Neuro Education

RELEVA NT FI NDINGS I N NEUROSCI ENCE
NEURO-EDUCATION

Introduction
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Claudia Bohner
 was trained in Germany as a teacher for children with special needs
learning and behavioral difficulties
 Worked for 4 years in the public school system in Germany
 Since 1992 in Africa, Uganda, Rwanda and Ghana
 First years in a children’s home in Uganda where I became a parent to
African children
 1993/94 Discipleship Training School YWAM Uganda, YWAM Biblical
Curriculum for children
 1995-2004 work as a trainer of teacher with Youth with A Mission,
University of the Nations, School of Early Childhood Education in
Uganda
 2000 Montessori Training in USA, Seattle for 3 months
 Developing of Learning Materials for African pre-schools

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 2004 Ghana working with Fountain Head School , YWAM Tema
 2006-2014 Education for Transformation founded and
Hopeland pre-school started.
 Since 2005 In-service Course for ECD teachers during vacation
 Writing and publishing of teachers handbooks
 2009- 2013 training teachers with GES Volta Region Akatsi District, Ga
East, Dangwe West.
 2013 GES approved training courses
 Since 2009, Education for Transformation, Uganda
 Since 2012 , Education for Transformation Burundi

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Why must ECD practitioner study the brain?
5
Parents and teachers are concerned about the learning
of the children in their care.
It is in the brain, where thinking and learning is
happening.
Only after the invention of computers scientists
started understanding what happens in our head, in
our brain, when we are thinking and learning.
Understanding a few basic principles of how the brain
works , can be very helpful for making learning and
teaching more effective.

Sensational Media-reports
Brain Hacking Is Having Incredible Effects And It's
Just Getting Started
With a jolt of electricity, you might be able to enter a
flow state that allows you to learn a new skill twice as
fast, solve problems that have mystified you for hours,
or even win a sharpshooting competition….
With an implanted chip, the possibilities might be
close to limitless….
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Education for Transformation Seminar

Limits:
The aim of educational neuroscience or neuro-education
is to generate basic and applied research that will
provide a new trans-disciplinary account of learning and
teaching, which is capable of informing education.
Despite optimism from many who believe that neuroscience can
make a meaningful contribution to education, some researchers
believe that the differences between the two disciplines are too
great to ever be directly linked in a practically meaningful way.
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BUT IT HELPS US TO UNDERSTAND BETTER
WHY CERTAIN THINGS WORK IN EDUCATION,
- OR WHY NOT
Neuroscience has not provided us
with a lot of new discoveries about
learning and teaching
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12 Principles of Educational Neuroscience
1. All learning is physiological
2. The brain/mind is social
3. The search for meaning is innate
4. The search for meaning occurs through patterning
5. Emotions are critical to patterning
6. The brain processes parts and wholes simultaneously
7. Learning involves both focused attention and peripheral perception
8. Learning always involves conscious and unconscious processes
9. There are at least two approaches to memory: archiving facts or making sense
of experiences
10. Learning is developmental
11. Complex learning is enhanced by challenge and prevented by threat /
helplessness
12. Each brain is unique
Caine/ Caine 2004
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1. Learning is
physiological
The brain turns
information into
biology
Through stimulation,
similar experiences and
thoughts, the
connections between
the nerve cells are
developed.
Brain is like muscle:
Use it or lose it!
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Simple English Wikipedia

2. The brain is
social
Mirror neurons help us
to understand others.
Bonding , trust and a
loving relationship are
essential for learning
The main job of the brain is to select,
judge and process information coming
through the senses and to make
meaning out of it by comparing with
similar information already stored.
Then, it has to decide what is an
beneficial response to the input.
Other people are needed to help in the
process of making meaning,
explaining, and defining experiences…
What is this?
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….it is a walnut
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3. The search
for meaning
is innate
The need for control
and therefore
understanding what is
happening in and
around me is a basic
human need.
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4. The search
for meaning
occurs through
patterning
The brain looks for
order, similarities,
categories, logical
connections etc. with
what is already there,-
And it looks for
novelties, slight
variations and
differences
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5.Emotions
matter
Emotions are essential
for learning and
remembering. They act
a lot as ‘door openers’,
allowing sensations or
thoughts in or not in to
conscious perception .
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6. The brain
processes parts
and wholes
simultaneously
In order to select
meaningful context and
detail from the vast
store of the memory,
the brain has to
consider both aspects
in order to process and
store new information.
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7. Learning happens
through focused
attention as well
as peripheral
perception
Learning Environment
is very important.
In learning there is far
more that brushes off to
the learner than what
happens in intentional
and conscious teaching/
learning process. Be very conscious to model wanted behavior
when with children!!
Be aware of what children are watching !!!
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8. Learning
involves
conscious and
unconscious
processes
Making decisions
concerning the
task that is
appropriate to my
level of skill and
understanding
requires a high
level of awareness
about the own
learning process.
It is practiced
during free
choice time.
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9. There are
different types
of memory
1. a type of memory
that is for storing
isolated facts and
procedures ( semantic)
2. a type of memory
that involves and
activates multiple areas
in the brain to process
and store information
in a meaningful way.
(episodic)
The main aspects of memory are:
The short-term memory, where information enters constantly,
and is deleted constantly after about 40 seconds.
The working memory, where focus attention is applied to
information to elaborate, associate, process and classify it.
The long -term memory or reference memory, where we
remember past experiences and stored and consolidated
information.
During sleep information stored in the
hippocampus is downloaded into the frontal cortex .
Sleep is essential for learning
Content connected with emotions is recalled
more easily. Personalized experiences help
in learning.
Well associated and understood information can
be retrieved on different paths and used for solving
problems or understanding more complex issues.
Incorrect answers should be corrected to avoid
errors to get stored in the memory of pupils.
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Synaptic Consolidation is the process by which items are transferred
from short term to long term memory. Within the first minutes or hours
after acquisition, the engram (memory trace) is encoded within synapses.
As long-term memory is subject to fading in the natural forgetting process,
maintenance rehearsal (several recalls/retrievals of memory) may be
needed to preserve long term memories. Individual retrievals can take
place in increasing intervals. This can happen quite naturally through
reflection or deliberate recall (also known as recapitulation), often
dependent on the perceived importance of the material.
The re-activation of memories during sleep can lead to lasting synaptic
changes within certain neural networks. Sleep spindles are thought to
induce synaptic changes and thereby contribute to memory consolidation
during sleep.
The brain does not store memories in one unified structure, as might be
seen in a computer's hard disk drive. Instead, different types of memory
are stored in different regions of the brain.

The stronger and/or more frequent an impulse is coming from the axon
to the dendrite of another neuron, the stronger will be the synapse for
association and storing of information
.

10. Learning is
developmental
Though there are
sensitive periods,( times
of specific learning
opportunities, as we see it
for ex. in the ability to
learn languages) ,-
it seems now that the
brain is more flexible and
plastic than it had been
thought prior.
The brain develops in different aspects:
During the first weeks of life and in the first 2 years the
main brain structures develop. First experiences and
impressions are very important for the structuring
process.
An explosion of synapses is taking place in this time, which
are pruned by the continuous experience and learning
process.
The myelin layer on the axons is developing at different
times in different regions of the brain.
This fatty layer works as an insulation around the axon
cable, and it results in an far higher speed of information
transmission. Different areas of the brain are going “ on
line” at different times the developmental process. When
brain areas are going on line, they are on the out look for
information and input that matches the function of the
area especially well. It results in an increased awareness
and interest in an certain area of learning like recognition
of faces, object permanence, language, motor skills,
social competence, moral values and ethics.
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11/14/2014Education for Transformation Seminar 23
http://civicedu.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/gehirnentwicklung.png
In the young child (1) the neurons in the brain are like an even
net allowing impulses to be transmitted in all directions. The
number of synapses is growing till about 2 years of age. The
frequency of impulses in a certain direction and connection
results in the strengthening of those synapses involved in the
transmission, the ones less used diminish. The more stimulation
and diversity the more complex the neural structural network
becomes. By puberty (2) this process has come to an end. The
adult (3) has a brain with fewer but well established pass ways
for impulses. Learning becomes more difficult.

11. Fear makes
stupid
Complex learning is
enhanced by
challenge and
inhibited by threat
associated with
helplessness.
When we feel threatened it is hard
to think systematically and to
reason. Emotions take over. We
shift into survival mode, and our
inner response is: fight or flee.
What works best for thinking and
learning is an environment of
relaxed alertness, a place safe
and supportive but with real
challenges and tasks to tackle.
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12. Each brain
is uniquely
organized
Each person in unique, with a
unique genetic disposition,
talents, interests, and with his/
her unique experiences and
history.
In education it works best to
understand what is general for
the developmental process in
children, and on the other hand to
make room for the individual
uniqueness of each child. It is
often far more effective to
support the strength, instead of
trying to cure a weaknesses.
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• For most people it
is easier to
experiment or solve
a problem within a
group.
• Lots of practice is
required to secure
a skill or knowledge
• The brain is a social organ.
• Friendly atmosphere, good relationships are
• important in the learning process
• Shame and fear kills the motivation
Learning is a slow process.
The synaptic connections in the brain need time
and stimulation to grow.
Well understood and available knowledge is the
best foundation for learning new things.
Continuous verification of information and
processing is required to learn something well
and thorough.
The intake of new bits information, and the time
for processing and practicing has to alternate.
Wisdom of conventional
Pedagogic Practice
Findings in Brain Science

• For most people it
is easier to
experiment or solve
a problem within a
group.
• Lots of practice is
required to secure
a skill or knowledge
• The brain is a social organ.
• Friendly atmosphere, good relationships are
• important in the learning process
• Shame and fear kills the motivation
Learning is a slow process.
The synaptic connections in the brain need time
and stimulation to grow.
Well understood and available knowledge is the
best foundation for learning new things.
Continuous verification of information and
processing is required to learn something well
and thorough.
The intake of new bits information, and the time
for processing and practicing has to alternate.
Pedagogic Practice

Pedagogic Practice
• Tasks and challenges
need to be on the
individual level. The
task has to match the
ability of the individual
student.
Every brain has it’s individual history of
experiences and interpretations.
Therefore every new information has to
make sense within the context of this
individual understanding and outlook to
reality.
From : Neurodidaktik Ulrich Herrmann 2009
As teachers /or learners we can not cause success in learning through
an effort of willpower, all we can do is to create the conditions that are
conducive for learning,
and we can try to understand and deal the hindrances for learning and remove those,
for ex. frustrating experiences long ago that resulted in convictions like ,’ I can not do
this…’.or ,” I am too dumb for maths……

Neuro Education

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