Ever wonder why learners do what they do? Well, maybe they do too. By helping learners understand how their brains and bodies work, they will be more able to consciously modify their physical and emotional reactions. By teaching learners to control themselves, teachers can improve the behavior in their classrooms.
- How can teachers help students better control their behavior: Cognitive restructuring.
- What is cognitive restructuring: It is the process of changing subconscious thoughts by helping people become aware of how they are programmed to think.
- What will cognitive restructuring do: Explaining to children how the brain works, and by doing this, help children “learn and develop thinking skills.”
A program called Brainwise, developed in Colorado (USA), provides a program to explain to learners how the brain works. When students are more aware of how their brain works, they are more able to make good decisions. BrainWise was first created for high risk middle-school and high school students. The program has now been adapted for ages from grade R to adult and has been used all over the world. It has successfully implemented programs on seven Native American reservations and to taught illiterate Chinese girls to resist drug traffickers.
The program outlines the parts of the brain and outlines ten skills on reacting to what happens in the brain:
- It shows children that there are three parts of the brain. Messages are sent to the three parts, and all the parts rely on each other to get the body to do the best thing for it.
Brain Part | Function | Color |
Thalamus | Brain’s “relay center” | Blue |
Limbic System “Lizard Brain” | Amygdala: emotions Hypothalamus: fight/flight/freeze | Red |
Prefrontal Cortex “Wizard Brain” | High level functioning like social skills and problem-solving | Green |
Information about the brain was collected from three areas of study.
Neuroscience:
Children are shaped by the world around them. The body takes in all the senses: sight, smell, hearing, taste, and touch. If the body thinks it is in peril, it sends danger signals to the brain. The message goes to the hypothalamus region. This region is in charge of sending out “non-thinking and emotion impulse reactions.” The hypothalamus then sends messages to the rest of the body to either: flight, fight, or freeze.
If children are constantly exposed to traumatic events, or even if it is one extremely traumatic event, these danger messages do not just go away. The brain programs itself to watch for danger all the time. “Post traumatic stress research shows participants have baseline automatic hyperarousal states and greater resting heart rates variability,”1 particularly in traumatized children. Traumatic experiences affect a child’s: “capacity for emotional regulation, causing a negative sense of self, poor impulse control, and distrust of others.”2
There are many children who have experienced traumatic events. These effects carry over to the classroom. Many of the children who experience trauma are wrestling with stress, grief, and depression, which may result in acting out, withdrawal, or antisocial behavior.
Social Science: Two things a teacher needs to know:
- Studies show that cognitive restructuring can boost self-esteem, self-control, and performance.
- Children learn through example. Positive and negative examples can be used to teach life lessons. Teachers can utilize role models from something that interests the learners. Events in popular television shows, celebrities, and sports figures can be used to demonstrate problem-solving.
Education: BrainWise suggests 5 Stages to Optimal Learning
- Preparation: inform and provide children with all necessary information to understand the topic/objective
- Acquisition: teach the children the topic/objective
- Elaboration: allow children to experiment, ask questions, and give feedback
- Memory Formation: allow children to process and store the information/process/experience
- Functional Integration: apply the topic/objective to other scenarios
Brainwise has developed 10 skills to teach children how to stop and think about problems, even in tough situations. Some helpful tips adapted from these ten skills are:
Use your “Wizard Brain” over your “Lizard Brain.”
Identify the problem in the environment and how you are handling it.
Keep your emotional excitement low so that you do not rely on emotions.
Separate facts from opinions.
Identify your choices.
Identify the immediate and long term consequences of your choices on yourself and others.
Decide what you want to do
Make a plan on how to accomplish it.
Communicate well with others.
- Use “I think, I feel, I noticed, etc.”
- Understand that people have different ideas and opinions.
- Use assertive communication- not passive, aggressive, or passive-aggressive.
1 Adolescent Psychopathology and the Developing Brain: Integrating Brain and Prevention Science. Romer, Daniel and Walker, Elaine. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007. p. 424
2 Romer and Walker. 424.