....“Thoughts from Under the Palm”....: An Invitation to Educators: Treat your Brain

Sunday, October 30, 2011

An Invitation to Educators: Treat your Brain

I received my brochure for the February Learning & the Brain Conference in San Francisco today. The theme this year is Educating the Whole Student, no surprise, that, considering that if you approach learning from the perspective of the brain you quickly find that it is impossible to restrict yourself to an approach of specific skills for isolated subjects: that's not the way the brain works. All of its functions are interconnected.

There is a clear parallel in pharmaceuticals. Did you ever wonder why one year a drug or supplement may be seen to be 'good for you' and the next not so much? That's because of variables caused by the intricate interconnectivity of our biological systems. When we take a drug, it does not act in isolation but instead effects the balance of every part of our systems and the uniqueness of our individual system shapes the effects of that drug in turn. But research is done in a single or double blind process, the drug or substance tested over a span of time in contrast to a placebo, or to one other drug. Although studies can produce generalities, research can not possibly assume all possible effects derived from the wide variance of individual biology or chronologically induced changes or even natural evolution and adaptation and differing environments. But the brain can…and does.
To optimize learning one needs to imitate the way in which the brain explores the relationship of each newly discovery bit of information to all of its previously stored knowledge. The brain does this overnight during sleep. The educator can facilitate this process by suggesting meaning for newly introduced material in all phases of the life of the student, not just math and languages and music, but in her spiritual and social life as well. We do not live life in one isolated subject area at a time, so why do we teach that way?
Speakers at the conference will address play and physical exercise, the importance of which in brain growth and assimilation is just beginning to be understood. Dr. John Ratey has explored the relationship of aerobic exercise and its production of new nutrients in the brain that enhance learning.
Other speakers will talk about how to grow moral and ethical minds. Role modeling is not enough, this capacity must be facilitated. I have presented frameworks for teaching ethical processing to preadolescent students in schools. Frameworks are necessary in the absence of the capacity to understand abstracts in a subject area that develops incrementally, like math or art or music.
There is interconnectivity in all things educational. Teaching the whole child opens the door to teaching all kinds of minds. It leads to broadening our perspectives and opening our craft to differences in cultures. That, in turn, leads to globalization of thought and philosophy in education. And globalization isn't coming…it's here.
I'm struck by the question that always comes to me when a Learning & the Brain Conference brochure arrives or indeed following upon attending the conference. That is, why don't more educators attend them? They are presented annually in Boston, Washington D.C., San Francisco, and New York City, and probably other locations as well. The wealth of educational insights available for teaching the brain is massive, more than I can assimilate in one session. I have attended five over the years and am astounded by the new research results that become available each year. Every educator should attend. I'd love to go again.
Anybody got an extra five hundred bucks?

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Leadership Thoughts to Ponder

"If carbon dioxide continues to increase, the study group finds no reason to doubt that climate changes will result and no reason to believe that these changes will be negligible."

National Academy of Sciences Ad Hoc Study Group, 1979

"Character is like a tree and reputation like its shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing."

Abraham Lincoln

"Character may be manifested in the great moments, but it is made in the small ones."

Winston Churchill

"…Intelligence plus character - that is the goal of true education.”

Martin Luther King , Jr.

"If you wanted to create an educational environment that was directly opposed to what the brain was good at doing, you probably would design something like a classroom."

John Medina

"I am confident that if we change the way we think about the environment, the value we place on the planet from an economic standpoint and the role that powerful industries play in our political systems, we can make a bold step forward toward a clean-energy future."

Al Gore

"If those of us concerned about climate change turn out to be wrong - but we refocus America anyway...our country will have cleaner air and water, lower energy bills, and healthier people. And what if the climate skeptics...who say climate change is a hoax turn out to be wrong - but we listen and do nothing?"

Thomas Friedman: Hot, Flat, and Crowded.

"Make no mistake: catastrophic climate change represents a threat to human security, global stability, and - yes - even to American national security."

U.S. Senator John Kerry

Helpful Books for Thinking About Leadership Education

What is Leadership Education Resources (LER)?

LER, a division of Rich Gamble Associates, is a think tank and resource center for those endeavoring to teach leadership, character, and values in schools. Whether writing, introducing, or administering a full school curriculum, a one year program, or seeking methods to enhance the skills of your current student leaders, Leadership Education Resources offers the organization, planning concepts, individual lesson plans, training methods, and even complete leadership curricula specific to your needs. Read Rich's article "Fostering Future Leaders" published in Independent School Magazine in Spring of 2009.