From Brain to Mind: Using Neuroscience to Guide Change in Education

320 Pages·2011·0.16 MB·English

by  James E. Zull

FROM BRAIN TO MIND
FROM BRAIN TO MIND
Using Neuroscience to Guide Change in Education
James E. Zull
COPYRIGHT © 2011 BY STYLUS PUBLISHING, LLC.
Published by Stylus Publishing, LLC
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Sterling, Virginia 20166-2102
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced in any form or by any electronic,
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storage and retrieval, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication-Data
Zull, James E. (James Ellwood), 1939–
From brain to mind : using neuroscience to guide change in
education / James E. Zull.—1st ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-57922-461-5 (cloth : alk. paper)
ISBN 978-1-57922-462-2 (pbk. : alk. paper)
ISBN 978-1-57922-605-3 (library networkable
e-edition)
ISBN 978-1-57922-606-0 (consumer e-edition)
1. Learning—Physiological aspects. 2. Learning,
Psychology of. 3. Cognitive neuroscience. I. Title.
QP408.Z85 2011
612.8′2—dc22
2010044073
13-digit ISBN: 978-1-57922-461-5 (cloth)
13-digit ISBN: 978-1-57922-462-2 (paper)
13-digit ISBN: 978-1-57922-605-3 (library networkable e-edition)
13-digit ISBN: 978-1-57922-606-0 (consumer e-edition)
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First Edition, 2011
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To Ramsey, Paige, Judy, Bess,
and in memory of Rema
CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
INTRODUCTION
1. THE NATURAL JOURNEY FROM BRAIN TO MIND
Brief History and Overview
2. THE GREAT TRANSFORMATION
Changing Perception to Action: The Beginning of Mind
3. FINDING THE FREEDOM, FINDING THE JOY
Emotion and Progress Toward Mind
4. DEEPER LEARNING THROUGH INTEGRATION
Growth of Mind by Making Meaning and Creating New Ideas
5. GETTING THE PICTURE
Images and Other Neuronal Patterns for Building Mind
6. BASICS
The Symbolic Brain and Education: Language, Mathematics, and Music
7. CREATING MEMORY
Foundations for Building the Mind
8. USING MEMORY
Destination and the Journey Toward Mind
9. PURPOSE AND PRINCIPLES FOR EDUCATING
Organizing Knowledge and Serving the Learner
10. THE CONNECTING THREAD
Metacognition and the Integrated Mind
EPILOGUE
INDEX
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I am grateful to Hillel, Dave, Alice, Arthur, Elsie, Norm, Joe, and Susan. Each of them
read either all or substantial portions of my drafts. And their reading led to significant
change for the better. Their contributions are all significant, so I have listed them in
alphabetical order below.
Hillel Chiel, neurobiologist, scholar, educator, and overall generally penetrating
mind, never flinched when I asked him to read my drafts. As is his wont, he always
pointed out something new in what I wrote (new to me that is), and even when he
discovered errors or misinterpretations, he remained cheerful. This generous gift of time
and talent both flattered and encouraged me. It gave me confidence to go on when the
task seemed impossible. I had no illusions about the challenge I had set for myself, and
it was Hillel that I trusted to keep me out of waters too deep—or at least, near the shore!
Dave and Alice are the Kolbs. It is his work that continues to provide the foundation
for all my thinking about the mind. His mind fascinates and amazes me—his depth and
humility. Alice makes her own contributions, often providing a perspective that both
Dave and I had missed. I still remember the day we sat together on their front porch,
going through the ideas, and discussing the big ideas. The fact that they felt there were
any such ideas was, in itself, stimulating and encouraging. I greatly value their gifts to
me.
Joe Koonce, another of my longtime friends in our Biology Department at CWRU,
for a number of years my boss, and enthusiastic supporter of my earlier work, gave me
honest and rigorous analysis of my last two chapters. His comments ultimately led me
to rewrite the chapter on metacognition, insisting that if he could not understand what I
was saying, I probably didn’t either. This was invaluable in helping me realize where I
was failing as a writer, and how I could address that challenge.
Arthur Lavin is my brilliant and kind pediatrician friend, whom I met and came to
appreciate only recently. He understands children, their development, their brains, and
their minds. He read every chapter and never failed to point out an opportunity for
supporting the learner. He also told me that I should not look to him to affirm any value
of fear in learning. It has none! Not even the word “challenge” pleased him. But he
trusted that my heart was in the right place, and for that I thank him. He kept on reading
and in general giving me the benefit of his experience, wisdom, insight, and humor.
I met Elzie Ritzenhein somewhat later in the process of writing and quickly realized
how valuable her input would be. Her decades-long experience in leading the McComb
Academy of Arts and Science, as well as her capabilities as a teacher, educator (writ
large), consultant in all aspects of education, and contributor of her own writing, all
served me well. She read every chapter, and was particularly supportive while helping
me slog through the later ones. She was honest, polite, and supportive but still firm
about the parts that were particularly messy—attributes that cannot be overvalued!
My long time friend and supporter, Norm Rushforth, read many of the earlier
chapters, and gave me extensive, handwritten feedback on them. His attention to detail,
combined with his broad knowledge of education, science, and the world in general, led
me to expand and rethink my work. He didn’t seem to realize that retirement implied
that he didn’t have to work. He just kept on reading everything I gave him, giving me
the benefit of his keen and rigorous statistician’s mind.
Finally, of course, there is Susan, my constant and loving wife and friend. I will not
go into all the ways she helped me. That would be impossible. But of the two of us, she
is the vastly better writer. And she loves the red ink! For this book she also served as
editor and critic. She found those messy places where neither she nor anyone else could
understand what I had written. And, at the same time she also found the missing
commas! For more than 30 years, our partnership has been the foundation that I count
on as I struggle to put thoughts into words. There is a path worn between our offices at
home, created primarily by my back-and-forth jaunts as I sought the right word, the
direct expression, and all the other clarifications and efficiencies that I knew she could
provide. I can only reaffirm the recognition I tried to express in my first book. She
remains the best idea I ever had!
Thanks to E. R. Kandel for permission to reprint the figure on page 182 and J. Nolte
for permission to reprint the figure on page 235.
INTRODUCTION
This book has been on my mind for years. It began as an effort to fill in topics I had
given short shrift in The Art of Changing the Brain. I felt I should have written more
about very key topics such as memory, attention, or symbolic systems such as language
and mathematics. I envisioned a second book entitled something like More Art of
Changing the Brain and actually began that project in 2004.
As time went on, I realized that “filling in the gaps” was not adequate motivation for
writing an entire new book. I lost my way and drifted for a few more years. The passage
of time began to have an impact. I worried that I would never write again. I still felt that
I had new contributions to make so I sat down at my laptop. But I remained uncertain
about my message. What did I want to say? And why?
I recognized the answer, or at least a partial answer, to this question in an unexpected
way and place. My wife and I were traveling in England, and it was time to return to
Heathrow Airport. I noticed that our rented car had a GPS system, and it occurred to me
that that we might be able to use it to find the car rental area of the airport. I had never
used this technological invention before, but what better time to learn?
After fussing around a bit, I managed to get the system turned on and began to
follow the directions as we entered the airport. Suddenly, I had my own guide, who, like
HAL 9000 in 2001: A Space Odyssey, took us by the hand and led us. “Turn right at the
next stop,” HAL instructed. “Turn left after the second red light,” he went on in his
sonorous voice. “Enter the tunnel using the right branch of the upcoming intersection.”
And so it went. We were getting information in exact, precise bits, leading us from
point to point. All we had to do was follow directions.
But we had no real knowledge. So you may not be surprised at what happened next.
My dear wife and I began to get very tense. We had no idea where we were. Possibly
for the first time, I understood the idea of being at sea. I didn’t even have a theory. You
might be having that feeling yourself as you read this. Feeling lost? Worried? Overseas
flights wait for no one!
Then, suddenly, the car rental offices were in front of us. The tension dissolved. But
not the memory. As I remembered the experience and the feelings, slowly the nature
and outcome of the technological revolution began to become clear in my mind. I began
to realize that as time moved on bit by bit (literally), my life decisions might be dictated
by this kind of process, one in which I followed instructions rather than working them
out myself. I slowly began to understand how profound that revolution is, and how
irreversible. And as I thought about education, I began to fear for children who will
grow up in that technical environment. I began to realize what is at stake. It is the very
heart of education itself, development of the mind.
Let me explain.
As he always has, Homo sapiens invented new tools and machines to save us the
trouble and effort needed to do things ourselves. In the last century most of those
inventions saved us physical labor. We invented tractors for the farmer, washing
machines for the housewife, and typewriters for the writer. We are still doing that. But
now we have also begun to invent machinery that does mental labor. From the handheld
calculator, to the GPS, to the Droid, we now have an array of machines that carry out
mental tasks of great complexity at high speeds. Children grow up surrounded by this
machinery. Their minds are filled with moving images projected on screens and
changing at high speed. They solve arithmetic problems by pushing buttons or keys on
calculators and computers. They ask why they must memorize either the specific
answers to basic multiplication problems or the algorithms that allow us to do long
division. They wonder why school pays so much attention to reading and writing, when
they can quickly and simply text anything to friends. If students are forced to write,
grammar, spelling, and punctuation are provided by programs such as MS Word or,
more subtly, WordPerfect! As I did in the airport, they can also go from place to place
by taking instructions from a speaking machine, without thought. They can get facts
instantly, directly, and in huge abundance via Google. They really don’t have to
remember anything. In fact, we can all know more than the experts; just give us a split
second (or less). And if we have a problem with our marriage, we can have the best
advice from experts posthaste! Why bother to figure it out ourselves?
In themselves, these are not necessarily bad things. I am not writing a critique of
technology. It is here to stay. Anger or frustration is not a useful or appropriate
response. But I believe we must respond. We must ask what kind of response is
possible, but, more important, what kind of response is appropriate. Is it urgent? Are we
facing some threat or danger?
I feel that we are in danger. We can begin to understand it by imagining an analogous
situation experienced by the farmer and his tractor that I mentioned above. In this
analogy, the farmer might start one growing season without a tractor, using a horse-
drawn plow. If he were to purchase his tractor mid-season, he could then complete his
plowing much faster that year riding on his new machine. How might this change affect
the farmer? His physical body?
If you think that he might lose strength (physical strength) by using his body less, we
are in agreement. Use it or lose it. But would you apply that reasoning to your mind?
Would you agree that allowing machines to do mental work for us might weaken our
mental capacities? If the brain is a physical organ of the body, will it also weaken from
disuse? If you still have the mental energy needed to think about this, or even if you
want to save energy, and simply Google it, I suspect that you will find the answer. And
if you are still with me, I will tell you that the answer is yes.
So what is the point? Technology won’t go away, and I wouldn’t want it to. I would
be as helpless as a newborn without my laptop. What am I trying to say?
In a word, my message is change. Not change in technology, but change in
education. Technology has already taken over some of the mental tasks that used to be