Can teachers take advantage of the plasticity
to improve mastery of facts and skills? The answer is a resounding yes and
recent cognitive studies show that the brain responds to a host of
instructional practices including interactive face-to-face experiences and
movements that amplify attention and assimilation. Just as Jennifer Wilson saw
dramatic improvement in her right arm and hand flexibility through repetitive
motions of that limb, the brain can respond in an analogous fashion to
manipulate knowledge for storage and interpretation.
The key here is that our DNA is not limited to
a preset mental capacity but instead offers the brain a wide latitude of
physiologic discretion that is shaped by our environment to change physical and
attitudinal characteristics at any time in our lives.
This
book is interested in the cognitive potential of the brain in an engaging
academic and psychomotor environment as well as the motivational elements
closely coupled to learning. We are endowed with an overabundance of neurons
that undergo cross-linking before birth and throughout our existence. The brain
is a learning machine throughout life but there are specific windows of
opportunity in childhood and adolescence that are particularly critical for a
range of cognitive and emotional functionalities. The potential for brain
activation, that is, the capacity to learn new information or skills is
continuous, but we as educators must maximize knowledge assimilation and
generate the motivation to learn when the windows of opportunity are greatest.
photo: Brain pixabay
photo: Brain pixabay