{"id":6344,"date":"2021-11-04T08:00:54","date_gmt":"2021-11-04T13:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/braindevs.net\/blog\/blog\/?p=6344"},"modified":"2021-11-08T15:46:04","modified_gmt":"2021-11-08T20:46:04","slug":"changing-the-system-where-do-we-start","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/changing-the-system-where-do-we-start\/","title":{"rendered":"Changing the System: Where Do We Start?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I recently spent two hours talking with a group of splendid teachers from Singapore about <a href=\"https:\/\/braindevs.net\/blog\/\/lets-get-practical-signaling-a-growth-mindset\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>Mindset Theory<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>We talked about &#8220;charging&#8221; and &#8220;retreating.&#8221; We discussed &#8220;performance goals&#8221; and &#8220;learning goals.&#8221; Of course, &#8220;precise praise&#8221; merited lots of attention.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/braindevs.net\/blog\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/AdobeStock_110061198_Credit.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-6350\" src=\"https:\/\/braindevs.net\/blog\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/AdobeStock_110061198_Credit-300x201.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"201\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/AdobeStock_110061198_Credit-300x201.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/AdobeStock_110061198_Credit-768x513.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/AdobeStock_110061198_Credit.jpg 793w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>At the end of our session, several of their insightful questions focused on\u00a0<em>systemic change<\/em>:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">How can we help <strong>teachers<\/strong> (not just students) develop a growth mindset?<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">How can we change our <strong>grading system<\/strong> to promote GM goals?<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">What <strong>language<\/strong> should we use <strong>throughout the school<\/strong> to talk about learning and development?<\/p>\n<p>These questions &#8212; and others like them &#8212; got me thinking:<\/p>\n<p>We know that psychology and neuroscience research has so much to offer teachers, learners, and education. <em>What systems should be in place to spread the word?\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<h2>Thinking Big<\/h2>\n<p>This question gets complicated quickly.<\/p>\n<p>In the first place, teaching will (almost) always be INDIVIDUAL work taking place within a complex SYSTEM.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">In some cases, we want teachers to have lots of freedom &#8212; say, to try out teaching strategies suggested by cognitive science.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">In other cases, we want teachers to follow their school leaders&#8217; guidance &#8212; say, when leaders follow wise psychology research.<\/p>\n<p>How can we get that balance right?<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>In England, I believe, a national agency (OFSTED) has evaluation standards that apply to all schools and teachers.<\/li>\n<li>France is in the process of <a href=\"https:\/\/joliot.cea.fr\/drf\/joliot\/en\/pages\/news\/institute\/2018\/stanislas-dehaene-scientific-council.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">creating a Council<\/a> to vet research-based advice to schools and teachers. (LatB speaker <a href=\"https:\/\/braindevs.net\/blog\/\/how-we-learn-wise-teaching-guidance-from-a-really-brainy-guy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Stanislas DeHaene<\/a> is taking a leading role.)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In the US, of course, local control of schools makes such a system hard to imagine.<\/p>\n<p>What might we do instead? What levers can we push?<\/p>\n<p>I know of one organization &#8212; <a href=\"https:\/\/deansforimpact.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Deans for Impact<\/a> &#8212; that focuses on <em>teacher education<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>Their logic makes great sense.<\/p>\n<p>If we can ensure that <em>teacher training programs<\/em> incorporate cognitive science wisely, we can change the beliefs and practices of a generation of teachers.<\/p>\n<p>Now THAT would &#8212; as they say &#8212; &#8220;move the needle.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>D4I has published a number of immensely useful <a href=\"https:\/\/deansforimpact.org\/resources\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">summaries and reports<\/a>. <a href=\"https:\/\/deansforimpact.org\/resources\/the-science-of-learning\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">This one<\/a>, for instance, briskly summarizes six core principles of learning: the research behind them, and their classroom implications.<\/p>\n<h2>Focus on Schools<\/h2>\n<p>Instead of teacher training, we might focus on <strong>schools as systems<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Eric Kalenze (blog <a href=\"https:\/\/erickalenze.wordpress.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here<\/a>) has written a splendid book about creating <em>a school within a school<\/em>.\u00a0<em>What The Academy Taught Us<\/em> doesn&#8217;t focus on cognitive science, but it does offer a chalk-in-hand view of building new systems from scratch.<\/p>\n<p>In Kalenze&#8217;s telling, a supportive and inspiring principal created just the right combination to allow for meaningful change. (And a school district&#8217;s overly rigid policies brought this hopeful experiment to an end.)<\/p>\n<p>I know of several independent schools that are doing exactly this work. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thecttl.org\/\">Center for Transformative Teaching and Learning<\/a> at St. Andrew&#8217;s School has been guiding their faculty &#8212; and teachers across the country &#8212; for over a decade.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.peterclarkcenter.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Peter Clark Center for MBE<\/a> at the Breck School and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.loomischaffee.org\/academics\/kravis-center-for-excellence-in-teaching\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Kravis Center for Excellence in Teaching<\/a> at Loomis Chaffee (the school where I work) both do excellent work in this field.<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps this &#8220;Center&#8221; model will spread widely throughout schools in the US. If so, these highly local &#8220;Deans for Impact&#8221;-like initiatives just might &#8212; gradually but powerfully &#8212; shape the future of teaching.<\/p>\n<h2>One By One<\/h2>\n<p>At the same time, my own experience suggests the importance of working\u00a0<em>teacher by teacher<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>Although I don&#8217;t run a school or supervise teachers, I&#8217;m able to spread the word &#8212; both as a classroom teacher, and in my work as a consultant (hello Singapore!).<\/p>\n<p>And here&#8217;s where Learning and the Brain conferences continue to be so valuable.<\/p>\n<p>The more <em>individual teachers<\/em> who attend &#8212; the more <em>groups of teachers<\/em> who pool together to share excitement and ideas &#8212; the more we can expand networks and create the movement we need.<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps the best way to change the complex system is: one teacher at a time.<\/p>\n<p>I hope you&#8217;ll join us <a href=\"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/\/conference-466\/calming-anxious-brains\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">in Boston in November<\/a>!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I recently spent two hours talking with a group of splendid teachers from Singapore about Mindset Theory. We talked about &#8220;charging&#8221; and &#8220;retreating.&#8221; We discussed &#8220;performance goals&#8221; and &#8220;learning goals.&#8221; Of course, &#8220;precise praise&#8221; merited lots of attention. At the end of our session, several of their insightful questions focused on\u00a0systemic change: How can we [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":6350,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[171],"class_list":["post-6344","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lb-blog","tag-mbe"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6344","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6344"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6344\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6357,"href":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6344\/revisions\/6357"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6350"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6344"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6344"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6344"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}