The Dendrite Revolu= tion

Teachers’ present understanding of learning and knowledge acquisition is challenged w= ith the emerging insights about the human brain and consciousness. Traditional practice has often substituted repetition for curiosity. The brain is an aesthetic, interrogative, relational, pattern-making organ. Teaching and learning = are described as consistent with neurocognitive functioning when the processes = are narrative-based, evenly paced, directed toward the life of the learner and beyond, related to application, and premised on curiosity and success.=

The decade of the 1990s was indeed the Decade of the Brain. Better t= ools, an evolving set of presumptions and insights, and genetic research have bro= ught neuroscientific research to its zenith.&nb= sp; Knowing how the basic architecture of the brain is laid down and hav= ing a reasonably accurate timetable of developmental events in and of the brain= has given neuroscience its best insights into brain functioning thus far and the research literature and data continue to grow.

In our profession, the early years of this century will surely mark a time in human history when vastly improved teaching and learning methodologies take shape as it is apparent that much = of the traditional practices of educators will eventually seem quite archaic a= nd will fade into antiquity. We = are not, however, ready to revamp the entire education system as the neuroscientific data are too fresh and the tentacles from the studies are j= ust beginning to grow into implications. Yet there are data that cast new and improved modifications for “old” teaching techniques.&nbs= p; Immediate measures that can be taken to make learning compatible with neurocognitive function include improving learning environments, teaching presentations, and knowledge acquisition activities.

Pedagogical processes ought to reflect what is known about informal and formal means of knowledge acquisition. There is little doubt, for example, that children are learning much earlier than was previously thought. Studies point to the cumbersome but highly effective ways infants learn and begin communicating what they know. Prior to thirty months = of age, children are able to carry on specialized, organized and congruent conversations with themselves in preparation for meeting the intellectual demands of their environments.[1]

Studies completed as early as 1989 suggest that these “personal” conversations (children reflecting for themselves) are developmental and signify that the process of coming to language is relative to the complexity of their fluent, vocabulary-rich conversations. These studies = also suggest that the sophistication of language use marks the organization of an emerging consciousness (Gershkof= f-Stowe, 1997).

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The acquisition of vocabulary both al= lows the child to “language” the world and accelerates the developme= nt of some segments of the brain through the act of organizing language itself. Linguists like Paul B= loom and neurolinguists such as Steven Pinker have presented sufficient reviews = of studies to document this process. Bloom (2000) says children come to language as early as nine months = and by the age of two are able to generate language for objects by noticing what the objects do or represent. = This is earlier in the developmental cycle than previously reported. We may conclude at this time that language and brain growth are developmental partners.

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How have we overlooked that children = are able to learn, remember, and apply information at such an early age? There are no easy answers. Some of them are cultural. Others = are the result of under-expectation while others are the result of only recently looking closely enough at the developmental patterns of child growth to rec= ord what happens. It may all be b= ased in understanding the role of a single neuron while recognizing that there a= re billions in every healthy brain. Knowing how a neuron “acts” and relates to other neurons probably offers answers to many questions about brain function.

dendrites filaments

The dendrite is a filament t= hat is grown by stimulation of the neuron. The dendrite becomes a conduit for the transmission of information f= rom one cell to another. Some neu= rons have thousands of dendritic structures as well as an axon which is the transmission segment of the neuron.

The neuron is a marvel in its own rig= ht. Through hundreds of hair-like fila= ments, it receives information from surrounding cells; and through its single axon= , it relays information to adjacent cells as well. The axon is a segment of the neuro= n and is a pertinent fixture of the cell. Dendrites appear, grow and dissolve as they are stimulated by recept= or cells. The process, like most= brain growth, is quite complex. One= can infer that as the brain of a child or an adult is stimulated and curious, engaged in decision-making and problem-solving, dendrites appear to provide= a network for information, conclusion and solution or resolution. It is almost certain that ordinary classrooms filled with routines, order, stress, worksheets and little opportunity for creative problem solving are dendrite hostile. How might teachers stimulate dendr= itic growth and preservation? Is t= here a dependable format that assures children will problem solve and explore, and grow their brains? Is there an answer in familiar pedagogical terms?

Research in the field of artificial intelligence studies poses an answer to some of the pedagogical questions.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> AI researchers’ studies of m= emory and sensory perception (Bailey, 1999) are contributing to an understanding = of human consciousness that educators ought to investigate. AI research, that in some cases ru= ns parallel to neuro-research without getting much if any attention from our teacher education institutions, is producing a more precise way to consider learning problems by examining components essential to knowledge acquisitio= n. AI research is eager to reproduce a mechanical intelligence that is significant to and responsive in a speciali= zed, controlled environment. It is= not surprising that much of this research is based on studies of narrative processes, or story-telling. Researchers have examined story construction and telling processes t= hat are both common to private, personal experiences and within those shared communications of everyday living. They have found that stories have the qualities of excitement, humor, and anticipation necessary to stimulate the cerebral cortex. Even artificial “brains̶= 1; appear to be stimulated and brought to excitement by replications of “their” own experiences (Gershenfeld, 1999).<= /p>

Thought, in this model, can be constr= ued as an on-going story that is, in part, an explanation of experience we have= had and are about to have. AI scientists are not confounded by the varieties of consciousness identified = as declarative (knowing) and interrogative (questioning) that have been studie= d in philosophy (epistemology) for a number of years. They are a bit in awe of how easily these “tales” stimulate the cortex. Consequently, we should be surpris= ed that modern classrooms overlook story-telling as an essential part of the instructional program. Making= and hearing “stories” is an age-old ability that predates written history. What is baffling is = how early in life the capability for responding to narratives forms and how, in fact, the process develops.

The development of the early childhood brain is astonishingly complex. With a wink and a nudge AI scholars admit that they are closer to be= ing able to reproduce the intelligence of a twenty year-old than they are to reproducing the intelligence of a two year-old. This is likely not too surprising = since the twenty-year-old has a knowledge base that is much more stable than that= of even a ten year-old. For exam= ple, by the end of the high school years, the average learner has a vocabulary of nearly 42,000 words. This vocabulary remains reasonably constant for additions from specific lexicons (Bloom, 2000). On the contrary, the child of four is learning new words and permutations of words every day at a rate estimated to be 7-10 words a day. Research links this process of vocabulary acquisition to the development of consciousness and the honing of intelligence. It seems obvious that if learning and language acquisition ---particularly remembering language---are concomitant, early encouragement of language development, narrative formati= on, and attention to sensory input are central to early educational efforts bot= h at home and school. Teach= ing with and by narrative appears to be the most effective means for educating = the young child on a number of levels; however, early reading may inhibit this = process unless the content of instruction both stems from the experiences of the individual child and is culturally familiar. Activities should include shared reading, repetitive story-telling and dramatic replays, even dancing, of the stories related to the child’s life.= Gloria Lapin, a teacher in the DeKalb County (Georgia) public schools, has produced an intriguing set of reading materials for young learners that both provide sight word development and imaginative participation.

A word of warning needs to be sounded here. The learning that has b= een referenced here is informal and self-organized. There is no advantage in trying to force child= ren into these or any other complex processes before their brains are appropria= tely organized for such activity. There is, however, plenty of eviden= ce that the more the child is immersed in language the stronger the platform on which eventual language manipulation is set. The role of teaching indicated her= e is one that is encouraging, sustaining and creates environments where there is= a clear need for language acquisition and use. In fact, it is reasonable to assume that language acquisition = is instinctive and developmental as suggested by Steven Pinker (1998) i= n The Language Instinct.<= /span>

Sophisticated language use and conceptualization sets us apart from all other specie and is fundamental to what our species identifies as intelligence. We do, indeed, explain the world to ourselves every day and use words to do so. It can be said that without language there can= be no thought; therefore, language must precede thought (Whorf, 1956).

Developmentally then, coming to langu= age is the first step in coming to know. As soon as neural pathways begin to form, the brain begins to inform itself about its environment, its safety, and its present, basic needs. Precisely when this wiring process= in the brain begins and ends is under study but recent data show that it may b= egin in the very early stages of fetal life.&nb= sp; Original sets of cells perform specific neural activities and establ= ish neural pathways essential for life, growth, registration, and regulation. T= his organizational process is referred to as hard wiring. The act of hard wiring is chaotic = yet organized, frenetic, and complex. This process is just the beginning of the human capability of translating and understanding the environment and the place of the individu= al in that space. What is known = to date is that this physical developmental activity, clearly a genetic-orient= ed response, is probably the most important one of all human life in that it m= eans simple survival.

What formal education (schooling) has ignored is the role it could play in promoting and nurturing development by providing activities that encourage and sustain growth. It is especially so with children = who come to school from under-resourced settings where there is often insuffici= ent perceptual and language experience to fit the child to her environment. Teachers of young children have be= en too fixated on right answers and highly organized experience. Dendritic growth and neural pathway development is improved through problem-solving opportunities, conversation, and the intentional investigation of curiosity. There is a need to put narrative a= t the center of these learning activities by teaching directly toward the child’s perception of the world in which s/he lives.

Formal teaching has a tendency to be = done too fast with too many topics approached at once. The brain is multi-functional; but overloading the learning environment scatters perception and causes dissona= nce and what is often mistaken for an attention deficit or disconnected interest. The development and planning of all educational presentations must consider two major brain themes. The first is to foster curiosity at all levels= . The brain has specific cells that = are directed toward ascertaining and organizing “new” information f= or the brain. The cells grow den= drites to communicate with others cells in an effort to find out and satisfy a nee= d to know. Done correctly, this pr= ocess needs to be set in an environment that is reasonably cooperative, noncompetitive, and that reflects a carefully planned external stimulation.= The High Scope curriculum and teaching protocol is a model of this sort of educational programming.

. If any learning (knowledge acquisi= tion) activity is too stressful; it is fraught with the chance to fail. If there is learning, then it take= s the form of rote self-protection and sufficient memory tracks for the new learn= ing are not developed. Repetition= with success, purpose, and meaningful application are neurocognitively compatible constituents. While much brain activity takes place in mille seconds and includes the parallel processing = of conscious and unconscious stimuli, it does require a time sequence for completing the development of reorganized circuitry. It is important to know that learn= ing happens while the learner is between learning activities or “off-task” more often than during the activity. Effective teaching, therefore, tak= es advantage of the spaces between learning activities to allow for and plan opportunities for application and integration of new learning into previous= leanings. What this portends is that there m= ust be a rhythm to teaching that has includes spurts and lags to assist the organization and reorganization of that which has been learned. Teaching that is too fast-paced la= cks the necessary time for physical processing and sensory disposition and is t= ypically ineffective---especially for establishing so-called new learning. Regardless of the quality of= the teaching presentation, the individual brain has to organize what is being learned in ways that fit a set of previously established patterns. Without such, much of what was/is = being taught simply runs off.

Another way to consider this concept = is to think of the brain having to interpret what is being presented based on = what it already knows. Sometimes t= his interpretation is called epiphenomenal processing. Simply stated, it= means processing in ways that go beyond the phenomena of just learning. Interpretation occurs on many leve= ls in the brain and in our consciousness as well. Finding fit for the learning is on= ly a beginning of the confirmation process.&nbs= p; Equally important is determining why these data need to be known and where they will be applied in the life of the individual. Learning information to be applied= in the future rather than now is a feature of the banking concept of learning. This theory has been discredited in modern theories of learning.

Learning can be thought of as a matrix---that is, a set of connections that take information into sets of patterns that are disposed to solve problems, distinguish objects, determine purpose, and establish and maintain organic equilibrium. Much of this brain activity functi= ons in ways that are predisposed in the brain itself. It is not out of the control of the individual neither is it within her control. Simply put, it is just how the bra= in learns.

By giving serious attention to what is known about brain function, many of the traditional teaching methodologies = are cast in an important light. S= ome of the scrutiny centers on the learning environments in which formal teaching = and learning is done. John Dewey = wrote of the concept in the 1920s and 30s, but perhaps it is now a propitious tim= e to deliver ourselves from schooling practices fashioned from an industrial mod= el of education given what we are learning about ourselves. In general, school settings are inconsistent with wha= t is known about appropriate physical and cultural environments for optimal lear= ning.

Classrooms for young children, in fact all learning environments, are typically too stimulating with too many distractions built into them. Some of the stimulation is teacher-produced and based on the theory that children need to be stimulated and surrounded by decorations and objects that capture their attention. Case study d= ata and perceptual research, however, suggest that classrooms are over-stimulat= ing, over-lit, and suffer from the lack of natural light. Carla Hannaford (1985), among othe= rs, has stated in her work that many of the symptoms of attention deficit and hyperactivity disorders are rooted in environments that produce over-stimul= ation and the over-saturation of color and movement. Over-stimulation problems extend t= o the pace of learning as well. The= lack of independent play and rest and the deplorably limited time allowed for bathroom use and eating lunch are indicators of such problems. While such acceleration may make organizational sense, it is counterproductive to the learning cycles of man= y, if not most, children. The ne= eds for school administration and organization must not be placed above the essential needs for appropriate learning.&= nbsp; Having children busy every minute they are in school fulfills some pragmatic and political needs---but the fact is that time off task is equal= ly valuable to acquiring knowledge and time spent in direct instruction. Mounting evidence documents that sleep and time off-t= ask secure the content of learning.

Chemical processing, molecular-cellul= ar organization and reorganization must occur so that information can be synthesized and integrated into the networks of the brain’s basic arc= hitecture. In the quest for efficiency of sch= ool time, the brain simply does not have sufficient time to assimilate the information it is offered. The content of instruction may be quickly forgotten when integration into what = is already felt and known is lacking. Contemplation and application are essential for learning. Quality learning takes time, so si= mply accelerating the learning process offends basic brain functioning. This statement does not reject the importance of exciting, challenging teaching. It does advocate that attention be= given to the need for rumination, integration, and sharing what has been taught in ways that confirm learning.

Now Comes the Aesthetic Being

At the beginning of this article, it = was reported that the 1990s was the decade of the brain. Although it is not been named, this first decade of the 21^st century might be called the decade of t= he mind. Epistemologists, cognitivists, and neuroscientists are now looking seriously at issues that = were once limited to the purview of philosophers; imagination is one of these issues.

The literature on imagination is just beginning to reach the mainstream of intellectual discourse. Now, because of advances in brain studies there is a developing understanding of what imagination is. While educators have given some attention to imagination by attending to creativity, we have lacked suffici= ent definition of the constituents of the condition. Creativity, for example, has often= been linked to the arts where children have been encouraged to “use” their imagination. Now, imagi= nation is understood to be more than a commodity.= It is part of the interpretation of all perceptual data and essential for knowing the “world”.

There are several positions that ough= t to be considered by educators. <= u>One is that the arts do indeed attend to imagination and offer perhaps the best segment of the curriculum for the study and development of it. It is disconcerting that Boards of Education and State Departments are discontinuing or downsizing arts programs. In fact programs su= ch as art, music, dance and physical education are likely to improve the approach children take to all curricular knowing.&n= bsp; Releasing the Imagination (1995) by Maxine Greene, Teaching as a Performing Art= (1999) by Seymour B. Sarason, = John Dewey and the Lessons of Art (1998) by Phillip W. Jackson, and recent volumes of the Journal of Consciousnes= s: Art and the Brain are all recommended as “must reads and study= 221; for modern teachers and cognitive brain researchers. Nor should one overlook the long o= ut of print but seminal book by Harold Rugg (1963) simply titled, Imagination. Rugg was far ahead of his time whe= n he investigated this essential topic.

Another position to consider relates = to examining intentionality as a brain process and as a factor in the teaching process. The phenomenon of intention has been discussed in philosophy and is now becoming part of the literature of teaching and knowledge acquisition. For the learner to know what the teacher intends for = her to learn and for the teacher to know what the learner expects is fundamenta= l to the acquisition process. In practice this may mean that there needs to be careful attention to introductions and summaries from the teacher’s perspective. The learner should be vigilant abo= ut integrating what they are learning into what has already been learned. Both metacognitive practices give perspective to the process of cognition.

The third position focuses upon emotion. For many decades, educational phenomenologists have argued that feelings are the platform for= all matters of consciousness. May= be because of Victor Johnson’s 1999 book, Why We Feel-The Science of Human Emotions, much greater attention is focused upon the role of emot= ion in human experience. Neurosci= ence and medicine are struggling with the epidemic of depression. This disease is directly related to dysfunctional emotions. Knowi= ng that learners are most efficient when they are personally involved in their studies and that stress is a prime distraction in the learning process has given energy to the advanced study of emotions. If research on emotions can offer teachers some scientific insights on the relationship between the feelings = of success and failure, it will be a positive step. There is very little teacher-orien= ted literature on the complications that are caused by either failure or the perception of failure in learning. We know that there is an apparent pattern of failure among some chil= dren that is definable but not yet understood.&= nbsp; Studies have been done that attribute pernicious patterns of failure= to confusion, negative attitudes, and depression. The relationship among those three conditions and others is unclear but frequently overlooked in diagnostic studies (Núňez).

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To think of dendrites emblematically = as the brain reaching out to discover and obtain new and modified information elevates and integrates what is already known about the brain and is reason= ably consistent with the brain’s basic function. Instruction that is neurocognitive= ly sound engages vast networks of cells arranging and rearranging to accommoda= te growth, sophistication, and development.&n= bsp; Humdrum schools with endless de-contexturalized repetitions and rigi= d, competitive structures that sacrifice cooperation cannot provide the neurologically needed experience of personal decision-making, self-assessme= nt, and evaluation that are critical to memory development.

It is time to take stable art, music,= physical education, and drama as essential components of quality educational presentations. Brain processing harmonize= s the entire corpus by sending and receiving impulses. The process is physical and emotio= nal and forms a creative loop that provides the individual ways to know.= In fact, the brain is an aesthetic instrument. The patterns of learning represented in nearly every culture that has existed were premised upon a broad range of the arts from dance and drama to simple line drawing. To ignore the arts o= n any level is to offend the brain!

With the flow of insights based upon continuing discoveries about the brain, further changes and modifications in classrooms will be indicated. Education has strayed from sound individualized and direct instructi= on and has become far too political and social-political. That is not to say that there are = no social-political issues to be argued and added to the public discourse, bec= ause there are. Teaching, however,= is a science that ought to be advanced as an artistic activity in and of itself.=

= &nb= sp; = References

Bailey, J. (1996). After thought: The compu= ter challenge to human intelligence. NY: Basic Books.

Bloom, P. (2000). How children learn the meanings of words. MA: MIT Press.

Gershenfeld, N. (1999). When things start to thi= nk. NY: Henry Holt.

Gershkoff-Stowe, D. J., et. al. (September/Octo= ber 1997). Categorization: Its developmental relation to early language. Child Development. 68(5), 843-859.

Greene, M. (1995). Releasing the imaginatio= n: Essays on education, the arts, and social change. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Hannaford, C. (1995). Smart moves: Why learnin= g is not all in your head. VA: Great Ocean Publishers.

Jackson, P. W. (1998). John Dewey and the le= ssons of art. NY: Yale University Press.

Johnson, V. S. (1999). Why we feel: The science of human emotions. Reading, MA: Perseus Books.

Journal of Consciousness Studies, 6. (June/July 1999). UK: Imprint Academic.

Journal of Consciousness Studies, 7/8= -9. (2000). UK: Imprint Academic.

Lapin, G. (1997). Sight word stories. = NJ: Fearon Teacher Aids.

Lapin, G. (1998). More sight word stories<= /i>. CA: Fearon Teacher Aids.

Núňez, R., & Freeman, W. J. (Eds.). Reclaiming cognition: The primacy of action intention and emotion. UK: Imp= rint Academic.

Pinker, S. (2000). The language instinct: H= ow the mind creates language. NY: Harper Perennial Library.<= /p>
Rugg, H. (1963). Imagination. NY: Har= per & Row.

Sarason, S. B. (1999). Teaching as a perform= ing art. NY: Teachers College Press.

Whorf, B. (1956). Language, thought and re= ality. MA: MIT Press.