Give the Rein to the Brain

It has been a few years that I have been interested in how the brain perceives information, how it produces our thoughts and feelings, how brain reacts to learning, how and why it generates anxiety.

 It all started with listening to Tatyana Chernigovskaya on YouTube during the pandemics (here are a few links). In 2021, I read two books that started changing my perception of teaching: Make it Stick  as well as The Brain that Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science. Multiple notes have been made and analyzed. Multiple questions posed and left unanswered. 

This year, I have decided to dig deeper and dedicate my time to exploring more on Neurolinguistics, Neurodidactics, and Neurocoaching. I have attended two insightful webinars with Rachel Paling , the founder of Efficient Language Coaching. Both webinars resonated so much with me I am still completely in awe. I feel inspired. I feel like new doors to a beautiful garden have opened for me. 

I have decided to collect some of the most important insights from the webinar here:

1. Before jumping into actual learning, always make sure to slow down and ask the three crucial questions: How do you study? What makes you study this way? Does it work? You will be surprised to discover that many learners do not know how to study, what works for them and what does not. 
2. Some other important questions to ask are as follows: How do you feel when you try to (speak English, French, study maths, biology etc.)? What inspires and motivates you? What are your spheres of interest? By expressing empathy, educators show they actually care.
3. Summarize the answers given by the student (showing your active listening skills and structure). Ask the students to confirm if you have understood them correctly. Next question to be posed could be as follows: What would you like me to teach today? At first, this question sounded somewhat unprofessional to me (I thought I am supposed to be prepared for class, I am supposed to guide my students and facilitate their learning). However, now it makes perfect sense: this question is empowering! It empowers the learners to be fully responsible for their learning. It will make them prepare for each class with great vigor. It will make them ask themselves: What are my gaps? What is something I want to learn today? How can I revise the information better for the class? 

In other words, as educators we are not supposed to keep the rein in our hands. We are asked to give the rein to our learners. We are supposed to be of service to them. Give the rein to your student’s brain!