Running is the art of changing the brain; so is teaching--according to James Zull, professor of Biology and Director Emeritus of the University Center for innovation in Teaching and Education at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio. His book The Art of Changing the Brain: Enriching the Practice of Teaching by Exploring the Biology of Learning( 2002, Stylus Publishing, LLC) explores the neurobiology of learning in a most exciting way.
Gone are the days when teachers saw themselves as a kind of Soup Kitchen staff, literally pouring "good stuff" into kids' brains. Open up wide--the wider the better! It is no wonder kids balked at school. They were dosed with stuff they didn't really want to learn or care about.
Then James Zull walks in with these gems. Taken together, they make the most educational sense of anything I've seen so far.
Gem #1: Watch for inherent networks( natural talents) and encourage their practice. Try to understand existing networks and build on them.Give credit where it's due--to what kids like and want to learn! Use their natural talents to their (and your) advantage. Work with their natural inclinations, so you don't end up with daily battles. What a brilliant idea! We now have neurobiology to prove that this works because research shows that neurons that get stimulated are neurons that grow. And if they are linked to good habits, great motivation --then by all means, keep stroking them.
Gem #1: Don't stress mistakes. Don't reinforce neuronal networks that aren't useful. No more "I told you so!" No more "Don't you get it??" The more we emphasize what kids don't know, the more they don't know.
Gem#3: Arrange for "firing together." Associated things should happen together. We all know the mantra for neuroplasticity-- neurons that fire together get wired together. All the more reason to bring several disciplines together within a thematic unit. Why not an Art Class,Math Class and History Class together in a unit on Leonardo Da Vinci?
How the Brain Learns
Gem#4: Construct metaphors and insist that your students build their own metaphors. Here is a man who understands the power of metaphor, who understands that the human animal is motivated by image. After all, we are imaginal beings, living one foot in a world that is fluid as dreams. What dreams may come, we resonate most with images that emerge from our subconscious. What better way to tap into this power than through metaphors. We are all metaphors (meta meaning beyond + phor meaning carry); we carry beyond us what we yearn in the deepest part of our psyche; we are carriers of a power far more deeply interfused in things than we care to admit.
Gem#5: Repeat, repeat, repeat! Every moment of the day should be a re-affirmation of our birthright--to come into this world to celebrate our gifts and our joys--no matter how eclectic these may be or how different they may be from what common sense dictates.
Thank you, James Zull! You've made my day!
Gone are the days when teachers saw themselves as a kind of Soup Kitchen staff, literally pouring "good stuff" into kids' brains. Open up wide--the wider the better! It is no wonder kids balked at school. They were dosed with stuff they didn't really want to learn or care about.
Then James Zull walks in with these gems. Taken together, they make the most educational sense of anything I've seen so far.
Gem #1: Watch for inherent networks( natural talents) and encourage their practice. Try to understand existing networks and build on them.Give credit where it's due--to what kids like and want to learn! Use their natural talents to their (and your) advantage. Work with their natural inclinations, so you don't end up with daily battles. What a brilliant idea! We now have neurobiology to prove that this works because research shows that neurons that get stimulated are neurons that grow. And if they are linked to good habits, great motivation --then by all means, keep stroking them.
Gem #1: Don't stress mistakes. Don't reinforce neuronal networks that aren't useful. No more "I told you so!" No more "Don't you get it??" The more we emphasize what kids don't know, the more they don't know.
Gem#3: Arrange for "firing together." Associated things should happen together. We all know the mantra for neuroplasticity-- neurons that fire together get wired together. All the more reason to bring several disciplines together within a thematic unit. Why not an Art Class,Math Class and History Class together in a unit on Leonardo Da Vinci?
How the Brain Learns
Gem#4: Construct metaphors and insist that your students build their own metaphors. Here is a man who understands the power of metaphor, who understands that the human animal is motivated by image. After all, we are imaginal beings, living one foot in a world that is fluid as dreams. What dreams may come, we resonate most with images that emerge from our subconscious. What better way to tap into this power than through metaphors. We are all metaphors (meta meaning beyond + phor meaning carry); we carry beyond us what we yearn in the deepest part of our psyche; we are carriers of a power far more deeply interfused in things than we care to admit.
Gem#5: Repeat, repeat, repeat! Every moment of the day should be a re-affirmation of our birthright--to come into this world to celebrate our gifts and our joys--no matter how eclectic these may be or how different they may be from what common sense dictates.
Thank you, James Zull! You've made my day!
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