Mind the Gap: Making Education Work Across the Globe The Science of Paying Attention with Mike Hobbiss, Mind the Gap, Ep.107 (S6,E5)
Oct 24, 2025
Mike Hobbiss, a teacher and researcher with a PhD focused on attention in classrooms, shares valuable insights on the science of attention in education. He reveals that distractions like peers and phones significantly hinder learning. Mike emphasizes the importance of structured seating and clear routines to enhance focus. He also discusses practical strategies for teachers, such as using spatial cues, prediction tasks, and managing non-cognitive factors like anxiety. Ultimately, he argues that addressing attention issues is crucial for promoting equity in education.
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Prioritise Fewer, Justified Changes
- Limit teacher CPD focus: work on fewer, well-justified changes rather than many initiatives.
- Expect teachers to be able to state why a change should work before trying it in class.
Use Seating To Reduce Peer Distraction
- Sit students in rows unless you have extremely well-honed routines to prevent peer distraction.
- Rows reduce peer-to-peer distraction and make cuing attention easier in many classrooms.
Habit, Not Biology, Drives Distractibility
- There is little evidence that human attention spans have biologically shortened.
- Modern habits and environments encourage inefficient multitasking and task-switching, harming attention performance.
