One of our greatest weaknesses in teaching and
leadership today is that we spend so much time trying
to get people to do things they are “supposed to do”
without changing what they really believe.
–Dallas Willard
outline
1) seeing & believing
2) ‘black box thinking’
3) human evolution: from reactive to creative
4) power of choice and intention
5) role of schools and adolescents in human evolution
- beliefs / operating systems
- adolescent brains & behavior
- mindsets & academic behavior
6) activities & ideas
seeing and believing
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What we see determines what we do; when we are not conscious of our various
beliefs and perceptions, we believe what we are seeing is the whole picture
It is not about prescribing to others what to do, but rather to help others examine
and be willing to question what they see and believe: ‘prescriptions’ and ‘experts’
perpetuate model of a ‘holder of knowledge/wisdom’ being outside of us
Adaptation depends on awareness: increased conscious awareness increases the
number of possibilities to respond to any given situation
‘black box’ thinking
black box n: a self-contained unit in an electronic or computer system whose
circuitry need not be known to understand its function 1
The opposite of a black box is a system where the inner components or logic are available for
inspection, which is sometimes known as a clear box, a glass box, or a white box.
When we engage in ‘black box’ thinking, we restrict ourselves to behavior management and
reaction rather than adaptation and creation2; mindfulness gives us glimpses into our ‘inner
workings’, what triggers us, what our reactions are, what leads to our successes and fortitude.
1(Collins
English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridge (2003), HarperCollins Publishers
as a Black Box: The Behaviorist Approach", pp 85-88, in Cognitive Science: An Introduction to the Study of Mind, by Jay Friedenberg, Gordon Silverman, Sage
Publications, 2006
2"Mind
reaction vs. creation
evolution of the human brain
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http://www.museum-marseille.org/marseille_cerveau_evolution.htm
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http://thebrain.mcgill.ca/flash/a/a_05/a_05_cr/a_05_cr_her/a_05_cr_her.html
Figure 2
Figure 1
evolution / expansion
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We are an expanding, evolving species: seeking new frontiers - physical, technological,
internal physical, mental, spiritual.
Transcendence/growth from physical, primal drives to higher order and metaphysical;
expansion from ‘reptilian’ and ‘mammalian’ brain structures – reactive and reflexive to
prefrontal cortex – associated with decision making, determining future consequences
Figure 1: The contents of the Universe as measured by WMAP and computed by NASA/WMAP Science team: http://map.gsfc.nasa.gov/media/080998/index.html
Figure 2: file from the Wikimedia Commons: Maslow, A.H. (1943). A theory of human motivation. Psychological Review, 50(4), 370–96.
choice
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We are the only species that does not always use internal and external resources to reach
absolute maximum growth potential
What makes us different?
What affects our choices about what to do or not do? Our beliefs and perceptions about
ourselves; our beliefs and perceptions about the world and human potential
How do schools play a role in these belief systems?
what are our current operating/ belief systems
about human behavior and potential?
Behaviorism1
Consequences/Reactive1
Developmental 1
Inner Springs/Creative1
Symptoms and behaviors
‘Black Box’ 1
Inside-out approach1
‘Clear Box’
Complaints
Intentions & Instructions
Cognitive factors for school success
Noncognitive factors for school success
IQ, Fixed Academic Ability, Innate Abilities
Neuroplasticity, Malleability, Effort
how do these operating/ belief systems appear in schools and classrooms?
1 Neufeld, Gordon: Neufeld Intensive I, Making Sense of Kids http://neufeldinstitute.com/courses
adolescent brain & behaviors
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Back to front development
Rewards receptors – particularly social and risk-taking (Galvan, 2013), (Chein et al., 2011)
18 is an arbitrary number – ‘chief of tribe’
Repulsion from nest
Detection of control versus connection
Effort = lack of innate ability
‘Thermometers’ of state of society
Is there an evolutionary role to these behaviors/features?
Galván A. (2013). Neural systems underlying reward and approach behaviors in childhood and adolescence. To appear in The Neurobiology of Childhood: Current Topics in Behavioral
Neurosciences Series. S.L. Andersen, D. Pine, B. Ellenbrook, M. Geyer, C. Marsden (Eds.) Springer-V erlag.
Chein, J., Albert, D., O’Brien, L., Uckert, K., & Steinberg, L. (2011). Peers increase adolescent risk taking by enhancing activity in the brain’s reward circuitry. Developmental Science, 14, F1–
F10. Steinberg, L. (2008). A social neuroscience perspective on adolescent risk-taking. Developmental Review, 28, 78-106
Do current school structures align with developmental, social
and technological realities of adolescents?
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Authorities were holders of knowledge
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24/7 access to information
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Discipline as reaction to behavior
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Resistance to authority
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Behavior management based on
behaviorism and Lancasterian school
system: shame and rewards
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Primates and higher mammals need to trust
authority figure; humans have ‘inner springs’
that drive behavior
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Belief system that intelligence, behavior
patterns and potential are fixed
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Intelligence and mindsets are malleable,
academic ability grows with effort
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Rewarding ‘talent’ rather than effort
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Equating effort with lack of innate ability =
disidentification with ‘being a good student’1
Can schools better align with adolescents’ needs and realities?
1
Dweck, C.S., and Leggett, E.L.. (1988). A social-cognitive approach to motivation and personality. Psychological Review, 95, 256-273.
mindsets & academic behavior
Growth mindset: “My ability and competence grow with my effort” 1
Various studies have shown that:
- Beliefs about intelligence and attributing academic success or failure to levels
of effort are stronger predictors of school performance than actual measured
ability (ie., test scores)1
- Students can be influenced to have a growth mindset; a growth mindset
contributes to lasting improvements on students’ academic performance1
- Academic behaviors, more than tested achievement, predict course failure in
ninth grade; positive academic mindsets encourage students to persist at
schoolwork, which then appears as improved academic behaviors, leading to
improved performance1
1 Farrington,
C.A., Roderick, M., Allensworth, E., Nagaoka, J., Keyes, T.S., Johnson, D.W., & Beechum, N.O. (2012).Teaching
adolescents to become learners. The role of noncognitive factors in shaping school performance: A critical literature review.
Chicago: University of Chicago Consortium on Chicago School Research.
Farrington, C.A., Roderick, M., Allensworth, E., Nagaoka, J., Keyes, T.S., Johnson, D.W., & Beechum, N.O. (2012).Teaching adolescents to become learners. The role of
noncognitive factors in shaping school performance: A critical literature review. Chicago: University of Chicago Consortium on Chicago School Research.
mindsets & academic behavior
Studies:
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Shaping theories of intelligence using pen pal program (Aaronson, Fried & Good, 2001)
Initial difficulty in college video (Wilson & Linville, 1982, 1985)
“Brain is a like a muscle which grows with use” (Blackwell, Trzesniewski & Dweck, 2007)
Aronson, J., Fried, C.B., Good, C. (2001). Reducing the Effects of Stereotype Threat on African American College Students by Shaping Theories of Intelligence, Journal of Experimental Social
Psychology, 38, 113-125
Wilson, T.D., and Linville, P.W. (1982). Improving the academic performance of college freshmen: Attribution therapy revisited. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 42, 367-376. and
Wilson, T.D., and Linville, P.W. (1985). Improving the performance of college freshmen with attributional techniques. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 49, 287-293.
Blackwell, L.S., Trzesniewski, K.H., and Dweck, C.S. (2007). Implicit theories of intelligence predict achievement across an adolescent transition: A longitudinal study and intervention. Child
Development, 78(1), 246-263.
How this information applies to classrooms
Incorporate updated knowledge about human behavior into classroom with:
• Intentional curiosity about ‘inner workings’ underneath your own behavior and reactions
• Intentional curious about ‘inner workings’ underlying students’ behavior
• Reflection on practices that you use or that are used by your school to ‘manage behavior’: do
these seem to be working? What philosophies or ‘expertise’ are they based on?
Incorporate updated knowledge about adolescent behavior through:
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Exercises and discussions that introduce students to the concept of ‘growth mindsets’ and
stories of people who have achieved success through sustained, long-term effort
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Exercises and discussions that allow and encourage students to question and critique current
operating systems and beliefs about mental habits and human potential
Classroom ‘rituals’ that give students experience of intentional mental effort (such as
meditation, breathing exercises, visualizations)
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Activities & Ideas
pitbull vs. chihuahua
balloon pop and water drop
(or string dangle)
“presence”
Partners - alphabet
perception
“disgust muscles”
Beyond
Human Form
Reverse
“in-out”
Arm fold /
hand clasp
See it
Say it
Sense it
Sit with it
Relax
Respire
Reframe
Riso, D., and Hudson, R. (1999). The Wisdom of the Enneagram, New York: Bantam Books.
Take Home
• We currently operate in systems and under assumptions that were built in earlier
eras. When do we begin to question if these still work?
• We are an evolving species: to stay stuck in habits and beliefs about our behaviors
and minds that are based on past experiences constricts our evolutionary pulse.
• We are continuously updating our knowledge about the brain – to not incorporate
this knowledge into schools goes against our drive for evolution and thwarts new
possibilities for adaptation to current environments
• Humans are driven by free will. We are our own authorities. Therefore, it is not
sustainable nor adaptive to perpetuate the model of external authorities
prescribing behavior without considering inner springs and underlying beliefs.
• Sustainable change comes from how we SEE and what we BELIEVE about ourselves
and others; understanding the unique processes occurring in adolescents helps us
SEE them differently, which changes our reactions to them and helps them see
themselves differently.
• When students and teachers have an experience of consciously and intentionally
questioning/examining or altering a pre-held belief or perception, this can create
an intrinsic source of power, curiosity and motivation.