The brain is truly amazing in its ability to manage the complex human body systems, while simultaneously helping the person to make sense of their world, connect with loved ones, laugh at a joke, learn to play a sport, and so on. Neurology is a fascinating science that both, highlights all that we know about the brain while also illuminating all we have left to discover. Recently I read the book How We Learn: Why Brains Learn Better Than Any Machine…For Now by Stanislas Dehaene. This book offers summaries and analysis of the research and links the findings to how we can support humans of any age to continue to learn and thrive. I encourage you to read the book, but I am sharing his thirteen summary points below along with some of my thoughts.
- “Do not underestimate children.” If you have met me or read my previous post, you know that I am a believer in the power of high (yet reasonable) expectations. Setting a high bar means we are reaching up, towards the stars. Low expectations only cause us to look down. Think about this in relation to how the simple act of looking up or looking down affects your mood. Looking down we think of as depressed, sad, or defeated. But, looking up…that is a dreamer, full of confidence and happiness.
- “Take advantage of the brain’s sensitive periods.” This Ted Talk from Molly Wright says it better than I, but early experiences for learning are essential. The more we can continue to support one another as adults, the more we can better care for and nurture small children.
- “Enrich the environment” Students need an environment that encourages exploration, communication, discovery, questioning, and debate. This can be done even in a room that isn’t fancy. Time spent creating a learning culture is priceless.
- “Rescind the idea that all children are different.” I LOVE this one! You need to read the book to fully understand, but the basic premise is that we all learn. Yes, every single one of us is learning and our brains are performing in similar ways, which means, yes, all students benefit from high-quality instruction. No, I am not saying we do exactly the same thing for everyone. However, we are all far more alike than different and so yes, we are all students, and we are all learning every single day.
- “Pay attention to attention.” Are you still reading this post? I hope that the strategies of a numbered list, font changes, and carefully crafted wording are keeping your attention. It is the way to keep your brain focused on what you want to learn.
- “Keep children active, curious, engaged, and autonomous.” We are all born curious and wanting to learn. It is our job to continue to foster the child-like wonder in all of us.
- “Make every school day enjoyable.” Fun and learning are not mutually exclusive concepts. We can have fun and struggle with new concepts or ideas. In fact, students are likely to engage in productive struggle longer when they are having fun in the process.
- “Encourage efforts.” No one gets everything right the first time. The accomplishments I am most proud of are the ones that took effort and endurance.
- “Help students deepen their thinking.” It is easy to fall into the trap of skills-based instruction, focused on small skills that may or may not be connected to larger learning. Also, it is easy to focus on the breadth of standards, curriculum, or ideas rather than focusing deeply on fewer concepts. Finding the balance is an art requiring educators have the time to collaborate and plan for rich learning experiences.
- “Set clear learning objectives.” Yep.
- “Accept and correct mistakes.” Did you know that some of the greatest technologies or products are a result of a mistake or failed experiment? For instance, the man who developed the adhesive on a post-it was trying to create a permanent adhesive. In the words of Bob Ross, it may be a “happy little accident.”
- “Practice regularly.” Practice can be embedded naturally in instruction, learning activities, or daily routines.
- “Let students sleep.” Sleep is commonly sacrificed, particularly by adults, and yet, it is the time our bodies need to restore, repair, and move our learning to memory. Sleep is important, and we need to give it more of a priority, myself included.
Dehaene, S. (2020). how we learn: why brains learn better than any machine…for now. Viking (pages 240-242 were referenced above)
