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Dr. Kurt Fischer: A Tribute
Andrew Watson
Andrew Watson

Professor Kurt Fischer changed my professional life. If you’re reading this blog, odds are good he helped change yours as well.

Throughout most of the 20th century, teachers, psychologists, and neuroscientists had little to say to one another.

Even psychology and neuroscience — two fields that might seem to have many interests in common — eyed each other suspiciously for decades. Certainly teachers weren’t a welcome part of any wary conversation that might take place.

As we all know, and Dr. Fischer helped us see, these fields have so much to learn from each other.

Today’s growing consensus that these disciplines — and several others — should be in constant conversation results in large measure from his insight, effort, generosity, and wisdom. So: he’s changed our lives, and greatly benefited our students.

Since I heard of his death, I’ve been thinking how Dr. Fischer’s great skill was to keep the bigger picture in mind. He did so in at least two essential ways.

Creating Interdisciplinary Institutions

Academic disciplines exist for good reasons. And yet — despite all the good that they do — they can create barriers and restrict conversations.

To foster inter-disciplinary and multi-disciplinary conversations, Dr. Fischer knew we needed institutional systems. In our field, he helped start all the essential ones.

He helped create the Mind, Brain, and Education strand at Harvard’s Graduate School of Education. It was, I believe, the first such program in the world.

He helped found the International Mind Brain Education Society (Imbes.org), which works to “to facilitate cross-cultural collaboration in biology, education and the cognitive and developmental sciences.”

He helped found the Mind Brain Education Journal, which publishes vital interdisciplinary research.

And, of course, he helped organize the very first Learning and the Brain conference — to ensure that these conversations took place not simply in academic institutions, but with classroom teachers as well.

In starting all these institutions and starting all these conversations, Dr. Fischer created a generation of leaders — those who now champion the work we do every day.

That’s the bigger picture he could see from the beginning.

Understanding Brains in Context

Dr. Fischer saw the bigger picture in his teaching life as well.

As part of his work at Harvard’s School of Education, he taught a course on “Cognitive Development, Education, & the Brain.”

Over those weeks, he returned frequently to an especially damaging fallacy, which he called “brain in a bucket.”

That is, he wanted his students not to think about individual brains operating in some disembodied ether. Instead, he wanted us to think constantly about context:

How does the brain interact with the body?

In what ways is it shaped by development?

How do family interactions shape self? Social interactions? Cultural interactions?

How should we think about hormones, and about ethics, and about evolution, and about genetics?

In other words: neuroscience teaches us a lot about brains. But we should always think about the bigger picture within which that brain functions, and about the forces that created it in the first place.

Never focus on “a brain in a bucket,” because that brain makes no sense without the context that surrounds and shapes it.

In Conclusion

So for me, that’s Dr. Fischer’s legacy. He helped create the context that shaped so many of our brains:

Graduate programs in Mind, Brain, Education,

Learning and the Brain conferences (55 and going strong),

Professional associations and journals,

The scholars and conversations that inspire teachers and improve teaching.

The world is better because he lived, and a poorer place now that he’s gone. Happily for us, he left great wisdom and greater understanding behind.

Revisiting Our San Francisco Conference
Andrew Watson
Andrew Watson

I had planned to write a post describing our most recent conference, last weekend in San Francisco (“where every day is cardio day”).

However, one of our attendees — Mark Barrett — got there first. I thought he did such a good job of summarizing so many of the speakers that you’d enjoy reading his words.

Thankfully, Mark agreed to let me copy his post here. I also encourage you to check out his blog, “Education Rumination.”


This past Family Day long weekend, my admin partner, Rupi and I headed down to San Francisco for the Learning and the Brain Conference.  This 55th edition of the Conference was themed, Educating Anxious Minds, and had a record-setting 2500 participants attend from around North America and beyond.  The inspiration for the conference came as a result of recent reports finding that many children and teens are experience significant stress, anxiety, and mental health issues.  The purpose was to help education professionals reduce anxiety and stress in schools; address teen depression and challenging classroom behaviours; foster coping skills and mindful practices; create trauma-sensitive schools; and improve school success by prompting positive teacher-student relationships.

As the Professional Development Chair for the North Vancouver Administrators Association, this conference was particularly relevant for me on a couple of fronts. Firstly, I am in the midst of organizing our annual Administrators Conference in Whistler, and our theme for 2020 is the BCPVPA domain of Relational Leadership.  Many of the speakers touched on how school-based administrators can positively impact school climate, culture and student anxiety through instructional care models that support staff.  High relational leadership capacity is certainly an integral aspect of any successful care model.  Secondly, in my same role as NovA Pro-D Chair, I’ve created a network of 5 different book clubs for my colleagues.  One of the books being read, The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog, was authored by the first keynote speaker, Dr. Bruce Perry, and it was enlightening to hear his behavioural science-based approach to understanding anxious students.

Bruce Perry

Throughout the conference I attempted to live-Tweet to my professional network some of the best sound bites.  Many of my favourite take-aways were from one of the first keynotes, By Dr. Perry.  Among them included:

  • “Our primary work in the classroom is to first regulate the child, or else you can’t connect with them. Humans are relational creatures.”
    Photo by Mark Barrett
  • The key to a trauma-informed classroom is to recognize there needs to be differential dosing of curricular content based on the needs of the child.
  • “A regulated classroom is a rhythmic classroom and a relational classroom. If you stay calm, it will calm them (students) down.”
  • “Administrators need to think about instructional care models.” Because a dysregulated adult can never regular a dysregulated child.

 

Dr. Perry’s talk hit many of the themes that would be highlighted throughout the conference, including that when we attend to the wellness of adults who care for children, we are better positioned to tend to the wellness of students, and that relationships are key to everything, including the personalization of learning.

Dan Siegel

Dr. Dan Siegel was also a highlight speaker for me, and I was pleased to have the opportunity hear him speak not once, but twice.  As a neuropsychiatrist, I appreciated hearing from a perspective grounded in neural science.  One of the key phrases he used was, “Where attention goes, neural firing flows and neural connection grows.”  Essentially what this means is that the adolescent brain goes through a process of pruning some neural networks, and enhancing others by laying down myelin. We strengthen the neural networks we use, and lose those we don’t.  The lesson for educators here is to encourage students in devoting their energies towards those networks they want to build and enhance; to pursue their areas of passion and routines that reinforce health and wellness.

Photo by Mark Barrett

One of the more amusing anecdotes was about the development of the teenage brain in comparison to other adolescent species.  Dr. Siegel described how adolescent gazelles will also engage in risky behaviour by running up to their natural predators and then running away.  While this may, on the surface, seem exceptionally foolish, Dr. Siegel explained that the ability to lead is enhanced when one has been to the precipice of danger and navigated back from it successfully.

Adolescence is also the time when many species begin pushing for their own independence, and look to leave the relative comfort of, what Dr. Siegel calls, “The Oatmeal House”.  (The home where your parents prepare your oatmeal for you every morning! And do your laundry… and pay the bills, etc. etc).  As adolescents prepare to leave the safety of the family collective, social acceptance among their peer group becomes vitally important; so much so that they will cave to peer pressure to gain it and may even act contrary to their values or morals.  From a neuro-science perspective, however, this is actually a survival instinct; because without the safety of the group, those left on the outside looking in have their entire existence jeopardized.

Other gems from Dr. Siegel included:

  • The ‘3 Rs’ of Reading, Writing and Arithmetic are important, but it’s important to also teach the ‘new’ 3 Rs: Reflective skills, Relationship skills, Resilience skills. My colleague Brad Baker also suggested an additional R; ‘Respect’.
  • Defining what ‘integration’ means with respect to relationships and the brain. Integration is where different aspects of a system become linked, but don’t lose their uniqueness.  Integrative relationships stimulate the growth of the integrated brain, leading to regulation and optimal health. Adversity, conversely, impairs brain integration.
  • The identification of ‘4 Ss’ that help promote an integrative brain and, by extension, health and well-being: Safety, being Seen (students need to noticed), Soothed (fears), Security (trust).
  • F.A.C.E.S. is an acronym used to characterize the features of wellbeing: Flexible, Adaptive, Coherence, Energized, Stable

Other Great Speakers

Two other speakers I enjoyed listening to included Dr. Mona Delahooke’s talk on Using Brain Science to Reduce Anxiety, Toxic Stress, and Behavioural Challenges and Clay Cook’s breakout session on Teacher Stress & Wellbeing.

 

Photo by Mark Barrett

Dr. Delahooke, in her empathic approach, suggested that challenging student behaviours are an adaption to autonomic nervous system cues, and that there is a difference between wilful misbehaviour and a subconscious adaptation. The behaviours are only the metaphorical tip of the iceberg, and that it’s our responsibility in caring for our children to delve beyond the surface, seek to understand, and support students as best we can.  I also appreciated Dr. Delahooke’s notion that self-regulation needs to begin first with co-regulation; that the external interaction between students in your classroom/building needs to be upskilled and regulated before attention can be turned inwards for students.

Clay Cook’s breakout session about Promoting Teacher’s Stress Reduction, Emotional Wellbeing, and Positive Social Interactions, really hammered home the theme that unwell adults have difficulty promoting well children.  He also discussed how psychological safety for staff creates a collaborative and innovative learning culture, and that ‘climate’ is how people feel, while ‘culture’ is how people behave.  Finally, Clay noted that high-performing environments and frequent ‘ratcheting-up’ of expectations for students are a potent risk factor for mental health disorders, just as other factors like poverty are.  This idea gave me pause for reflection on how it is we can continue to maintain high expectations and the pursuit of excellence in our students, while simultaneously supporting their mental health and wellbeing.

Photo by Mark Barrett

Overall the conference was a wonderful learning experience, and I found the speakers to generally be highly engaging, knowledgeable and informative.  My notes here represent only a handful of the many talented presenters we saw.  In the end, I left having a better understanding of some of the latest science-based research supporting the work we’re already doing with our students around mental health and wellness, and a renewed appreciation for the commitment I have to building the best relationships I can both with and among my staff.  Lastly, it was also a great opportunity to network with education professionals from the U.S., Canada and beyond.  If you’re considering attending one of the bi-annual Learning and Brain Conferences in either San Francisco or New York, I would highly recommend that you do!

Mark Barrett


Editor’s note: we also have a conference in Boston every fall. We hope you’ll be able to join us — and Mark — soon!

TOP RESEARCHERS TO EXPLORE THE BRAIN SCIENCE OF INNOVATION, CREATIVITY, CRITICAL THINKING, AND CURIOSITY
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MEDIA ADVISORY

January 29, 2017

Contact:

Kristin Dunay

(781)-449-4010 x 104

[email protected]

 

THE SCIENCE OF INNOVATION: TEACHING STUDENTS TO THINK, CREATE, INNOVATE, IMAGINE, AND INSPIRE

WHAT: With jobs becoming increasingly automated, it has become more important than ever for our students to have a creative and innovative mindset for the future. Next month, a distinguished group of cognitive scientists, psychologists, and innovative educators will gather before 1,700 educators at the Learning & the Brain® Conference in San Francisco, CA, to explore the “Science of Innovation” and how it can be applied to today’s education needs. The speakers will discuss new brain research on innovation, imagination, and creativity, and strategies to train creativity and innovation; will explain ways to develop innovative mindsets in students, schools, and leaders; and will show how promoting creativity, imagination, and daydreaming can improve student memory, motivation, and achievement.

 

SPONSORS: 

The program is co-sponsored by several organizations including the Graduate School of Education at Stanford University, both Neuroscape and the Laboratory of Educational NeuroScience (brainLENS) at the University of California, San Francisco, The Building Blocks of Cognition Lab at the University of California, Berkeley; The Neuroscience Research Institute at the University of California, Santa Barbara, the Mind, Brain and Education Program at Harvard Graduate School of Education, the Comer School Development Program at the Yale University School of Medicine, The Dana Foundation’s Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives, Edutopia and The George Lucas Educational Foundation, the Learning & the Brain Foundation and both national associations of elementary and secondary school principals. The event is produced by Public Information Resources, Inc.

 

FACULTY: 

Renowned Neuroscientist David M. Eagleman, PhD, will present “The Runaway Species: How Human Creativity Remakes the World and Education” during a keynote on Thursday, February 15. Dr. Eagleman, Director of the Laboratory for Perception and Action at Stanford University School of Medicine, host of the Emmy-nominated PBS series The Brain, and author of The Brain: The Story of You (2017) and Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain (2012), will examine human creativity through the lens of brain science, will discuss the essential elements of this critical human ability, and will provide a pathway to more creative systems of education.

 

In addition to Dr. Eagleman, the program features some other leading experts on the learning sciences including:

Alison M. Gopnik, DPhil, Renowned Child Psychologist; Professor of Psychology and Affiliate Professor of Philosophy, Department of Psychology, University of California at Berkeley; Author, The Gardener and the Carpenter: What the New Science of Child Development Tells Us About the Relationship Between Parents and Children (2016); Co-Author, “Learning to Learn from Stories: Children’s Developing Sensitivities to the Causal Structure of Fictional Worlds” (2017, Child Development) and “What Happens to Creativity As We Age?” (2017, The New York Times

George Couros, MEd, Division Principal of Innovative Teaching and Learning, Parkland School Division, Alberta, Canada; Former Classroom Teacher; Author, The Innovator’s Mindset: Empower Learning, Unleash Talent and Lead a Culture of Creativity (2015)

Larry Robertson, MBA, Founder and President, Lighthouse Consulting; Author, The Language of Man: Learning to Speak Creativity (2016) and A Deliberate Pause: Entrepreneurship and Its Moment in Human Progress (2009)

 

Charles K. Fadel, MBA, Founder and Chairman, Center for Curriculum Redesign; Senior Fellow at the Partnership for 21st Century Learning; Visiting Practitioner, Harvard Graduate School of Education; Co-Author, Four-Dimensional Education: The Competencies Learners Need to Succeed (2015) and 21st Century Skills: Learning for Life in Our Times (2009)

 

Mary Helen Immordino-Yang, EdD, Professor of Education, Psychology and Neuroscience, Brain and Creativity Institute and Rossier School of Education; Associate Professor of Psychology, Brain and Creativity Institute, University of Southern California; Co-Author, “How Social–Emotional Imagination Facilitates Deep Learning and Creativity in the Classroom” (2016, Nurturing Creativity in the Classroom)

 

Todd B. Kashdan, PhD, Professor of Psychology; Senior Scientist, Center for the Advancement of Wellbeing; Director, The Wellbeing Lab, George Mason University; Author, “What Erroneous Beliefs Do You Have About Resilience: New Research on Resilience Around the World” (2017, Psychology Today), “Personality Strengths as Resilience: A One-Year, Multiwave Study” (2016, Journal of Personality), and The Upside of Your Dark Side (2014)

 

Jonathan A. Gottschall, PhD, Distinguished Fellow, English Department, Washington & Jefferson College; Author, The Storytelling Animal: How Stories Make Us Human (2013) and The Literary Animal: Evolution and the Nature of Narrative (2005)

 

Tina Seelig, PhD, Neuroscientist; Executive Director, Stanford Technology Ventures Program (STVP); Professor of the Practice, Department of Management, Science and Engineering, Stanford University; Author, Creativity Rules: Get Ideas Out of Your Head and into the World (2017), Insight Out: Get Ideas Out of Your Head and into the World (2015), and Innovation Engine: A Crash Course on Creativity (2014)

WHEN: Thursday, February 15 – Saturday, February 17. Conference begins 1:00 PM. General registration is $599 through February 2 and $619 after February 2. Contact Kristin Dunay at 781-449-4010 x 104 for media passes.
WHERE: Fairmont Hotel, San Francisco, CA

Learning & the Brain® is a series of educational conferences that brings the latest research in the learning sciences and their potential applications to education to the wider educational community. Since its inception in 1999, more than 50,000 people in Boston, San Francisco, and New York have attended this series.

The 2017 Transforming Education Through Neuroscience Award Was Presented on Sunday at the Learning & the Brain® Educational Conference in Boston
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Screen Shot 2017-11-16 at 5.36.47 PMDr. Daniel T. Willingham from the University of Virginia was presented with the “2017 Transforming Education Through Neuroscience Award” for his contributions to the field of Mind, Brain, and Education during the Learning & the Brain® educational conference in Boston, MA.

A groundbreaking researcher whose work lies at the intersection of education and cognitive neuroscience was awarded the tenth annual prize for “Transforming Education Through Neuroscience.” The award was established to honor individuals who represent excellence in bridging neuroscience and education and is funded by the Learning & the Brain® Foundation. The $2,500 award will be used to support translational efforts bridging scientific findings and classroom practice.

Dr. Willingham is being honored for his work on learning and memory and the applications of cognitive psychology to education. He has devoted much of his career leveraging scientific findings to address important educational issues. Dr. Willingham received his BA from Duke and his PhD in Cognitive Psychology from Harvard University and is now a Professor of Psychology at the University of Virginia. He writes the “Ask the Cognitive Scientist” column for American Educator magazine. Dr. Willingham is also the author of the following books Why Don’t Students Like School?, When Can You Trust the Experts?, Raising Kids Who Read, and The Reading Mind. His writing on education has appeared in fifteen languages.

David B. Daniel, PhD, Professor of Psychology at James Madison University and the 2013 winner of the award, had praise for the new recipient. “Dr. Willingham is one of the nation’s most responsible and effective translators of psychological science to educational practice. He is adept at synthesizing seemingly divergent literatures and working across multiple levels-of-analysis to construct evidence-based, usable knowledge for educational practices. Dr. Willingham’s impact across the field, from the classroom to policy, is both important and influential.”

According to John D.E. Gabrieli, PhD, the Grover Hermann Professor of Health Sciences and Technology and Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, “Daniel Willingham has been the leader in communicating concepts and advances in the science of learning to a broad community of educators and parents. He has created a bridge between the best of science and the most important challenges that teachers and students face in the classroom.”

Dr. Daniel presented the prize to Dr. Willingham at the Learning & the Brain® educational conference in Boston, MA on Sunday, November 12, held at the Westin Copley Hotel. The Learning & the Brain® Foundation wishes Dr. Willingham our heartiest congratulations.

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MEDIA ADVISORY

October 23, 2017

Contact:

Kristin Dunay

(781)-449-4010 x 104

[email protected]

MERGING MINDS & TECHNOLOGY: TRANSFORM SCHOOLS WITH NEUROSCIENCE, ROBOTS, MAKERSPACES, AND VIRTUAL REALITY

WHAT:

Neuroscience and technology are merging to transform schools, eliminating rows of desks, teacher-centered instruction, and bored students. The learning sciences, including cognitive neuroscience, are merging with teaching and technology for evidence-based curriculum and assessments; with virtual reality games to improve student engagement and learning experiences; with robotics to teach coding and create future ready students; and with gaming, makerspaces, and classroom redesign to transform classrooms into engaging, collaborative, learning spaces.

 

Next month, a distinguished group of cognitive scientists, psychologists and innovative educators will gather before 1,000 educators at the Learning & the Brain® Conference in Boston, MA, to examine how to transform schools, classrooms, and curricula for the future, and increase student engagement by merging neuroscience, augmented and virtual realities, robotics, makerspaces and classroom redesign.

SPONSORS:  The program is co-sponsored by several organizations including the Integrated Learning Initiative at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Neuro-Education Initiative at Johns Hopkins University School of Education, the Mind, Brain, and Education Program at Harvard Graduate School of Education, the Comer School Development Program at the Yale University School of Medicine, Neuroscape, University of California, San Francisco, the Neuroscience Research Institute at University of California, Santa Barbara, The Dana Foundation’s Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives, the International Society for Technology in Education, the Learning & the Brain Foundation and both national associations of elementary and secondary school principals. The event is produced by Public Information Resources, Inc.
FACULTY: 

Pioneer of social robotics and human-robot interaction Cynthia L. Breazeal, ScD, will present “The Rise of Personal Robots in Classrooms: Implications for Education” during a keynote on Friday, November 10. Dr. Breazeal, author of Designing Sociable Robots (2002), will present research that develops and examines the use and impact of social robots in Pre-K and kindergarten classrooms to foster early literacy skills. Dr. Breazeal is an Associate Professor of Media Arts and Sciences at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Founder and Director of the Personal Robots Group at the MIT Media Lab.

In addition to Dr. Breazeal, the program features some other leading experts on technology and the learning sciences including:

Adam Gazzaley, MD, PhD, Director, Neuroscape; Professor of Neurology, Physiology, and Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco; Co-Founder and Chief Science Advisor, Akili Interactive Labs; Creator of VR games, such as Engage, NeuroRacer, and the Glass Brain, a 3D brain visualization that combines neuroimaging technologies of MRI and EEG to display personalized, real-time brain activity while learning; Host, PBS special “The Distracted Mind with Dr. Adam Gazzaley”; Co-Author, The Distracted Mind: Ancient Brains in a High-Tech World (2016)

Daniel T. Willingham, PhD, Cognitive Scientist; Professor of Psychology, University of Virginia; Blogger, Science and Education Blog; Writer, “Ask the Cognitive Scientist” column for American Educator; Associate Editor, Mind, Brain, and Education Journal; Author, The Reading Mind: A Cognitive Approach to Understanding How the Mind Reads (2017), Raising Kids Who Read: What Parents and Teachers Can Do (2015), When Can You Trust the Experts? (2012), Why Don’t Students Like School? (2010), and “Have Technology and Multitasking Rewired How Students Learn?” (2010, American Educator)

 

Eric D. Klopfer, PhD, Professor; Director, Scheller Teacher Education Program and The Education Arcade, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Co-Faculty Director, J-WEL World Education Lab; Co-Founder and Past President, Learning Games Network; Author, Augmented Learning: Research and Design of Mobile Educational Games (2008); Co-Author, Resonant Games (Forthcoming), The More We Know (2012), and Adventures in Modeling: Exploring Complex, Dynamic Systems with StarLogo (2001)

 

Heidi Hayes Jacobs, EdD, Creator, Curriculum21; Founder and President, Curriculum Designers, Inc.; Co-Author, Bold Moves for Schools: How We Create Remarkable Learning Environments (2017); Author, Active Literacy Across the Curriculum: Connecting Print Literacy with Digital, Media, and Global Competence, K-12 (2017), and Curriculum 21: Essential Education for a Changing World (updated 2014); Author/Editor, Mastering Digital Literacy (2014), Mastering Global Literacy (2013), and Leading the New Literacies (2013)

 

Jonathan Bergmann, MAEd, Co-Founder, Flipped Learning Network; Flipped Learning Pioneer; Former Lead Technology Facilitator, Joseph Sears School, Chicago, IL; Author, Solving the Homework Problem by Flipping the Learning (2017); Co-Author, Flipped Learning: A Guide for Higher Education Faculty (2017), Flipped Learning for Elementary Instruction (2016), and Flip Your Classroom: Reach Every Student in Every Class Every Day (2012)

WHEN: Friday, November 10 – Sunday, November 12. Conference begins 1:00 PM. General registration is $599 through November 3 and $619 after November 3. Contact Kristin Dunay at 781-449-4010 x 104 for media passes.
WHERE: Westin Copley Place, Boston, MA

 

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MEDIA ADVISORY

January 30, 2017

 

Contact: Kristin Dunay

(781)-449-4010 x 104

[email protected]

 

THE SCIENCE OF HOW WE LEARN: ENGAGING MEMORY, MOTIVATION, MINDSETS, MAKING AND MASTERY

WHAT: Next month, a distinguished group of cognitive scientists, psychologists and innovative educators will gather before a sold out audience of 2,000 educators at the Learning & the Brain® Conference in San Francisco, CA, to explore the latest research on the most effective instructional strategies and feedback; ways to improve student motivation, mindsets, and content mastery; the benefits of makerspaces, design thinking, hands-on exploration, and active student-directed inquiry on learning; and the effects of praise on achievement.
SPONSORS:  The program is co-sponsored by several organizations including the Graduate School of Education at Stanford University, both the Greater Good Science Center and the Building Blocks of Cognition Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley, the Laboratory of Educational NeuroScience at the University of California, San Francisco, The Neuroscience Research Institute at the University of California, Santa Barbara, the Mind, Brain and Education Program at Harvard Graduate School of Education, the Comer School Development Program at the Yale University School of Medicine, The Dana Foundation’s Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives, Edutopia and The George Lucas Educational Foundation, the Learning & the Brain Foundation and both national associations of elementary and secondary school principals. The event is produced by Public Information Resources, Inc.
FACULTY:  Renowned Researcher John A.C. Hattie, PhD, will present “A Meta-Synthesis on the Science of How We Learn” during a keynote on Friday, February 17. Dr. Hattie, co-author of Visible Learning Into Action (2015) and Visible Learning and the Science of How We Learn (2014) will outline a synthesis of meta-analyses relating to how people learn and show the differential effects of learning strategies on difference parts of the learning cycle. Dr. Hattie is the Director of Melbourne Education Research Institute at the University of Melbourne, Co-Director of the Science of Learning Research Centre.
Daniel L. Schwartz, PhD, Dean of the Stanford Graduate School of Education; Professor of Educational Technology; Director, AAALab, Stanford University; Co-Author, The ABCs of How We Learn: 26 Scientifically Proven Approaches, How They Work, and When to Use Them (2016) and “How to Build Educational Neuroscience (2012, British Journal of Educational Psychology
Roberta M. Golinkoff, PhD, 
Unidel H. Rodney Sharp Chair and Professor of Education, School of Education; Professor, Departments of Psychology, Linguistics and Cognitive Science, University of Delaware; Associate Editor, Child Development; Co-Author, Becoming Brilliant: What Science Tells Us About Raising Successful Children (2016) and Play = Learning (2009)
Daniel Ansari, PhD, 
Cognitive Scientist; Professor, Department of Psychology & The Brain and Mind Institute; Principal Investigator, Numerical Cognition Laboratory, The University of Western Ontario; Co-Author, “Neuroeducation – A Critical Overview of an Emerging Field” (2012, Neuroethics) and “Culture and Education: New Frontiers in Brain Plasticity” (2012, Trends in Cognitive Sciences)
Yong Zhao, PhD
, Presidential Chair and Director of the Institute for Global and Online Education, College of Education, University of Oregon; Author, Counting What Counts: Reframing Educational Outcomes (2015), Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Dragon?: Why China Has the Best (and Worst) Education System in the World (2014), World-Class Learners (2012) and Catching Up or Leading the Way (2009)
Wendy L. Ostroff, PhD,
Associate Professor, Interdisciplinary Liberal Arts; Cognitive Science and Developmental Psychology, Sonoma State University; Author, Cultivating Curiosity in the K-12 Classroom (2016) and Understanding Children’s Learning (2012)
WHEN: Friday, February 17 – Sunday, February 19. Conference begins 1:30 PM. Contact Kristin Dunay at 781-449-4010 x 104 for media passes.
WHERE: Fairmont Hotel, San Francisco, CA
Learning & the Brain® is a series of educational conferences that brings the latest research in the learning sciences and their potential applications to education to the wider educational community. Since its inception in 1999, more than 50,000 people in Boston, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., New York and Chicago have attended this series. Learning & the Brain® is also the producer of summer institutes and one-day professional development seminars for educators.

 

The 2016 Transforming Education Through Neuroscience Award Was Presented on Saturday at the Learning & the Brain® Educational Conference in Boston
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Boston, MA – Dr. Kou Murayama from the University of Reading was presented with the “2016 Transforming Education Through Neuroscience Award” for his contributions to the field of Mind, Brain and Education during the Learning & the Brain® educational conference in Boston, MA.

 

A groundbreaking researcher whose research lies at the intersection of education and cognitive neuroscience was awarded the ninth annual prize for “Transforming Education Through Neuroscience.” The award was established to honor individuals who represent excellence in bridging neuroscience and education and is funded by the Learning & the Brain® Foundation. The $2,500 award will be used to support translational efforts bridging scientific findings and classroom practice.

 

Kou Murayama, PhD, is being honored for his work on motivation and cognition from the neural level to the social level. Dr. Murayama received his Doctorate in Educational Psychology from the University of Tokyo in 2006 and did his post-doctoral work at the Tokyo Institute of Technology, the University of Rochester, the University of Munich and UCLA. Now at the University of Reading in the United Kingdom, Dr. Murayama is an Associate Professor of Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience where he runs the Motivation Lab.

Dr. Murayama’s research on motivation has potentially large implications for the field of education. His research focuses on a number of questions about the function and the architecture of human motivation from both theoretical (especially focusing on the theories of achievement goals, intrinsic motivation, and reinforcement learning) and practical (especially educational) perspectives. Some of these questions revolve on how motivation can enhance learning, the nature of intrinsic motivation, and metamotivation. His laboratory uses a multi-method approach by drawing upon a variety of methodologies such as behavioral experiments, large sample surveys, neuroimaging (i.e., fMRI), experience sampling, meta-analysis, behavioral genetics analysis, mathematical modeling, and intervention in order to understand motivation from different perspectives.

According to Mary Helen Immordino-Yang, EdD, who is Associate Professor of Education, Psychology and Neuroscience at the Rossier School of Education and Associate Professor of Psychology at the Brain and Creativity Institute at the University of Southern California, Dr. Murayama is “an exceptionally talented and prodigious scholar who is conducting groundbreaking interdisciplinary research integrating cognitive scientific, neuroscientific and educational research approaches.” She also said that “his work is remarkable for its creativity and innovation in both neuroscientific and educational domains.”

Last year’s award winner, Fumiko Hoeft called Dr. Murayama “…a truly talented researcher bridging many fields.” David B. Daniel, PhD, Professor of Psychology at James Madison University and the 2013 winner of the award, also had praise for the new recipient. “Dr. Murayama is engaging in important synthetic and complex scholarship that promises to encourage innovative theory as well as practical educational import.”

Dr. Daniel presented the prize to Dr. Murayama at the Learning & the Brain® educational conference in Boston, MA on Saturday, November 19, held at the Westin Copley Hotel. The Learning & the Brain® Foundation wishes Dr. Murayama our heartiest congratulations.

TOP RESEARCHERS TO EXPLORE WAYS TO EMPOWER AND ENGAGE STUDENTS IN CIVICS, SCHOOL, AND REAL-WORLD PROBLEM SOLVING
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MEDIA ADVISORY

October 25, 2016

Contact:

Kristin Dunay

(781)-449-4010 x 104

[email protected]

ENGAGED, EMPOWERED MINDS: USING BRAIN SCIENCE TO EDUCATE ETHICAL 21ST CENTURY CITIZENS AND PROBLEM SOLVERS

WHAT:

Mind, brain and developmental researchers have found that students who feel empowered and are actively engaged in their learning and their community, perform better academically, have more positive social-ethical behaviors, and are more likely to be active citizens.

Next month, a distinguished group of neuroscientists, psychologists, and educators will explore the science behind civic and school engagement, provide ways to foster student motivation, voice and choice, and how to empower kids to change the world. They will discuss how to create engaged learners, ethical citizens, and world problem solvers before 1,200 educators at the Learning & the Brain® Conference in Boston, MA.

SPONSORS:  The program is co-sponsored by several organizations including the Mind, Brain & Education Program at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, the Athinoula A. Martinos Imaging Center at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives, the Neuroscience Research Institute at the University of California, Santa Barbara, the Neuro-Education Initiative at Johns Hopkins University School of Education, Edutopia from The George Lucas Educational Foundation, the Learning & the Brain® Foundation and both national associations of elementary and secondary school principals. The event is produced by Public Information Resources, Inc.
FACULTY: 

Renowned Psychologist Howard E. Gardner, PhD, will present on “Beyond Wit and Grit: Thoughts on Nurturing Good Citizens?” during a keynote on Friday, November 18. Dr. Gardner, author of Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences (1983), will discuss how his theory of multiple intelligences and the concept of perseverance are not enough for academic success and stress the importance of ethics to benefits both students and society. Dr. Gardner is the John H. and Elizabeth A. Hobbs Professor of Cognition and Education at Harvard Graduate School of Education and Co-Founder of The Good Project, a group of initiatives that promotes excellence, engagement, and ethics in education.

 

On Saturday morning, Kou Murayama, PhD, will receive the 2016 Transforming Education Through Neuroscience Award from the Learning & the Brain® Foundation. This award has been presented annually since 2008 to a researcher who has made significant contributions to connecting neuroscience with education. Dr. Murayama is Associate Professor of School Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences and Director of the Motivation Lab at the University of Reading.

In addition to Drs. Gardner and Murayama, the program features some other leading experts on the learning sciences including:

▪   Tony Wagner, PhD, Expert in Residence, Harvard Innovation Lab, Harvard University; Education Advisor to the documentary, Most Likely to Succeed; Author, Creating Innovators: The Making of Young People Who Will Change the World (2012); Co-Author, Most Likely to Succeed (2015)

▪   Sandra B. Chapman, PhD, Founder and Chief Director, Center for BrainHealth; Professor, School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, The University of Texas at Dallas; Co-Author, Make Your Brain Smarter (2014, Reprint Edition)

▪   Joel Westheimer, PhD, University Research Chair in Democracy and Education, University of Ottawa; Co-Director, “The Inequality Project”; Education Columnist, CBC Radio; Author, What Kind of Citizen? Educating Our Children for the Common Good (2015)

▪   Daniel J. Levitin, PhD, Cognitive Scientist; James McGill Professor of Psychology, Behavioral Neuroscience and Music, McGill University; Author, A Field Guide to Lies: Critical Thinking in the Information Age (2016), The Organized Mind (2014) and This Is Your Brain on Music (2006)

▪   Zoe Weil, MA, MTS, Co-Founder and President, Institute for Humane Education; Author, The World Becomes What We Teach: Educating a Generation of Solutionaries (2016), Above All, Be Kind (2013), Most Good, Least Harm (2009) and The Power and Promise of Humane Education (2004)

▪   Chris Lehmann, MA, Founding Principal, Science Leadership Academy; Co-Author, Building School 2.0: How to Create the Schools We Need (2015); Co-Editor, What School Leaders Need to Know About Digital Technologies and Social Media (2011)

WHEN: Thursday, November 17 – Saturday, November 19. Conference begins 1:00 PM. General Registration is $599 through November 6 and $619 after November 6.   Contact Kristin Dunay at 781-449-4010 x 104 for media passes.
WHERE: Westin Copley Place, Boston, MA

Learning & the Brain® is a series of educational conferences that brings the latest research in the learning sciences and their potential applications to education to the wider educational community. Since its inception in 1999, more than 50,000 people in Boston, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., New York, Orlando and Chicago have attended this series.

 

For more information about the conference, visit www.learningandthebrain.com

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MEDIA ADVISORY

March 24, 2016

Contact:

Kristin Dunay

(781)-449-4010 x 104

[email protected]

THE SCIENCE OF IMAGINATION: CULTIVATING CURIOSITY AND CREATIVITY IN OUR SCHOOLS

WHAT:

Researchers in cognitive neuroscience and psychology have shown that imaginative play, creativity and curiosity are essential for learning. Some have found that reading imaginative fiction, such as the Harry Potter series, can improve reading and empathy in students. Yet, in an age of standardized testing, the most important elements for learning in schools has been overlooked or discarded: the desire, curiosity and passion to learn through children’s imagination and creativity.

Next month, a distinguished group of cognitive scientists, psychologists and innovative educators will gather before 1,200 educators at the Learning & the Brain® Conference in Orlando, FL, to explore the science behind childhood imagination, creativity and curiosity and how they can transform schools, classrooms and learning.

SPONSORS:  The program is co-sponsored by several organizations including the Imagination Institute at the University of Pennsylvania, the School of Education at Johns Hopkins University, the Mind, Brain and Education Program at Harvard Graduate School of Education, the Comer School Development Program at the Yale University School of MedicineThe Dana Foundation’s Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives, The Neuroscience Research Institute at the University of California, Santa Barbara, Edutopia and The George Lucas Educational Foundation, the Center for Childhood Creativity, the Learning & the Brain Foundation and both national associations of elementary and secondary school principals. The event is produced by Public Information Resources, Inc.
FACULTY: 

Renowned Speaker Sir Ken Robinson, PhD, will present on “Creative Schools: Revolutionizing Education From the Ground Up” during a keynote on Friday, April 8. Sir Ken Robinson, one of the world’s leading speakers on creativity and innovation in education and author of Creative Schools: The Grassroots Revolution That’s Transforming Education (2015) and Out of Our Minds: Learning to be Creative (2001), will make a case for creating an education system that nurtures creativity, passion and imagination.

In addition to Sir Robinson, the program features some other leading experts on the learning sciences including:

Scott Barry Kaufman, PhD, Cognitive Scientist; Scientific Director, The Imagination Institute; Researcher and Lecturer, Positive Psychology Center, University of Pennsylvania; Creator and Host of the Psychology Podcast; Blogger, “Beautiful Minds” at Scientific American; Author, Ungifted: Intelligence Redefined (2013); Co-Author, Wired to Create: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Creative Mind (2015) and The Philosophy of Creativity (2014); Co-Editor, The Complexity of Greatness: Beyond Talents or Practice (2013)

Susan L. Engel, PhD, Senior Lecturer in Psychology, Department of Psychology; Founding Director, Program in Teaching, Williams College; Author, The Hungry Mind: The Origins of Curiosity in Childhood (2015), Your Child’s Path: Unlocking the Mysteries of Who Your Child Will Become (2013), “Is Curiosity Vanishing” (2009, Journal of Child Psychiatry) and “Harry’s Curiosity” (2007, Psychology of Harry Potter) 

Todd B. Kashdan, PhD, Professor of Psychology; Senior Scientist, Center for the Advancement of Well-Being, George Mason University; Author, The Power of Negative Emotions (2015), “3 Ideas to Prevent Schools from Killing Creativity, Curiosity and Critical Thinking” (2011, Psychology Today) and Curious? Discover the Missing Ingredient to a Fulfilling Life (2010)

Helen Hadani, PhD, Developmental Psychologist; Head of Research, Center for Childhood Creativity; Former Instructor, University of California, Davis and San Francisco State University; Former Product Developer for Hasbro, Apple, Leapfrog 

Angela Maiers, MA, Educator; Entrepreneur; Founder and CEO, Choose2Matter, Inc.; President, Maiers Educational Services; Author, Classroom Habitudes: Teaching Learning Habits and Attitudes in the 21st Century Classroom (2012, Revised Edition); Co-Author, The Passion Driven Classroom: A Framework for Teaching and Learning (2010)

Marc A. Brackett, PhD, Director, Center for Emotional Intelligence; Senior Researcher Scientist in Psychology; Faculty Fellow, Edward Zigler Center in Child Development and Social Policy, Yale University; Co-Creater of RULER; Co-Author, “Emotional Intelligence and Emotional Creativity” (2007, Journal of Personality)

WHEN: Thursday, April 7 – Saturday, April 9. Conference begins 1:30 PM. General registration is $579 through March 31 and $599 after March 31. Contact Kristin Dunay at 781-449-4010 x 104 for media passes.
WHERE: DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel at the Entrance to Universal Orlando, Orlando, FL
Learning & the Brain® is a series of educational conferences that brings the latest research in the learning sciences and their potential applications to education to the wider educational community. Since its inception in 1999, more than 50,000 people in Boston, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., New York and Chicago have attended this series.

 

Default Image
landb
landb

MEDIA ADVISORY
March 24, 2016
Contact:
Kristin Dunay
(781)-449-4010 x 104 [email protected]

THE SCIENCE OF IMAGINATION: CULTIVATING CURIOSITY AND CREATIVITY IN OUR SCHOOLS

WHAT:

Researchers in cognitive neuroscience and psychology have shown that imaginative play, creativity and curiosity are essential for learning. Some have found that reading imaginative fiction, such as the Harry Potter series, can improve reading and empathy in students. Yet, in an age of standardized testing, the most important elements for learning in schools has been overlooked or discarded: the desire, curiosity and passion to learn through children’s imagination and creativity.

Next month, a distinguished group of cognitive scientists, psychologists and innovative educators will gather before 1,200 educators at the Learning & the Brain® Conference in Orlando, FL, to explore the science behind childhood imagination, creativity and curiosity and how they can transform schools, classrooms and learning.

The program is co-sponsored by several organizations including the Imagination Institute at the University of Pennsylvania, the School of Education at Johns Hopkins University, the Mind, Brain and Education Program at Harvard Graduate School of Education, the Comer School Development Program at the Yale University School of Medicine, The Dana Foundation’s Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives, The Neuroscience Research Institute at the University of California, Santa Barbara, Edutopia and The George Lucas Educational Foundation,

the Center for Childhood Creativity, the Learning & the Brain Foundation and both national associations of elementary and secondary school principals. The event is produced by Public Information Resources, Inc.

Renowned Speaker Sir Ken Robinson, PhD, will present on “Creative Schools: Revolutionizing Education From the Ground Up” during a keynote on Friday, April 8. Sir Ken Robinson, one of the world’s leading speakers on creativity and innovation in education and author of Creative Schools: The Grassroots Revolution That’s Transforming Education (2015) and Out of Our Minds: Learning to be Creative (2001), will make a case for creating an education system that nurtures creativity, passion and imagination.

In addition to Sir Robinson, the program features some other leading experts on the learning sciences including:

SPONSORS:

FACULTY:

Scott Barry Kaufman, PhD, Cognitive Scientist; Scientific Director, The Imagination Institute; Researcher and Lecturer, Positive Psychology
Center, University of Pennsylvania; Creator and Host of the Psychology
Podcast; Blogger, “Beautiful Minds” at Scientific American; Author, Ungifted: Intelligence Redefined (2013); Co-Author, Wired to Create: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Creative Mind (2015) and The Philosophy of Creativity (2014); Co-

Editor, The Complexity of Greatness: Beyond Talents or Practice (2013)

Susan L. Engel, PhD, Senior Lecturer in Psychology, Department of Psychology; Founding Director, Program in Teaching, Williams College; Author, The Hungry Mind: The Origins of Curiosity in Childhood (2015), Your Child’s Path: Unlocking the Mysteries of Who Your Child Will Become (2013), “Is Curiosity Vanishing” (2009, Journal of Child Psychiatry) and “Harry’s Curiosity” (2007, Psychology of Harry Potter)

Todd B. Kashdan, PhD, Professor of Psychology; Senior Scientist, Center for the Advancement of Well-Being, George Mason University; Author, The Power of Negative Emotions (2015), “3 Ideas to Prevent Schools from Killing Creativity, Curiosity and Critical Thinking” (2011, Psychology Today) and Curious? Discover the Missing Ingredient to a Fulfilling Life (2010)

Helen Hadani, PhD, Developmental Psychologist; Head of Research, Center for Childhood Creativity; Former Instructor, University of California, Davis and San Francisco State University; Former Product Developer for Hasbro, Apple, Leapfrog

Angela Maiers, MA, Educator; Entrepreneur; Founder and CEO, Choose2Matter, Inc.; President, Maiers Educational Services; Author, Classroom Habitudes: Teaching Learning Habits and Attitudes in the 21st Century Classroom (2012, Revised Edition); Co-Author, The Passion Driven Classroom: A Framework for Teaching and
Learning (2010)

Marc A. Brackett, PhD, Director, Center for Emotional Intelligence; Senior Researcher Scientist in Psychology; Faculty Fellow, Edward Zigler Center in Child Development and Social Policy, Yale University; Co-Creater of RULER; Co-Author, “Emotional Intelligence and Emotional Creativity” (2007, Journal of Personality)

WHEN: Thursday, April 7 – Saturday, April 9. Conference begins 1:30 PM. General registration is $579 through March 31 and $599 after March 31. Contact

Kristin Dunay at 781-449-4010 x 104 for media passes.

WHERE: DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel at the Entrance to Universal Orlando, Orlando, FL

Learning & the Brain® is a series of educational conferences that brings the latest research in the learning sciences and their potential applications to education to the wider educational community. Since its inception in 1999, more than 50,000 people in Boston, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., New York and Chicago have attended this series.