DISCLAIMER: The following post was originally completed as part of my coursework for EDUC 520-Student Learning and Motivation, one of my grad classes. If you are not interested in education, this is going to be wicked boring. Please feel free to check out some of my other posts!
Understanding the development of the human brain and mind are vital to anyone who would call themselves a professional educator. The human mind is not the same in infancy, childhood, adolescence, or adulthood, therefore many of the teaching methods that would serve to teach an adult would not work well at all in an early elementary classroom. While many parts of traditional education are still beneficial, many newer practices show great promises in the area of increasing student learning at varying phases of student development. Especially during the sensitive periods of learning throughout childhood and adolescence, special care must be taken by the teacher to utilize teaching methods and strategies that prime the brain for those critical milestones and maximize student learning. For example, both Great Schools Partnership (2013) and Debi Pearl (2019) advise the use of calming music and physical activity in early through middle childhood to stimulate the highly associative minds of children. Moving into preadolescence and early adolescence, teachers must be aware of the development of executive functions in their students and use strategies that encourage students to develop those organizational skills, such as gradually releasing the responsibility of planning and organizing projects to the students throughout the year (Willis 2016). Another critical aspect to understanding the development of the brain and mind is the knowledge that every student will develop at a different rate, but that the educator can help them along in certain areas, even if they seem to be delayed at the time (Oswalt). For example, a child that struggles with regulating his emotions may simply be overstimulated, and Debi Pearl (2019) suggests that calmer learning environments with fewer distractions can help that child make better behavioral choices and increase his learning as his mind goes through the pruning process until he can better regulate his emotions. Just as the teacher is responsible to make up for gaps in former education, the teacher must also be prepared to make up for gaps in student development, a situation that happens far more than many teachers realize.
References:
Great Schools Partnership. (2013, August 29). Brain-based learning. Glossary of Education Reform. https://www.edglossary.org/brain-based-learning/
Oswalt, A. Sensitive periods in child development. GracePoint Wellness. https://www.gracepointwellness.org/28-child-adolescent-development-overview/article/7923-sensitive-periods-in-child-development
Pearl, D. (2019). Create a better brain through neuroplasticity: A manual for mamas. No Greater Joy Ministries, Inc.
Willis, J. (2016, February 11). Brain development and adolescent growth spurts. Edutopia. https://www.edutopia.org/blog/brain-development-adolescent-growth-spurts-judy-willis
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