This is the final part of Lois’s exploration of Professor Brian Cambourne’s 7 Conditions of Learning. Read from the beginning here.
Response
"Every thought we think, every move we make and every word we say is based in the electrical and chemical communications between neurons."
Brain Principle #7: As the brain digests, processes and takes in information from external stimuli (Response), a series of complex chemical – electrical reactions take place involving over 100 neurotransmitters. Nerve cells in the various chemicals of the brain are constantly receiving, processing, and sending signals from one nerve to another. Although nerve ending do not actually touch, the electrical impulses, firing of one nerves to another transfers various chemical and thus creates meaning. How the response is provided will impact how the student learns. Providing positive feedback to a child during the course of their learning is a necessary investment in the education process."
This quote, from Rushton's paper, shows the implications of student response. My experience with Response comes from Mem Fox and her book “Radical Reflections” (1994.) In her book, Fox goes on and on and on about the importance of a student's response.
Student response was brought home to me quite recently, in 2018. Having a conversation with my now 30-year-old son, Nicholas, I questioned him on his early learning. Forget the first grade—that time is locked in a box with a "never-to-open" sign stamped on it.
However, Nicholas’s whole demeanor transformed when he talked about his memory of our learning in Oxford in 1995. He went from tears to excitement, even twenty-something years later.
"I remember the maps, of course," he began. "That time sparked a lifelong interest in mapping. And I remember the poems. The Mug in a Bug and Windmill on a Hill."
He paused and almost stuttered as he commented, "I remember writing the ingredients to a witches' spell! I don't remember the actual ingredients; I remember it was so much fun. I think the ingredients were like George's Marvelous Medicine, things from around the house. But I recall writing those ingredients."
His recollections were insightful for me. There was a gap between what I was teaching and what Nicholas was learning. My goal with this poem was to teach him the "sp" words- spit, spell, spin, and spot. He may have learned these words, but he remembers creating a "Witches Spell." I recalled when friends visited, Nicholas would run to our classroom, grab his poetry book, and ask them to read his list of "ingredients." The more people ohhed and gasped with shock, the more he laughed. That's what he remembers—friends' responses to his list of ingredients.
I believe it is also a test for us, as parents and educators.
What will our students recall in twenty years?
Like Nicholas, they may not recall the specific events, but they will remember how our leaning made them feel. Remember: emotion and learning are closely related.
Are we creating a learning environment that is welcoming, engaging and productive for our neuro-diverse students today?
I hope you’ve enjoyed the breakdown of these conditions. Feel free to share them, and use them for your own work.
