Over the last five years, opening a conversation with a provocative video has been a common approach in discussions regarding the need to evolve our K-12 education system. The Did You Know? approach — in which we show a five-minute video and use it at a springboard for conversation — often soaks up the first 15 or 20 minutes of a meeting. There are a lot of wonderful videos — Justin Tarte recently compiled a great list of twenty-seven of these videos — great for staff workshops, parent meetings, or any other sessions as a conversation starter on education.
I find myself using the video approach less often these days. The videos still do make a strong case for change, but most people get this now and want the specifics on what we can do. In April, I plan to open several meetings with a new video that tackles the issue of reform from what we have learned about our brain.
From our board office staff meetings, meeting with all administrators, to several PAC meetings I am scheduled to attend, I will be using Born to Learn, which is described as ” the first animation in a fascinating series aimed to provide easy-access to the exciting new discoveries constantly being made about how humans learn!”
The video comes from the 21st Century Learning initiative, resident to John Abbott, and it is often referenced around the personalized learning discussion in BC.
After showing the video, I will be looking at the following points for discussion:
- What stands out?
- What are the key messages for parents of young children and early childhood educators?
- How does the “earthquake in the brain” manifest itself in our schools? How do we respond? How could we respond differently/better?
- How do we honour risk-taking from the upper intermediate grades through graduation? How do we stifle it?
- How should what we have learned about the brain (from this video and other research) change our structures/approaches with students in early learning? in their teenage years?
I am interested in what others think of the video, and how it might be used it in their contexts.
Of course, these 15-minute conversation teasers — where we use a video to spur on discussion, may help to shift thinking, but are most valuable when followed up with concrete action. I know many people I work with will say, “Great, we know this.” So, why don’t we do a better job to match what we do to what we know?
The video is clearly part of a larger initiative and is linked to a new website Born to Learn (it is going live on March 28th — after this post’s publication date). Whatever the “New” looks like in education and schooling, it needs to be absolutely in sync with the latest developments in evolving our understanding of brain research and how we learn.
When I think of the classrooms I’m familiar with, so much energy goes into maintaining order throughout the day. Also, there is much conversation about the pressure to cover curriculum. These factors combine to put a crunch on teachers’ time, and the first item in the schedule to fall is often allowing time for play. Something that stood out for me in the video is the need to try and remain non-judgemental and allow for the multiplicity of experiences and viewpoints that young students bring to the table. I think it is important to remember we come from many different contexts and these shape who we are and how we operate. I also think that it is a good reminder to take care with other peoples’ brains – we educators are entrusted with a great responsibility. Finally, the value of cross-curricular learning and making and sharing connections seems all the more important, given the results of brain research shared in the video. I believe it is important to focus on pre-puberty, and to “catch” students while they are still buying in, whether the immediate goal is academic, social or behavioural.
Thanks Dan. I think the biggest change in my view of learning over the last five years has been around early learning as I come to understand just how crucial it is in setting a course for a student’s entire school career. It is an area that I think we are making great strides with (full day K, strong start, etc.), but I think one of the keys of this video is to continue to make the case the early learning is everyone’s business.
This is a wonderful video. I am certain it will be a very useful tool for many that share your concerns.
It continues to amaze me that after 25 years, basic brain information is not yet common knowledge, and is not regularly used in most educational settings.
You have done a great job of pointing out the basis of what science has helped us understand, and also some of the basic issues that result from not using brain research.
The follow up questions you have suggested are extremely important for driving change. We need to not only create awareness and discuss the issues, we need to also take action. Two question I might add to your list are,
“What is going to happen to children and our society if we continue to ignore how the brain learns best?
“What are three things you can begin doing immediately to make a positive difference in the way children learn?”
Thank you for the valuable contributions you are making. I look forward to learning more about the initiative.
Thanks Deborah – I will add your questions to my list for our discussion. Like you, it seems we have made huge advances in understanding the brain over the last couple decades and this information has not yet fully informed what we are doing in our schools and how we are structuring learning. We can claim certain initiatives might be “flavours of the day” but it is hard to argue with brain based research informing our practice as simply being a flavour.
Chris
I recently attended a conference in which a substantial part of the conversation centered around brain based learning. I left the conference with lots of great ideas but also a little unsettled wondering if we ,as teachers, know enough about how the brain learns. My latest post entitled What do you look for? http://bit.ly/g9XH3d looks at brain based instructional strategies that every admin should see in a classroom.
I am happy to see that you are writing about this topic. I look forward to continuing the conversation.
Thanks Johnny – your post is a great read and I have shared it widely. Thanks for adding this to the discussion.
My wife was at a conference School Effectiveness where she heard Marcia Tate speak. Jean’s enthusiasm and the notes she came home with provided a considerable amount of information for discussion in our home and at our schools. Although she and I work in schools were discussions on Brain-based learning has occurred in the past, the new information is vital to continue the discussion and advance how we support and plan for learning. I think this video does more than the varied feel-good videos principals have shown in the last few years; the Born-to-Learn video gives us a direction for discussion.
Thank you both for sharing!
Hi Chris,
I watched this about a week ago, and I didn’t like it. I’m glad your post encouraged a second viewing. Having spent most of my educational career at Middle School I also really like your questions:
How does the “earthquake in the brain” manifest itself in our schools? How do we respond? How could we respond differently/better?
I’m not sure why, but this reminds me of our mutual friend Gary Kern once asking me, “Why is it that we teach students in groups when they learn individually and we treat a kid’s behaviour issues individually when these are social issues?
How could we respond differently/better?
One key element that I think I’ve seen again and again in this video and elsewhere is the significance of early childhood education in harnessing the potential of the brain. Yet by mere design of our schooling structures and funding-per-student models, it seems that primary education often feels the greatest financial squeezes. Primary education is where we already start to ‘prepare students for the next grade’. And primary education is where teachers get the least amount of prep and collaboration time.
So your questions here are crucial:
How should what we have learned about the brain (from this video and other research) change our structures/approaches with students in early learning? in their teenage years?
I think you are on the right track, showing these videos not just to educators, but also to parents, educational authorities & policy makers.
Thanks Dave. I like this video because it links two key elements of school reform – early learning and greater choice and flexibility at high school. We often see these as different – we have early learning initiatives and we have high school reform initiatives – this video makes the case they are related, they are both about better responding to what we know about our brains and learning. I also think this video is accessible. We have made the case for system evolution inside the system, and, at least from those I have shown it to so far, this video resonates with those outside the system.
A valuable post, and a great template for an excellent meeting that could be filled with discussion.
Agreeing with Deborah and Johnny, three years ago, I saw a presentation on the teenage brain by a researcher from Eastern Canada (I am searching my notes trying to find her name, she was excellent). At the conclusion of her presentation, it was astonishing how little I knew about the amount brain research that is out there on our students. I spend countless hours reading about different ways to improve student achievement, and yet I spend very little time on brain-based learning. Your post reminds all of us that we need to spend a greater portion of our time finding out about metacognitive strategies to help improve student learning.
Thanks again.
Thanks Cale. It is interesting to think about our reform initiatives in the context of what we are learning about our brains. I sometimes think we are shooting blindly with reform initiatives, but we actually have a growing body of brain understanding that can be very helpful in guiding us with interventions.
Thanks for this post, Chris. I see linkages between the content of this video and the message Stuart Shanker is bringing to us. For me, the intentional professional development around these new understandings must involve a renewed awareness/exploration of the impact of teaching approaches on learning. Visible Learning by John Hattie provides compelling evidence that teaching approaches are the most influential factors in making a difference for kids and the growing body of knowledge of the brain and self-regulation will help refine feedback, lesson planning, and relationship building between teacher and student. Professional development should be heavily weighted toward refining these understandings.
[…] Kennedy posted the video on his blog, Culture of Yes. He writes that after showing the video at a staff meeting, he will be looking at the following […]
We’ve just finished a month of consideration of such media and the results are interesting. A non-technological lesson by a master teacher was chosen as most compelling. The videos will remain available via http://31daygame.net