makati in an effort to empower teachers, parents and students to maximize the use of their brain power.

Aside from Buzan, top-notch educators also joined the conference: Buzan Asia president Singaporean Henry Toi, UP professor Dr. Leticia Penano-Ho of the Philippine Association of the Gifted, and consultant on Basic Education Curriculum for De La Salle school, Lilia Vengco.

In an interview with The STAR, Buzan said he was very impressed with the quality of education in the Philippines and the level of intelligence of Filipino children. He was amazed that parents are very active and hands-on in the learning of their children.

“My impression of the Philippines is it’s very, very active, educationally. There are many, many families who are doing home schools and the Philippines is one of the leading nations in the world where groups of parents eventually come together to new thinking schools, I am labeling them thinking schools, and it is interesting that parents, many of them are teachers themselves, have started this new educational movement toward the true thinking,” Buzan said. 

Buzan is referring to the application of mind mapping technique, a different kind of approach in learning and studying.

“Mind mapping is a technique based on memory and creativity and comprehension and understanding, so when the student or a child uses the mind map, they are using their brain in the way their brain was designed to be used and so the mind helps them in all learning and cognitive skills. It simply helps them in what the brain does naturally. It helps them release their potential,” Buzan said.

Buzan started the mind mapping technique which became a famous movement in Britain and other parts of Europe in the 1960s. He popularized the idea that to learn new topics, organize thoughts and become creative, people should draw “mind maps on big sheets of paper, ideally with colored pencils or crayons.”

Mind mapping is also known as non-linear radial diagramming of words and ideas around a main concept. Buzan said mind mapping helps people to utilize their brain since, he said, only one percent of our brain is being used.

“Our brain work with images and connections, mind mapping helps you use the brain naturally,” Buzan said. That is why in mind mapping, it is important to use colors because colors stimulate the mind. He also noted that it is important to keep physically fit if you want to boost your brain power. The other ways to take care of the brain are through relaxation, enhancing all the senses and receiving love from our friends and loved ones.

‘Filipinos are very bright’

Buzan said he would not wonder if more “thinking schools who use alternative learning techniques will be established in the Philippines.”

“Filipinos love learning and they are open to alternative learning techniques. Parents put a premium on education and are very, very hands-on on their children’s learning. So it’s not going to be surprising if more thinking schools are established here,” said Buzan who promised that this will not be his last visit to the Philippines.

In fact, there is a school which uses Buzan’s mind mapping technique, the Victory Christian Church.

In the Philippines, there are also now five licensed Buzan teachers who studied and are now teaching mind mapping. One of them is Ivy Marquez, who teaches her own children the technique. Marquez went to Singapore to take the mind mapping course after reading one of Buzan’s books and got engrossed on it. After taking the course, she went home and first taught her children the new technique. She said mind mapping helped her children not only to effectively learn more but motivated them to study.

“Kasi it’s fun eh, you draw, you use a lot of colors, you learn how to organize, for my children and students, it is enough for them to spark the line of thought, and they get good grades because they are able to remember and memorize well,” Marquez said.

Meanwhile, in London, where Buzan is due to give a lecture, he said he would mention about the dynamism of education in the Philippines.

Buzan thinks that the Philippines has a great chance in being champions at the World Memory championships, a sports fest of sort for the intelligent because Filipinos are naturally bright.

He also cited Filipino boxing idol Manny Pacquiao as one who is intelligent and who does not just flex his muscles to win a fight. “Look at Pacquiao, he is thinking while in the ring, he is strategizing. Of course, his brain won for him in his fights and not just his body. He used his brain well and so he won,” Buzan said.

Buzan has recently been elected as the honorary member of the academy for leadership in higher education in Malaysia. He was also elected as a member of the Guild of Education in England. He was recently given, at the 14th annual International Conference on Creativity and Innovation, the Lifetime Achievement Award for his original contributions to the planet in the areas of creativity, innovation and technique.

For more than 30 years, he has worked with Fortune 500 corporations, Olympic athletes, academics, students of all ages, governments and high profile individuals all over the world — teaching them how to maximize their brain power.