Using your brain

"Use your brain!"I do recall my Dad giving me this instruction on the odd occasion (usually the message being that I was not!) However, the difficulty (as with many other things in life) is that the brain does not come with an instruction manual. It does not have a help menu that you can search, or an 'Idiots Guide' that helps you solve your latest problem quickly and efficiently. Rather, you find yourself drawing upon a series of strategies that you have imported from youth, which may or may not be relevant to the problem at hand.

But things have changed.

Last week I attended the ULearn conference. During the conference I listened to Mark Treadwell who was speaking on brain research and the light it sheds upon teaching and learning. It was fascinating to learn about our different memory systems and how they interact together.

But what captured me the most was Mark's notion of a conceptual curriculum. A curriculum that focusses upon the 'big ideas'. One that builds on the way the brain works and is explicit in supporting learners in understanding and applying these big ideas across a range of contexts using relevant and engaging content. A curriculum that has the potential to accelerate students learning, and support enhanced self-regulation, engagement and creativity.

The Ministry of Education is doing something similar. It is developing a series of Secondary Teacher and Learning Guides. These guides are / have been developed by experienced teachers and subject experts. They have been written to support teachers to develop quality teaching and learning programmes at levels 6 - 8 of the New Zealand Curriculum. An important part of these guides is pulling together the 'big ideas' or key concepts of each subject area. A great example of this is the key concepts for physics.

So why should leaders be interested in brain research? My reason is simple. We need to accelerate the progress and achievement of our young people. And particularly those who have consistently struggled in our classrooms.  Such acceleration will require innovative ways of teaching and learning drawing upon the best evidence and research available to us. Brain research provides a potentially 'rich vein' of knowledge for achieving these ambitious goals. Organising knowledge around concepts (rather than disconnected facts) appears to be another high potential area for further exploration.

P.S. Turns out there IS an idiots guide to the brain!!

Artist's rendering of neurons. (Credit: iStockphoto)

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Leaders matter

There is no doubt in my mind that leaders matter. 


They matter to the organisation they are in, to the people they serve, to the goals they are seeking to achieve. And while this may be a 'truism' at a general level, there is clear evidence that this is true in schools. Schools need leaders (both those in formal and informal roles), and schools with good leaders are better places for our young people. In fact, certain leadership practices have been linked to better outcomes for young people from all backgrounds.


For leaders to be effective they require access to a toolkit of understandings, skills, resources and supports that is fit for the context they are leading in. Many of these 'tools' are carried in leaders heads, or are on the end of the phone, or on their bookshelves, or a part of their online support network. But one of the greatest of these tools (if you can call it that) that leaders have at their disposal are the relationships they are able to form with those around them. These relationships form the 'glue' that takes them through the good and the bad, the times when things are going smoothly, and when they are not.


The Leadership Best Evidence Synthesis (BES) written by Robinson, Hohepa and Lloyd call this aspect of leadership relational trust (see chapter 8). Relational trust can be strengthened or weakened. Gained or lost. And the effects of high or low trust have a real impact on teacher and community engagement / motivation, and ultimately students' academic outcomes. The BES delves into the qualities and leadership practices required to strengthen relational trust. But it is no surprise that the integrity, competence and skills such as listening and problem solving of leaders are critical. The diagram below comes from the BES and illustrates how relational trust works.

I believe in leaders and the important role they play. 


We need to find better ways to support our leaders and the changes they are seeking to lead for the good of our young people. We also need to find ways of better spreading ideas and innovations that are taking place in our schools. In this way our leaders will have access to an even broader toolkit to foster learning environments focussed on growing the confident and connected students we all seek.