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BBI 2007 Session 19
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BRAIN AND BEHAVIOR INSTITUTE 2007 |
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The Brain: Significance for Education?
Review and extension
Memory, self, reality as story Story doesn't mean "lie" or "to be ignored", means tentative/revisable Three loops, each important- inside/outside (extrapersonal)
- unconscious/story teller (intrapersonal)
- interpersonal
Learn/create from noticing discrepancies between expectations and input in each, changing to get it less wrong
"Memory as a story for me, is not just a story it is a part of who I am and who I want to be. Is it possible that your story is still just a story? ... Judith
"MY MEMORIES MAY BE MY STORY BUT I'M STICKING TO IT." ... Donna (see also Deidre)
"it is helpful to remember that your perception of the event and their's may be very different. If we remain open to understanding that student's memory of the event we can help them open up and see other perspectives. I think this could have great potential for increasing tolerance, compassion, and understanding in the classroom" ... Anonymous?
"One skill that we need to encourage our children to learn is to talk things out and sometimes they can see how their memory of the event and the other student's memory of it can be very different and then they can sometimes begin to resolve their own problems without an adult referee" ... Cheryl
"I would suggest that our memories are stories that are still being written. Some say that one is not the sum of one's experiences but rather it is what one (the I function?) does with those experiences that makes a person." ... Graham
"oftentimes, people don't see themselves the way others see them-ie their self-stories do not always work in conjunction with their actions. I have also been surprised at some attributes people have assigned to me. So, my story about myself can be different than the story others tell about me. Sometimes I use those stories as a basis for changing certain aspects of my behavior, and my own story is changed a little ... Mingh (see also Tammi)
" The Teacher to Student input-output cycle ... Teacher output, student receives the teacher’s outputs as inputs resulting in a change in their summary of observations resulting in a new story. Teacher continues to monitor this process until the student’s behavior indicates that the student’s story is less wrong" ... Bob
One is never "trapped", there are always ways to get it less wrong
- genes, experiences, culture, individual and story diversity
- "I am, and I can think, therefore I can change who I am" (as well as things around me, including culture)
- What do I experience that I can't make sense of? What aspects of stories (mine or other peoples') don't make sense in terms of my experiences?
To help all involved to become better inquirers, to enhance every individual's capability to evolve, and to influence their own evolution. Science and science education has a special role to play in this, by sharing the perspectives and skills of getting it less wrong, of not only making sense of the world but conceiving new ways to make sense of oneself and the place of oneself and others in the world.
| We are a human community, and among our greatest strengths is the differences among us. They are to be feared only when they are accompanied by estrangement. We need to hear each others' stories, so that we can better tell and retell our own and, in doing, contribute our own pieces to the continually evolving human story. And we need not only to feel but also to reflect and think, to find the new and still better ways to make sense of the world we find ourselves in ... and to remake it anew ... There is no way to guarantee well-being, safety, security, happiness. But we can get less wrong, learn from the past, not remake mistakes by which humans themselves worsen rather than lessen human vulnerability. It is a time to take the time to feel and reflect and think, to tell and listen to each others' stories, to commit ourselves anew to finding ways to tell our collective human story in a way from which no one feels estranged. ... 11 September 2001 |
My bottom line ...
| you are a unique and valuable individual | they are unique and valuable individuals |
| you know more than you think you do | they know more than they (and you) think they do |
| you are equipped to learn, to get it less wrong, and want to | they are equipped to learn, to get it less wrong, and want to |
| education is exploration | education is exploration |
| you need a classroom rich enough to explore | they need a classroom rich enough to explore |
| we're all in this together | we're all in this together |
| together we can get it "less wrong" | together we can get it "less wrong" |
| and have fun | and have fun |
Trust your past (including your genome/culture/experiences), but not too much
Trust your unconscious, but not too much
Trust your thinking, but not too much
Trust making choices, observing, learning, but not too much
Trust other people's stories as well as your own, but not too much
- Choose/act, even if you don't/can't know the "right" answer
- Recognize that disagreement is valuable; you have things to learn from other peoples' stories
- Being wrong is the only way to get it "less wrong"
- Choose/act to see what new things there are to see/do/create
"I'm going to spend less time
worrying about whether other people think I'm doing my job right, and more time
thinking. And I'm going to tell my students that that's what they should be doing too,
whether or not they or anybody else think that's what I'm supposed to be telling them.
And I'm going to tell my kids to stop trying to get everything right on their worksheets,
and instead every once in a while to try something different, to do something differently,
just for the hell of it and to see what happens. Yeah, life will be a little more chaotic, and
sometimes things will go wrong because of something I did instead of because of things I
hadn't yet somehow managed to get under control. And maybe, if it spreads, I might have
to work harder to persuade people to do what I want them to do, and walk farther to get a
quick lunch. I'm pretty sure though that I'll feel a lot safer, and I'm damned sure life will
be a lot more fun. Want to come along?" ... Some Thoughts on Science Education, Education, American Culture, and What to Do About It
- What observations/stories from our two weeks together most supported understandings you've had/used in your teaching?
- What observations/stories from our two weeks together were most discrepant with your understandings, most offer the possibility of getting it less wrong in the future?
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A Random Walk
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Comments
Synopsis
Thanks Langston!
It all started for me with Langston The Ant. After it was explained that Langston was demonstrating the theory that “quite sophisticated behavior can result from simple interaction of simple things,” my thoughts turned to the classroom reflecting on teachers/student interactions. Teachers often observe that the simple actions, behaviors, or an innocuous comment on their part sometimes result in a sudden, and sometimes unintended, change in student behavior. A prime example of the sophisticated behavior resulting from simple interaction theory is illustrated in a declaration I have heard from teachers after reflecting on an incident that they “had no idea that s/he would become so upset, I didn’t mean anything by it.”
Teachers must be constantly aware and vigilant of any and all transactions with not only one student but also the class as a whole because their interactions (teacher outputs) can illicit unintended student response or behavior not only from a student but the class (student’s behavior-learning-a new story resulting from the summary of observations of their inputs from the teacher’s outputs). It is wise for teachers to learn early in their career that when a teacher responds to one student, all of the other students learn a lesson about that teacher. This is what I refer to as the multiplier effect. All students are acutely aware of every teacher output and formulate new stories about the teacher based on these outputs.
The truly ingenious part of the course was starting with an examination of the traditional scientific model and over the course of two weeks expanding and applying it to not only our neurons/nervous system but also to the conscious/unconscious minds, ultimately ending with three continuous and interacting loops. To me, the reafferent loop is critical to the process because it is the necessary and essential link between our output and inputs. Or to view it from another lens, they could be no story telling or looping within any structure or system without the loop.
And it all started with Langston the Ant. Thanks Langston!
The unfinished story
What it meant to me
End of Institute
Summary of Experiences
education
To Be or Not?
Morning Response
W. Keith Sgrillo
W. Keith Sgrillo This is a poem that I wrote about the institue a few years ago at the end of the Institute. Hope you enjoy. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ BRAIN AND BEHAVIOR!!!! OH WHAT A THING!?!?
So let me say thanks, to you, Oh master Paul.
Because it's reality, "I" am now, not sure of at all.
So watch as I try to sum it up, and use to extent, the precious in puts,
to sort this out and give to you, some story of mine,
"I" will call... out puts.
So synapses you speak of,
and the tiny neurons to boot.
Influencing my....Well, my everything,
Including the color of my suit.
So now, Oh Paul, "I" am in quite a quandry!
For what am "I" to do?
For you just insisted on telling me, that red is green, and green is blue?!?!
Now on to mood! "I" am angry! "I" am sad.
And now that "I" realize that, "I" am all the sudden... glad!
The nervous system that we have, Oh! How wonderful and great!
Paul, "I" have to say to you, My mind is in a random state.
And to you! Ms. Dickenson. "I" must salute.
For you convinced me of my brain and the sky.
But "I" must say of you, "I" am not completely sure.
And, well, dont feel too badly.
Because the same can be said for me, myself, and "I".
So to you, Paul, "I" say thanks and continue your wonderful way,
Of convincing me only of uncertanty, and that night is now... day!
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Thanks Paul and Bryn Mawr for another wonderful institute!!!
Keith
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