Differentiation and the Brain - David A. Sousa

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it to develop.

      —Steven Levy

      Hopefully, most teachers have had those days or moments of sheer professional joy when something clicks in the classroom or for a particular student and it is, at least for a time, undeniable that teaching can possess and be possessed by magic. No doubt most teachers have also had their share of moments during which the mountain that is teaching seems too high to climb. Both of these are outlier moments—the former leading us to conclude that all our students are brilliant, and the latter, that they are all beyond our reach.

      In less manic or depressive moments, our attitudes (which evolve unconsciously and over time) shape our reactions to students. Some of us, for instance, are drawn to students who are quiet and compliant, while others gravitate to students who are full of surprises and challenges. Some of us may work more easily with boys, while others find it easier to work with girls. Sometimes teachers have difficulty seeing the world through the eyes of students who have economic backgrounds or cultures that differ markedly from their own. These sorts of preferences or limitations can certainly bear on teaching effectiveness. The more aware we are of such feelings, the more likely we are to deal with them in productive ways. Studies show the more positive feelings teachers have about their students and their own competence, the higher the level of student achievement (Zee & Koomen, 2016). If our attitudes, beliefs, or mindsets about teaching, learning, and our students go unexamined, the consequences can be pernicious for some or many of the young people we teach.

       A Case in Point

      Carlos feels invisible in class. Ms. Atcheson is polite to him, but she evidently does not expect much from him in the way of grades and achievement. When he fails to do his homework, she reminds him it will hurt his grade, but she does not seem surprised the assignment is missing. She never calls on him in class discussions, and most of the work she assigns him looks like baby work to him. Carlos has never been a good student, so her response to him is familiar. He is just as happy staying in the background.

      Liza is another story. Clearly, Ms. Atcheson thinks she is smart. Ms. Atcheson often comments to the class on her work and calls on her and three or four other students more than everyone else put together. The one time Liza did not have her homework, Ms. Atcheson seemed stunned and told Liza she was disappointed. Liza has mixed feelings about the class. On the one hand, it’s good to know the teacher likes you and thinks you are smart. On the other hand, Liza feels a little dishonest. She sees the students around her working hard and nearly always getting lower grades than she does. It does not take much for her to make As. That doesn’t seem quite right.

      Mindsets are the assumptions, expectations, and beliefs that guide our behavior and our interactions with others. These mindsets start forming at an early age. As we grow and interact with our parents, our friends, and elements of our culture, we store summaries of those interactions in our brain. Our brain’s frontal lobe (where cognitive processing is carried out) reviews these summaries regularly and coordinates with the emotional (limbic) areas to determine how we should respond to similar interactions in the future. Over time, these summaries get stored in cerebral networks. New experiences strengthen and expand these networks. Eventually, the networks become so ingrained that we react almost reflexively when similar situations arise. For example, when we spot a dear friend, neural circuits fire in the emotional and motor areas of the brain, causing us to spontaneously smile, extend our arms, and show warmth when we meet. On the other hand, different circuits might fire in the presence of a demanding boss, causing us to stiffen and display deference.

      We develop mindsets about many things. To name a few, we have mindsets about religion, politics, our jobs, our futures, each of our family members, and anybody we interact with regularly. Because adult mindsets are so well established in neural networks, they are difficult to change. For example, media coverage of news events can lead to stereotyping of people of color or women. Constantly viewing these stereotypes makes them difficult to overcome. Moreover, neuroscience research finds the neural networking of mindsets is very complex (Mitchell, Banaji, & Macrae, 2005). It may take much more neural effort to change one part of a mindset network (such as about a particular content area) than to change the entire network (Diamond, 2009; Lou & Noels, 2016). These findings would imply that high motivation and considerable persistence are needed to change an adult mindset, but it can be done.

      Teachers have mindsets about their jobs, colleagues, and students. They may not even be aware of some of the assumptions and beliefs they hold in their mindsets, yet these attitudes can still affect their behavior and be communicated to others. Have you ever discussed a student’s work and behavior with another teacher who had the same student and felt like you were talking about two different people? Why did that happen? Most likely, you and the other teacher were looking at this student with very different mindsets. Picture a student who is constantly raising questions during a lesson. One teacher may get angry at this student without realizing the anger stems from the assumption that the student’s persistence is an attempt to derail the lesson. In contrast, another teacher may interpret the student’s questions as an honest effort to thoroughly understand the content. The teachers’ mindsets result in different interpretations of the student’s behavior and, consequently, in different teacher responses.

      Mindsets are the assumptions, expectations, and beliefs that guide our behavior and our interactions with others.

      Robert Brooks and Sam Goldstein (2008) suggest effective teachers have a characteristic mindset that guides their behavior throughout the teaching-learning processes. The following discussion shows how many of the assumptions and beliefs of an effective teacher’s mindset are particularly pertinent to the learning environment in differentiated classrooms.

      Those of us who have taught realize we can influence our students’ lives for years to come. The research literature on child resilience highlights the extent of our impact. It shows several factors enable children of misfortune to beat the heavy odds against them. One factor is the presence in their lives of a charismatic adult—a person they can identify with and gather strength from. In a surprising number of cases, that person turns out to be a teacher (Sanders, Munford, & Liebenberg, 2016). Thus, effective teachers recognize they are in a unique position to be charismatic adults in students’ lives.

      David remembers working years ago with a high school sophomore who wanted to go to college but had little confidence in his academic abilities. Continuing encouragement and extra help during the student’s junior and senior years helped. Having gained self-confidence, the student went on to graduate from the U.S. Air Force Academy. While flying combat missions over Kuwait during Operation Desert Storm, the student—now an air force major—sent David a note expressing thanks for encouraging him during his difficult days in high school.

      Even small gestures—such as giving a warm greeting, sending a note of encouragement, taking a few minutes to meet alone with a student, and showing an appreciation of and respect for different learning needs in a differentiated classroom—can have a lifelong impact.

      The foundation for successful learning and a safe, secure classroom is the relationship teachers develop with their students. Why is this so significant? To answer this question, we need to briefly explain how the brain handles incoming information. Figure 2.1 illustrates the hierarchy of response to sensory input. It is important to understand that any input of higher priority diminishes the processing of lower-priority data.

      Figure 2.1: The hierarchy of response to sensory input.

      The brain’s main job is to help its owner survive. Thus, data interpreted as posing a threat to the survival of the individual, such as a burning odor, a

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