This week’s discussions about BTT #1 have deepened my understanding of the relationship between cognitive and emotional factors in learning. The cognitive and emotional are intertwined and inseparable. Accepting this at a deep level, if I’m honest, is harder than it may seem. It contradicts centuries of philosophy, art, literature, and common thinking about the “objective” versus the “subjective,” the heart versus the mind, the brain versus emotions. (Perhaps a rose truly is not always a rose, but sometimes a thorny symbol of love lost and other times a thrilling hint of love just beginning…) This idea is truly radical at a very deep level, but the evidence for it is convincing. Equally convincing, the risks of ignoring it appear significant when it comes to helping students develop deep, transferrable understanding and the skills to apply knowledge and understanding in novel settings. While I think I have already adopted some practices that reflect social and emotional learning, there are specific things that are new, and important things I need to work on.
Prior to this class, experience had taught me that relationships had to precede learning. As a new, mid-career teacher 7 years ago I quickly came to realize that I am not an imparter of knowledge. The challenge is not to pour knowledge into waiting heads and a teacher can’t be replaced by a jar of knowledge – a book, computer, or canned activity. The challenge is to excite learners to actively incorporate knowledge and understanding, and to be truly effective a teacher must have a RELATIONSHIP with students before that can happen. Greeting students at the door, writing personal comments, acknowledging students’ interests and interacting beyond the school day are all important ways to build those relationships. Engendering trust and being genuine are part of it, too, as is letting students know that they are part of a community where it is safe to share ideas and take risks. Those are ideas that I believe I have been incorporating into my teaching practice – more effectively each year – for a while.
What’s new are some of the deeper and perhaps more radical ideas proposed by Immordino-Yang and Damasio (2007). First, they suggest that learning simply cannot happen devoid of emotion (p. 9). Emotion is not something that is along for the ride and it’s not only about students trusting teachers and having good relationships with them. Emotion is part of the way in which knowledge is understood, memories are made, brain connections are created. My new understanding is that trying to remove emotion from learning is like removing a piece of the track and still expecting a train to go from point A to point B. Hardiman (2003) also talks about this as she traces the path of a visual stimulus going from the thalamus to the neocortex and simlutaneously to the amygdala where emotional relevance is determined (p. 29). This idea tells me that any learning to which I am trying to expose students is being understood through a lens or channel or filter of emotion, and it’s not just me as the teacher that creates that emotion. Students may be responding to self-concepts, peer relationships, home struggles, and social preoccupations, as well as their relationships with me. I have a role in helping the student manage the emotional…lens, but it’s about a whole lot more than a student’s relationship with me.
My second deeper understanding is also based on Immordino-Yang and Damasio (2007). They propose that efforts to teach students only “objective” learning – a misguided effort anyway based on what I just discussed in the last paragraph – may result in the student creating a body of learning made up of knowledge that is inherently less useful – knowledge that doesn’t really transfer to “real-world” situations (p. 9). To me this means that by trying to be objective, to focus on something dressed up as being strictly objective and not personal, is focusing our efforts on teaching students things that does not accomplish what is really important: to “prepare skilled, informed, and ethical students who can navigate the world’s social, moral, and cognitive challenges as citizens” (Immordino-Yang and Damasio, 2007, p. 3).
Specifically, for me, these ideas have specific implications for my own growth as an effective educator. First, I need to broaden my lens of what it means to create a positive, emotional climate. How do I help students understand themselves emotionally and help them develop the skills to self-regulate and ensure that they are open to relevant, important learning? Second, I need to adjust my own view of what I am teaching. I’m not saying that I will reinvent content standards – I accept the responsibility to teach what my state tells me I must teach. However, I may need to delve deeper into those standards and understand not only how to present them in engaging ways, but how to appreciate and communicate their inherent emotional dimensions. Finally, I need to find ways to effectively assess the emotional climate in which my students are immersed. Is it positive? Can it be better? What about it is within my sphere of control and influence? And how can I measure whether needed improvement is occurring?
References
Hardiman, M. (2003). Connecting Brain Research With Effective Teaching: The Brain-Targeted Teaching Model. New York: Rowman & Littlefield Eduation.
Immordino-Yang, M. & Damasio, A. (2007.) We Feel Therefore We Learn: The Relevance of Affective and Social Neuroscience to Education. Mind, Brain, and Education, 1(1), 3-10. Retrieved from http:/olms.cte:jhu.edu/olms/data/resource/8038/Week4_ArticleWeFeelThereforeWeLearn.pdf
Dawn,
ReplyDeleteYou so rightly point out that “experience had taught me that relationships had to precede learning.” Reflective, successful teachers always come to that conclusion. It’s interesting to note that when we think about our own favorite subjects in school almost always we also had an unforgettably good relationship with the teacher of that class, too!
As you say students not only respond to their relationship with the teacher, but also to “to self-concepts, peer relationships, home struggles, and social preoccupations, as well as their relationships with me.” Here again the importance of community comes out. I think that you are finding this to be true right now as you are taking this course. You and your team have really bonded and are supporting and inspiring one another in a big way. I love checking out your wiki and “watching” you work together.
You ask, “How do I help students understand themselves emotionally and help them develop the skills to self-regulate and ensure that they are open to relevant, important learning?” My kids always keep journals of some sort. With my little guys they draw pictures as well as write. Today’s testing mania and obsession on measurable objectives can make it really hard to fit in journal, but I insist that we find the time. One way is to have the kids eat lunch in the room once in a while, so we can share our journal entries.
Years ago when I taught in a really tough school where the kids had many emotional needs we had class meetings (which we called “Friendship Circle”) a couple of times a week. During those meetings we shared compliments, solved social problems, and expressed concerns. Because many of them came from somewhat disjointed home situations, I realized they were actually learning with their “school family” how folks can build relationships...
I really like your metaphor “remove emotion from learning is like removing a piece of the track and still expecting a train to go from point A to point B.” Positive emotions truly are the ground upon which learning takes place.
All the best,
Sharon
PS Dawn, if you would like to know more about the “neuroscience “connection between emotions and learning check out this website. “The Brain from Top to Bottom” created at McGill University.
http://thebrain.mcgill.ca/flash/d/d_04/d_04_p/d_04_p_peu/d_04_p_peu.html