Author Archives: Andrew Watson

Here at Learning and the Brain, we bring together psychology (the study of the MIND), neuroscience (the study of the BRAIN), and pedagogy (the study of EDUCATION).

That is: we bring together THREE complex fields, and try to make sense of their interactions, differences, and commonalities.

Such interdisciplinary work creates meaningful challenges.

In any one of those fields, scholars argue about basic definitions and concepts. So, you can imagine the debates that rage when all 3 disciplines together. (Quick: what does the word “transfer” mean? Each field defines that word quite differently…)

So, who decides what “we” think in the field of MBE? What core beliefs hold us together, and how do we know?

One Answer: Ask Delphi

To solve this puzzle, Dr. Tracy Tokuhama-Espinosa, Dr. Ali Nouri, and Dr. David Daniel organized a “Delphi Panel.”

That is: they asked 100+ panelists to respond to several statements about the intersection of psychology, neuroscience, and education. (Full disclosure: I’m almost sure I was 1 of the 100 — but I don’t have specific memories of my contributions.)

They then crunched all those answers to determine a) the panelists’ points of agreement, and b) their enduring concerns about those points.

For instance, 95% of the panelists agreed with this statement:

Human brains are unique as human faces. While the basic structure of most humans’ brains is the same (similar parts in similar regions), no two brains are identical. The genetic makeup unique to each person combines with life experiences and free will to shape neural pathways.

However, several participants disagreed with the inclusion of the phrase “free will” — including some who agreed with the statement overall.

This Delphi Panel method, in other words, BOTH looks for points of consensus, AND preserves nuanced disagreements about them.

 21 Tenets, and Beyond…

So, what do “we” in the world of MBE believe?

The Delphi Panel supported 6 principles and 21 tenets across a wide range of topics: motivation, facial expression, tone of voice, sleep, stress, novelty, even nutrition. (91% of panelists agreed with the statement “NUTRITION influences learning. Basic nutritional needs are common to all humans, however, the frequency of food intake and some dietary needs vary by individual.”)

Taken all together, they add up to several Key Concepts — almost all of which matter to teachers who read this blog.

For instance:

Teachers should understand some basic definitions, and beware of some enduring neuromyths. (“Learning styles,” here’s looking at you.)

We should know that attention networks can improve, and so can executive functions. (I’m a little concerned about this last statement, as it implies false hopes about working memory training.)

Teachers should know that affect matters as much as cognition; that retrieval practice and spacing really work; that growth mindset is a thing; that interleaving helps.

Excellent Timing

In fact, several of this Delphi Panel’s conclusions align with our upcoming conference on Calming Anxious Brains (starting November 19).

For instance:

STRESS influences learning. However, what stresses one person and how may not stress another in the same way. (95% agreement)

ANXIETY influences learning. However, what causes anxiety in one person may not cause anxiety in another. (97% agreement)

In other words: our students aren’t little learning computers. Their emotional systems — when muddled by the stress and anxiety of Covid times — influence learning profoundly.

Teachers should attend to our students’ emotional lives not because of some misguided mushiness; instead, we do so because those lives can make learning much harder, or much more fluent and natural.

MBE research, and the Delphi Panel, say so.

As a bonus, here’s Dr. Tokuhama-Espinosa explaining the “The Difference between Mind, Brain and Education, Educational Neuroscience and the Learning Sciences”:

I recently spent two hours talking with a group of splendid teachers from Singapore about Mindset Theory.

We talked about “charging” and “retreating.” We discussed “performance goals” and “learning goals.” Of course, “precise praise” merited lots of attention.

At the end of our session, several of their insightful questions focused on systemic change:

How can we help teachers (not just students) develop a growth mindset?

How can we change our grading system to promote GM goals?

What language should we use throughout the school to talk about learning and development?

These questions — and others like them — got me thinking:

We know that psychology and neuroscience research has so much to offer teachers, learners, and education. What systems should be in place to spread the word? 

Thinking Big

This question gets complicated quickly.

In the first place, teaching will (almost) always be INDIVIDUAL work taking place within a complex SYSTEM.

In some cases, we want teachers to have lots of freedom — say, to try out teaching strategies suggested by cognitive science.

In other cases, we want teachers to follow their school leaders’ guidance — say, when leaders follow wise psychology research.

How can we get that balance right?

• In England, I believe, a national agency (OFSTED) has evaluation standards that apply to all schools and teachers.
• France is in the process of creating a Council to vet research-based advice to schools and teachers. (LatB speaker Stanislas DeHaene is taking a leading role.)

In the US, of course, local control of schools makes such a system hard to imagine.

What might we do instead? What levers can we push?

I know of one organization — Deans for Impact — that focuses on teacher education.

Their logic makes great sense.

If we can ensure that teacher training programs incorporate cognitive science wisely, we can change the beliefs and practices of a generation of teachers.

Now THAT would — as they say — “move the needle.”

D4I has published a number of immensely useful summaries and reports. This one, for instance, briskly summarizes six core principles of learning: the research behind them, and their classroom implications.

Focus on Schools

Instead of teacher training, we might focus on schools as systems.

Eric Kalenze (blog here) has written a splendid book about creating a school within a school. What The Academy Taught Us doesn’t focus on cognitive science, but it does offer a chalk-in-hand view of building new systems from scratch.

In Kalenze’s telling, a supportive and inspiring principal created just the right combination to allow for meaningful change. (And a school district’s overly rigid policies brought this hopeful experiment to an end.)

I know of several independent schools that are doing exactly this work. The Center for Transformative Teaching and Learning at St. Andrew’s School has been guiding their faculty — and teachers across the country — for over a decade.

The Peter Clark Center for MBE at the Breck School and the Kravis Center for Excellence in Teaching at Loomis Chaffee (the school where I work) both do excellent work in this field.

Perhaps this “Center” model will spread widely throughout schools in the US. If so, these highly local “Deans for Impact”-like initiatives just might — gradually but powerfully — shape the future of teaching.

One By One

At the same time, my own experience suggests the importance of working teacher by teacher.

I attended my first Learning and the Brain conference in 2008. Inspired by the possibilities of combining psychology, neuroscience, and education, I began my own independent exploration.

Although I don’t run a school or supervise teachers, I’m able to spread the word — both as a classroom teacher, and in my work as a consultant (hello Singapore!).

And here’s where Learning and the Brain conferences continue to be so valuable.

The more individual teachers who attend — the more groups of teachers who pool together to share excitement and ideas — the more we can expand networks and create the movement we need.

Perhaps the best way to change the complex system is: one teacher at a time.

I hope you’ll join us in Boston in November!