View the reflections by two educators present our Lifelong Learning Network meeting which was held in Tokyo in January 2005, and the response from a a renowned neuroscientist.
See especially the reflections by Frank Coffield and the response by Michael Posner, which touch on many of threads that have been discussed in these forums. We would be interested in any comments you wish to make on these reflections in this thread.

See: http://www.oecd.org/document/61/0,2340,e..._1,00.html

An understanding of the way the brain learns can help shape the evolution of the education community’s conception of the learning process. Below is an excerpt from a paper in which I discuss this.

The brain is not a stable, isolated entity but rather an active, dynamic system that is keenly responsive to experience. Elements of the brain involved in learning continually undergo experience-dependent structural reorganization with functional significance for how future information is processed. This continuous brain reorganization results in a unique architecture of each individual’s brain at a given time. This conception of an active, responsive brain supports the idea that the ability to learn is a malleable rather than fixed capacity, which informs a long-standing debate in education between an incremental (malleable) and entity (fixed) theory of intelligence. Furthermore, because the structure of the brain underlies its function, the fact that each individual’s brain has a unique structure suggests that knowledge is not passively stamped into the brain but rather uniquely constructively represented based upon its current architecture. This supports a constructivist view of learning whereby the learner makes use of experience to actively construct knowledge rather than passively acquiring it.

I would love to hear any reactions or thoughts about these specific ideas discussed above or about the process of using neurobiological knowledge to help guide the evolution of a philosophy of learning. For example: Do you think that most teachers in your country consider the ability to learn a fixed capacity? What do you think about the idea that each brain responds to a given learning experience with unique, functionally-significant structural alterations? Do you agree that this concept seems to suggest a constructivist-oriented view of learning? What do you see as obstacles in the development of neurobiologically-informed philosophies of learning? What do you foresee as obstacles in the implementation of such philosophies? Do you have any other questions or comments?

I look forward to hearing from you!
~Christina

If we are educators, you would think that we must be the experts in learning and indeed we must.

The other day I gave my graduate education students an assessment on some materials discussed in our class titled Discover Learning in the Mind, [I] Brain and Body[/I]. There were only six questions but I will use two of the questions to help make my point. Question 1: Piaget's cognitive constructivist theory is ensconced in knowledge and tradition. Please explain the salient aspects of this theory and how it can best be applied to instruction.

Question 2: I [student] find it difficult to answer question number ____ due to the fact that I have not developed the ... (please answer thoroughly; it is a legitimate question).

The emphasis on question 2, is indeed metacognitive and would require a knowledge of 'prior learning' both biologically [physically in brain] and developmentally. I will have some students who will answer question one without any difficulty, yet some students have developmentally not arrived at the point where they can make sense of their own answer. They may say the corrent words but the understanding will not be there.

If I am correct and know my students, those that cannot answer question one will indeed know the answer to question two with great understanding, and eventually apply it to the Piaget question with skill.

The question is how do we really know if we understand; and not just physiologically through our senses?

I am pasting below the link to a recent article in the NY Times which highlights a case of selective mutism in the classroom and the reactions of the teacher, diagnosis and treatments which include S.S.R.I.s such as Prozac. I wonder if any teachers on this forum have experienced this disorder in the classroom, and also we would be most interested to hear your views on use/abuse of stimulant drugs for remediation and improvement of such disorders. There is a lot of current controversy over the widespread use of Ritalin in the classroom especially in schools in the USA, teachers who lobby parents into coersion for the kids to take it in order to have a more ordered and attentive class. What do you think about these issues and their ethical implications?

NY Times article (sorry but if you are not already a subscriber you will have to register, however, it is very quick)

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/12/health...oref=login

Hello. I am happy to join this learning experience with all of you. I look forward to engaging in lively and stimulating discussions together.

This forum highlights an exciting new receptivity of the field of education to the biological sciences. In the past, many educators were hesitant to use biology as a source of information because of the conception that biology is fixed. However, we now know that there is a constant interaction between biology and experience throughout the lifespan. Experience influences gene expression and shapes the architecture and function of the brain. This understanding enables us to accept the field of neurobiology into our practice without fearing the development of a determinative philosophy.

The current learner-centered movement in education has also made the field fertile for the acceptance of neurobiological knowledge. Modern educators have realized that the most effective teaching methods are those that are informed by an understanding of the learner. A knowledge of how the brain learns and develops is an important aspect of understanding the learner. The field of neurobiology is just in its infancy, and it is energizing to know that the next several decades will uncover much knowledge that can empower educators by providing a fuller understanding of the learner. I hope that this forum will provide a powerful mechanism through which educators can discuss the infusion of neurobiological knowledge into educational practice.

As suggested by the OECD administrator I am going to try a new post of introduction and see where it leads. I am currently taking the first of 8 courses to complete a Masters of e-Learning. We are meant to immerse ourselves in online communities and actively participate and observe how learning occurs at these communities. As a high school teacher for the last ten years I have become very interested in brain research and how the brain operates in order to enhance what goes on in the classroom.

This interested really began developing three years ago as I went to a conference in Chicago hosted by North Central a school accreditation and improvement organisation in North America. At that conference I stumbled upon a presenter who spoke with such depth of knowledge but at a level that an ordinary person like me could understand - it was refreshing. I arranged (with my administration team) for him to come to my last school to share his knowledge with the rest of the staff.

I became more familiar with CERI and your various works while researching and reading through your Future of Schooling project. My university lecturer posted your link to the Brain and Leaning web site and here I am. I have tried other online forum discussions and have found them a bit difficult to interact. For this reason I have tried to post as much information about why I am becoming an active member of this community.

In reading through some of the other posts on this site I will make some general comments. In my teacher training I received no information in how the brain functions. In fact my teacher training was really quite useless other than it afforded me a piece of paper that allowed me to become a teacher. I have greatly enjoyed my experience having taught in both the US and Australia for the last 10 years but I now want to make some changes in what goes on in classrooms. The Brain and Learning site you have loads of resources but plowing through all of them takes more time than many have got. Are there articles, books, sites that discuss brain development, how we learn and high school students?

Another post asked the question does gender impact learning and what goes on in schools? I would say without a doubt. I have primarily taught at boy’s schools but the difference between a 15 year old boy and girl is so great that I believe how we work with them needs to be that great too. If you look at the mixed abilities of students in a typical classroom and then divide those abilities and issues again by gender you create a situation that is unmanageable or does not need to be managed. Boys and girls are going to seek each other if they want - the separation during school hours, in my opinion only makes sense.

I will leave it at that I look forward to engaging in discussion on this forum.

Recent neuroscientific research shows that brain maturation develops into the third decade of life. This questions whether adolescents are fully ‘ready’to take their role in society, even though many adolescents think they are. From a brain research point of view, this finding suggests that didactic/educational concepts which state that the educator should retreat and that education should change into ‘facilitating’ the autonomous learning process in children/adolescents should be considered with caution. It can be questioned whether children and adolescents are already able to find their own way in the diversity of knowledge domains.
We would like to hear your experiences with teaching adolescents, and whether you think current schooling systems are appropriate for them, if you think any changes are necessary etc.?

An interesting article has been pasted below which appeared on the 24th of March in the Independent on mental health of teachers. We would like to invite teachers to comment on this, as this week is officially known as Mental Health Action Week (27 March to 2 April 2005).
Nearly half of the country's secondary school teachers have suffered mental health problems due to worsening pupil behaviour, a survey has revealed.

The research, by the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, on 300 secondary school teachers, showed that abuse at the hands of pupils had left 46 per cent taking antidepressants or facing long lay-offs from school through stress.

One teacher told researchers he had been assaulted 10 times during 18 years in the profession and had suffered two breakdowns. He said he had been on antidepressants for more than three years as a result.

The survey also revealed that 72 per cent of teachers had considered quitting their jobs because they were worn out by some pupils' persistent disruptive behaviour, such as threats, swearing, locking teachers out of classrooms, vandalising school property, letting down car tyres, stealing keys, throwing eggs at staff and spitting at them. One in seven (14 per cent) said they had suffered actually bodily harm from pupils.

However, in many of the cases, the school had turned a blind eye to abuse and failed to exclude the pupils involved.

Mary Bousted, general secretary of the 160,000-strong union, will raise teachers' alarm over discipline with Ruth Kelly, the Education Secretary, when she addresses the ATL annual conference in Torquay today.

She said it was not enough to talk about "zero tolerance" for disruptive behaviour as Ms Kelly had done. "There needs to be a reflection about what zero tolerance means," she added.

"It should mean much better support for teachers and more pupil referral units - 'sin-bins'. These youngsters have to go somewhere. What we can't do as a society is leave them to roam the streets."

Yesterday the conference demanded a code of conduct to outline acceptable pupil behaviour and called for risk assessments to be prepared on all pupils with a history of aggression.

Doctor Bousted said: "Teaching is a highly intensive, highly stressful job. Teachers need to understand there are forms of help available to them and when they are feeling stressed they need to know this is not something that's shameful and they should seek help."

Meanwhile, delegates voted unanimously to urge the Government to abandon its plans to set up a network of 200 privately sponsored academies to replace struggling secondary schools in inner-city areas.

Phil Baker, from Swindon, claimed they were a "Trojan Horse", pioneering the way for privatisation of the entire education system. He said many of the sponsors - who included top independent schools - had little experience of tackling pupil disruption. "Top public schools could run them [the academies],'' he said. "The only experience they've had of managing challenging behaviour is dealing with Hooray Henrys."

Dr Bousted said many of the academies adopted a banding system - taking 20 per cent of its pupils from each of five different ability bands. "In some areas the academies cover, 20 per cent of the most able is hoovering up the vast majority of able pupils in that area," she said, adding that other schools suffered as a result.

Source: Independent, 23/03/2005

Would teachers be interested in discussing how mature aged people with dyscalculia have managed to succeed in a world without numbers? I am a senior Library Technician working at beautiful Bribie Island Library Queensland Australia and I would enjoy sharing my life skills, especially the way my brain has retrained itself in many areas.

Kathy Hopson

:confused:
Can someone tell me something about the history of MindMapping and its developement?Thank you!