One Mind at a Time
By Peter W. Cookson, Jr.

As a new teacher you might think that a discussion of brain and mind is far removed from the daily practices of teaching. When you're trying to get students to sit in their seats it's difficult to imagine a theory of mind. In some ways, we treat children as "black boxes" in which we input knowledge and they output (not to put too fine a point on it) test scores. To me this is a very impoverished model of education. A more enriched model of education includes a deeper knowledge of how the brain and the mind operate, just as medicine is based on a deep understanding of human anatomy.

Shaping lives
How we think about the mind does actually influence our teaching. How do children best learn to read? If your theory of the mind is essentially mechanical, then strategies based on reading mechanics will make sense to you. Students should sound out each letter, learn the rules of grammar and how to spell accurately. In this mechanical model of learning, instruction is direct and is repeated often so that children's memories are etched with the sounds and rules of reading.

If, on the other hand, you believe that children learn to read through experience, metaphor and image, then your reading strategy would be quite different. Your classroom would emphasize free reading, storytelling, poetry and visual displays on the walls. You'd be a lot less worried about correct spellings than about having children use language freely. As teachers, we have an obligation to think about these theories because they'll not only influence our classroom practices, but also shape the lives of our students.

Thinking about learning
I lean toward the theory that people learn reading through image, metaphor and experience. At the same time, I recognize that the basic phonetic skills required for reading often need to be taught in an explicit manner for many children. Thus, my theory of learning would be a combination of metaphor and mechanics with an emphasis on freedom of expression.

This way of thinking about learning should be in our minds all the time. Do students learn science best by reading about it or doing it? Do students learn about nature through a book or through an informed walk in the woods? Do students learn about history by listening to a lecture or do they learn about history by reenacting historical events? Do students learn mathematics best by completing worksheets or by going to a local business and finding out how they keep their books?

Practical experience
Experiential learning is the most powerful because it's learning associated with emotion. One of the most striking findings from research is that learning is associated with emotional and sensory states. An angry teacher creates a reaction in students that provokes fear and anger and makes learning virtually impossible. In order to increase learning, we ought to create an environment of safety where our students feel recognized and where they know the material is relevant to their present and future. My theory of learning then does not begin with abstract theory but from practical experience and goes as follows:

• Children do not learn when they are afraid or in emotional conflict. Creating a safe, warm, clean and organized classroom is the foundation for learning.
• Children learn best through experience because experience actually influences the organization of the brain. Our brains are not static, and what we do actually affects the brain's capacity. We know, for instance, that alcohol and drugs impair brain function but so do emotional stress and physical deprivation. Moreover, if you're teaching in a high poverty school, many of your children are deprived of the protein they need in order to have maximum brain function. An adequate school breakfast and lunch may be just as important for learning as the lesson plans you write.
• What we learn from our failures, and how we feel about ourselves as a result of these failures, either allows us to eventually become successful or relegates us to a permanent sense of failure. The role of the teacher is to allow failure and assist the student in creating corrective strategies. From my experience, students will resist corrective strategies if they feel demeaned or invisible.
• Motivation to learn is key. Motivating students to learn, therefore, requires us to provide a classroom incentive system that is tangible, observable and meaningful to our students. Unfortunately, much of standardized testing is a disincentive to learning because it is based on a punitive model and a very outdated view of how learning occurs.

In any case, this is my theory of learning that I believe is supported by research. The real point, however, is that it will help you to develop your own intentional theory of learning because it will guide your teaching, your classroom organization and your approach to students. That kind of thinking is essential for the consistency required for the long process of development we know as intellectual and moral growth.

Peter W. Cookson, Jr. is the founder of TCinnovations and the Dean of the Graduate School of Education of Lewis & Clark College. He is also founder of the Center for Educational Outreach & Innovation at Teachers College.

January 2006, Vol.36, No.4