This document discusses how social neuroscience research can help transform classrooms into more "brain wise" learning environments. It suggests that social neuroscience can provide insights into how and why certain teaching methods are effective or not. This knowledge can then be used to emphasize strategies that are shown to optimize learning, such as relationship building, attunement, storytelling, humor, and mindfulness. The goal is to move beyond "smart" teaching focused solely on content to a more holistic approach that also considers the social and emotional aspects of learning.

1. THE SOCIAL NEUROSCIENCE OF TEACHING
TRANSFORMING THE “SMART” TEACHER STATION INTO
THE “BRAIN WISE” CLASSROOM “

2. What is "Social Neuroscience?"
Social Neuroscience is a term applied to an emerging field of study
concerned with identifying the neural processes underlying social
behavior/cognition. However, the field extends beyond a search for
neurochemicals and brain regions that cause behavior; social
neuroscience seeks to better understand the relationship between
the brain and (social) behavior (Waldrop, 1993; Decety & Keenan).
This relationship is reciprocal: the brain affects social cognition and
behavior, and social cognition/behavior affects the brain

3. IMPORTANT QUESTIONS
CAN SOCIAL NEUROSCIENCE RESEARCH CONTRIBUTE TO OUR UNDERSTANDING
OF STUDENT LEARNERS?
CAN WE UTILIZE NEUROSCIENCE TO HELP US UNDERSTAND WHY WHAT WE DO
IS EFFECTIVE AND IN SOME CASES WHY IT IS NOT?
CAN THIS KNOWLEDGE TRANSFORM OUR TEACHING?
CAN NEUROSCIENCE MAKE A STRONGER CASE FOR A NEW
VALUING OF TEACHERS?

4. NEW CONCEPTS FOR THOUGHT AND REFLECTION
1. The tribal classroom
2. Attachment-based teaching
3. Preparing students for a future we can’t predict is impossible
4. Helping students become adaptive lifelong learners is possible
5. “Kindness” is the new cool
6. A curriculum that emphasizes social responsibility, empathy, and mindfulness
is more than smart it’s “brain wise”

5. TEACHER USE

6. WHAT IS A TEACHER?
• “A teacher is someone who talks in someone else’s sleep” Anonymous
• Teachers are nurturing tribal leaders
• Teachers are neuroscientists who conduct neuroplasticity experiments
• Teachers are agents of change “ Every great advance in natural knowledge
has involved the absolute rejection of authority” Thomas Huxley

7. TEACHERS NEED A SUPPORTIVE TRIBE THAT
• Nurtures
• Supports
• Values
• Collaborates
• Encourages risk taking
• And is comprised of wise elders that listen

10. I KNOW YOU’RE SMART BUT ARE YOU?
BRAIN WISE

11. In times of change learners inherit the
earth; while the learned find themselves
beautifully equipped to deal with a world
that no longer exists.
Eric Hoffer

12. THE BRAIN
• Is a social organ of adaptation
• It exists to learn and to apply this learning
• It learns when neurons change their structure and relationship to one another in response to
experience
• chronic stress, fear , and anxiety turns the brain off to learning
• An engaged supportive teacher balanced with an appropriate level of challenge turns the brain on to
learn

17. Mirror neurons
are special neurons in the brain that underlie the experience
of empathy and also play a critical function in learning. What
makes them distinct is that they fire both when performing a
certain action and observing another person, especially of
the same species, perform that action. So the neuroactivity is
the same whether it's the individual performing the action or
someone else

18. Neuroplasticity: The brain's ability to
reorganize itself by forming new neural
connections throughout life.
Neuroplasticity allows the neurons
(nerve cells) in the brain to compensate
for injury and disease and to adjust their
activities in response to new situations
or to changes in their environment.

19. Students may forget what you said,
but they will never forget
how you made them feel.
-- Carl W. Buechner

20. WHAT STAGE OF CHANGE?

22. SERVING THE SERVENT?

23. HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THE STUDENTS YOU
TEACH?

24. TEACH YOU’RE CHILDREN WELL?

26. OUR STUDENTS
• Enter college with a brain already shaped by family, schools, community,
media, and culture
• The way in which a our student’s brain has been shaped determines how they
respond to the classroom experience and to the process of learning
• Early experiences of attachment profoundly impact the ability to learn,
regulate emotions, and to form present and future relationships.

27. “NOT EVERYTHING THAT CAN COUNTED, COUNTS AND; NOT
EVERYTHING THAT COUNTS CAN BE COUNTED.”
ALBERT ENSTEIN

35. SMART VERSUS BRAIN WISE
• Smart knows what’s right and is looking for the
right answers
• Believes detached means objective
• Looks outward for reasons to explain problems
• Masks anger with sarcasm disguised as humor
• Tells stories that promote self aggrandizement
and expertise
• Focuses on appearing confident
• High traditional IQ
• Brainwise is more interested in the formulation
of the question
• Engages others through attunement
• Looks inward for solutions to problem
• Uses humor as an attachment tool
• Tells stories to help others tell their own story
• Is comfortable with self
• High emotional IQ

38. THE SMART STATION VS. THE BRAIN WISE CLASSROOM
• Smart means:
• Curriculum is king content is what matters
• The class is perceived as a collection of individuals
• Brain-based strategies are used mechanistically to
improve retention and recall of content
information
• Believes if you can’t assess it, it isn’t worth
teaching
• Believes flashy technology is what best engages
the new generation of students
• Believes in teacher as sole expert and evaluator
• Emphasizes relationships and process
• Is tribal and attachment based
• sees students as a developing tribe
• Uses social neuroscience to validate strategies that
integrate are and left brain function
• Sees technology as a tool in service of the
craftsman “teacher”
• Sees assessment as a useful tool that can serve but
never lead
• Sees the teacher as a wise tribal elder who:
inspires, models, mentors and helps students
construct narratives of success based on the spirit
of kindness and collaboration

39. STRATEGIES THAT OPTIMIZE LEARNING
• Relationship building exercises
• Attunement
• Story telling
• Humor
• Music
• Participatory group problem solving
• Service learning
• Multiple methods of assessment
• Mindfulness and self reflection
• Multi sensory channel learning
• Scaffolding
• Challenge and support

40. LINKS TO RESOURCES
• http://www.parentbooks.ca/Con_Ed_Multiple_Intelligences_&_Brain-Based_Learning.html
• http://www-bcf.usc.edu/~immordin/papers/Immordino-
Yang+Damasio_2007_RelevanceofNeurotoEdu.pdf
• http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=we+feel+therefore+we+learn&FORM=VIRE7#view=detail&mid=
7A2BD2D3635A4EB8B4F47A2BD2D3635A4EB8B4F4