The Learning Page...

Neuroscientific Theory

Our school's program and pedagogy is based on Cognitive and Neurosciences. Nothing we do is by chance. Everything we do is planned and executed with precision.

In his book, "How We Learn", neuroscientist Stanislas Dehaene explains that there are four broad pillars of learning. This article will briefly explain each one.

Pillar 1: Attention

Learning is defined as what the brain can (and does) pay attention to. Multi-tasking is a myth. In order to learn effectively student must attend to the material in front of them without distraction. This means the student should be alert, orientate themselves to the learning and exercise executive control so that any material presented can be absorbed. 

Largely, students come to school in the early years with this training from the home environment. If a student has been overstimulated by too many elements or has not been trained in paying attention to one element in the environment at a time; then they are severely disadvantaged. One of the major battles in a classroom is to ensure that students remain tuned in to one learning element at a time and to minimise distraction in the environment. Too much stimulus in the environment at the same time is unhelpful.

At home, this means listening to a book being read to them. It means reading a book on their own for an extended time. It means playing in fresh air with a friend with no stimulus other than each other's company. It means not zombie-ing out for hours on end in front of a computer with a mindless video game that has no educational value.

At South Melbourne Primary School, we have learning goals and steps for success defined at the beginning of each lesson. We loop back to the main learning goal throughout each lesson. Students are asked to articulate their learning in relation to the goals. The goals are expressed in simple terms using child friendly language.

To a large degree, executive control emerges from training in the home. At a school level, we really notice children who are exposed to too many online games and have poor executive function. It can be really challenging to focus attention on one thing at a time. Our school uses electronic devices to focus on one item at a time and to avoid multitasking. This is often misunderstood. A device is not evil - unless it is misused. In "How We Learn", the author explains that devices are an incredible source of learning if used correctly. Every kid loves devices by default so they should be used constructively. It is multitasking and mindless gaming that leads to poor executive functioning - not the device itself. That is why SMPS has 1:1 devices in Grades 1-6 with programs that gradually get more complex the further the child progresses through the levels. 

Pillar 2: Engagement

For effective learning to occur a student needs to be engaged in the material. As mentioned in the previous pillar, multitasking is the enemy of engagement. Engagement is to focus the mind on one major topic at a time and to practise constantly to move the material from working memory into long-term memory. Memory and curiosity are linked. The degree of craving for knowledge controls the depth of the learning. Curiosity is the gap between what we already know to what we want to know. What is known becomes boring. Our brain turns off when we are not learning fast enough. Our attention gravitates towards intermediate complexity - something stimulating enough to not be discouraging. In order for children to be curious, they must be made aware of what they don't know yet. Students are stimulated if the learning is just out of reach. In essence, it is called the Goldilocks moment with something is not too easy but not too hard. The skill of the teacher is to provide material and pedagogy which is just out of reach but achievable for every child. This connotes a differentiated curriculum. At South Melbourne Primary School, the programs we use a differentiated and we strive to find the Goldilocks moment each and every day for each and every child.

Pillar 3: Error Feedback

To think is to move from one level of complexity to the next - one error to the next. The only person who never makes a mistake is the person who never tries anything. The more you fail, the more you are likely to succeed. The speed and quality of the feedback determines how effectively we learn. Learning only occurs in the brain when there is a gap between what it predicts and what it receives. Surprise is a fundamental drive in learning. Our brains need a discrepancy between what we expected and what we learned. No surprise = no learning. 

Quick error feedback is required for effective learning to take place. Making errors proves that we have tried. We need regular cycles of studying and testing to force ourselves into a feedback cycle. The more you test yourself, the better you have the opportunity to learn. Studying is not the same as testing. Testing is a cycle of engagement, correction and feedback. Spacing our training periods is the golden rule - interspersed with tests. When learning an instrument, for instance, 15 minutes of practice three times per week is better than one 45 minute session. Spacing increases difficulty and, therefore, brain activity. Spacing out training and practise sessions increases the ability for the brain to learn threefold. That is, you are three times more likely to learn if there is a short test involved at the end and some space is left between training sessions.

At South Melbourne Primary School, our programs are designed to space out the practise and we build in short cycles of low stakes quizzes to help move information from short-term to long-term memory. Our practise of SRA cards means children read and conduct quizzes to see how they have gone straight away. We have a program called Quizlet that is a short-term, low stakes quiz which gives immediate feedback to the learner.

Pillar 4: Consolidation-Repetition

An expert brain is different to a beginner brain. A beginning brain needs constant practice that is repeated in a cycle called overlearning. Overlearning moves things into routine mode where we don't need effort. Repeated practice leads to this as the effort evaporates. We then need to move on to a more complex concept. And so the cycle repeats. Autonomous toes nation is important to remove the bottleneck in our memory. The human brain cannot multitask despite what people think. We need to overlearning so things become automatic and operate unconsciously. It takes between eight and 14 hours for information to start being forgotten. The basic rule is that we forget what we learn over time. A pleasurable school experience is not without effort. If it leads to progress. One-shot learning is not effective. We need time to practice in a concentrated way over periods of time where forgetting occurs and recollection is effortful.

In Reading, in first grade, studies have shown that the top 10% of children read more than 4 million words per year; while the bottom 10% read less than 60,000. Dyslexic kids may not read any words at all.

At South Melbourne Primary School our programs are designed to allow forgetting to occur and effortful remembering to be enacted. We have our Accelerated Reader program to increase the volume of words read per year. We have Mathletics once per week to consolidate maths concepts. We practise Maths Invaders 4 days per week so children almost forget, but have to try hard to remember. We practise Reading Eggs so children are repeatedly exposed to critical reading concepts. We have our Letters and Sounds program for Grades Prep-2 so letter-sound relationships are consolidated inside young brains.

In Summary

In summary, all children need:

• Focused attention over dual tasking
• Active engagement over passive lecturing
• Detailed error correction over phoney praise
• Explicit teaching over constructivism/discovery learning

Learning occurs only if the brain perceives the appropriate sensory inputs (attention) uses them to produce a prediction (active engagement) and evaluates the accuracy of the prediction (error feedback).

The Role of Sleep

Finally, a very important component of brain development is sleep. During sleep neural pathways are consolidated into different memory areas of the brain. Without sufficient sleep, this process does not occur and information gained during the day does not have the chance to find its place into long-term memory. Information gained through the day is basically lost. Sleep is the hidden fifth pillar of brain development. Every night the brain consolidates what it learns through the day.

Coda

I am unsure of the readership of these articles. It may only interest a few and it may bore many. The reason that the Learning Page is included in our newsletter is to illustrate the theories behind our teaching and learning program. I have quoted heavily from 2020 text, "How We Learn" as that is the latest, educationally based neuroscience that I could source. It is the cornerstone of how your child's brain develops and represents the intersection between school, home and the materials presented as the program to your children. I hope you find it as interesting as I do.