THE SOCIAL NEUROSCIENCE OF TEACHING

TRANSFORMING THE “SMART” TEACHER STATION INTO THE “BRAIN WISE” CLASSROOM “

What is "Social Neuroscience?"

Social Neuroscience is a term applied to an emerging field of study concerned with identifying the neural processes underlying social behavior/cognition. However, the field extends beyond a search for neurochemicals and brain regions that cause behavior; social neuroscience seeks to better understand the relationship between the brain and (social) behavior (Waldrop, 1993; Decety & Keenan). This relationship is reciprocal: the brain affects social cognition and behavior, and social cognition/behavior affects the brain

CAN SOCIAL NEUROSCIENCE RESEARCH CONTRIBUTE TO OUR UNDERSTANDING OF STUDENT LEARNERS?

IMPORTANT QUESTIONS

CAN SOCIAL NEUROSCIENCE RESEARCH CONTRIBUTE TO OUR UNDERSTANDING OF STUDENT LEARNERS?

CAN WE UTILIZE NEUROSCIENCE TO HELP US UNDERSTAND WHY WHAT WE DO IS EFFECTIVE AND IN SOME CASES WHY IT IS NOT?

CAN THIS KNOWLEDGE TRANSFORM OUR TEACHING?

CAN NEUROSCIENCE MAKE A STRONGER CASE FOR A NEW VALUING OF TEACHERS?

NEW CONCEPTS FOR THOUGHT AND REFLECTION

1. The tribal classroom

2. Attachment-based teaching

3. Preparing students for a future we can’t predict is impossible

4. Helping students become adaptive lifelong learners is possible

5. “Kindness” is the new cool

6. A curriculum that emphasizes social responsibility, empathy, and mindfulness is more than smart it’s “brain wise”

TEACHER USE

WHAT IS A TEACHER?

• “A teacher is someone who talks in someone else’s sleep” Anonymous• Teachers are nurturing tribal leaders• Teachers are neuroscientists who conduct neuroplasticity experiments • Teachers are agents of change “ Every great advance in natural knowledge

has involved the absolute rejection of authority” Thomas Huxley

TEACHERS NEED A SUPPORTIVE TRIBE THAT

• Nurtures

• Supports

• Values

• Collaborates

• Encourages risk taking

• And is comprised of wise elders that listen

I KNOW YOU’RE SMART BUT ARE YOU?

BRAIN WISE

In times of change learners inherit the earth; while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists.Eric Hoffer

THE BRAIN

• Is a social organ of adaptation

• It exists to learn and to apply this learning

• It learns when neurons change their structure and relationship to one another in response to experience

• chronic stress, fear , and anxiety turns the brain off to learning

• An engaged supportive teacher balanced with an appropriate level of challenge turns the brain on to learn

Mirror neurons

are special neurons in the brain that underlie the experience of empathy and also play a critical function in learning. What makes them distinct is that they fire both when performing a certain action and observing another person, especially of the same species, perform that action. So the neuroactivity is the same whether it's the individual performing the action or someone else

Neuroplasticity: The brain's ability to reorganize itself by forming new neural connections throughout life. Neuroplasticity allows the neurons (nerve cells) in the brain to compensate for injury and disease and to adjust their activities in response to new situations or to changes in their environment.

Students may forget what you said,

but they will never forget

how you made them feel. -- Carl W. Buechner

WHAT STAGE OF CHANGE?

SERVING THE SERVENT?

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THE STUDENTS YOU TEACH?

TEACH YOU’RE CHILDREN WELL?

OUR STUDENTS

• Enter college with a brain already shaped by family, schools, community, media, and culture

• The way in which a our student’s brain has been shaped determines how they respond to the classroom experience and to the process of learning

• Early experiences of attachment profoundly impact the ability to learn, regulate emotions, and to form present and future relationships.

“NOT EVERYTHING THAT CAN COUNTED, COUNTS AND; NOT EVERYTHING THAT COUNTS CAN BE COUNTED.”

ALBERT ENSTEIN

SMART VERSUS BRAIN WISE

• Smart knows what’s right and is looking for the right answers

• Believes detached means objective

• Looks outward for reasons to explain problems

• Masks anger with sarcasm disguised as humor

• Tells stories that promote self aggrandizement and expertise

• Focuses on appearing confident

• High traditional IQ

• Brainwise is more interested in the formulation of the question

• Engages others through attunement

• Looks inward for solutions to problem

• Uses humor as an attachment tool

• Tells stories to help others tell their own story

• Is comfortable with self

• High emotional IQ

THE SMART STATION VS. THE BRAIN WISE CLASSROOM

• Smart means:

• Curriculum is king content is what matters

• The class is perceived as a collection of individuals

• Brain-based strategies are used mechanistically to improve retention and recall of content information

• Believes if you can’t assess it, it isn’t worth teaching

• Believes flashy technology is what best engages the new generation of students

• Believes in teacher as sole expert and evaluator

• Emphasizes relationships and process

• Is tribal and attachment based

• sees students as a developing tribe

• Uses social neuroscience to validate strategies that integrate are and left brain function

• Sees technology as a tool in service of the craftsman “teacher”

• Sees assessment as a useful tool that can serve but never lead

• Sees the teacher as a wise tribal elder who: inspires, models, mentors and helps students construct narratives of success based on the spirit of kindness and collaboration

STRATEGIES THAT OPTIMIZE LEARNING• Relationship building exercises

• Attunement

• Story telling

• Humor

• Music

• Participatory group problem solving

• Service learning

• Multiple methods of assessment

• Mindfulness and self reflection

• Multi sensory channel learning

• Scaffolding

• Challenge and support

LINKS TO RESOURCES

• http://www.parentbooks.ca/Con_Ed_Multiple_Intelligences_&_Brain-Based_Learning.html

• http://www-bcf.usc.edu/~immordin/papers/Immordino-Yang+Damasio_2007_RelevanceofNeurotoEdu.pdf

• http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=we+feel+therefore+we+learn&FORM=VIRE7#view=detail&mid=7A2BD2D3635A4EB8B4F47A2BD2D3635A4EB8B4F4