The most important idea in education is neuroplasticity. This is the understanding that the experiences we have and the learning we undertake changes the layout and organisation of the brain. Our brain’s structure and capacity are not fixed. We can become smarter and better at anything we set our minds to. And it seems that setting your mind to it is almost all you have to do.
A recent experiment showed the same expansion of the motor cortex region in two groups of people; one group who practiced the piano for 2 hours each day for one week and the other who simply imagined practicing the piano whilst holding their hands still. Neurologists conclude that mental training has the power to change the physical structure of the brain.
It is well known that London cabbies have enlarged hippocampi due to their “knowledge” of detailed street maps. Professional musicians have on average 130% more grey matter in the auditory cortex. With every other factor controlled for, bilinguals develop Alzheimers 4.5 years later that monolinguals.
Now even cosmologists admit that the brain is the most complex structure in the known universe. Each of our brains contain nearly 100 billion neurones, each with a capacity to directly connect with 100,000 others, leading to 100 trillion neurone connections and more possible pathways across the neural network than there are atoms in the entire cosmos. Clearly there is much we have yet to learn about the brain, its structure and the emergence of intelligence and consciousness.
However we have recently learned that the brain is more plastic than we ever believed before. It is no longer an organ that deteriorates inexorably with age, not making any new neurones past adolescence. It has now become a mouldable, sculpt-able changeling. The creation of new brain cells (neurogenesis) continues throughout our life. And better yet, can be guided and shaped by specific learning experiences and persistent practice.
Norman Doige said “Everything having to do with education must be re-examined in the light of neuroplasticity.” This is the real truth at the heart of the growth mindset revolution. ANY student can achieve ANY level in ANY subject. This is now demonstrably true thanks to the work of neurologists. No-one is born a concert pianist or a theoretical physicist. Those that achieve much have practiced much, persisted much, learnt much. They have changed the physical structure of their brains with hard work, grit and resilience much like a body builder will change the physical structure of their muscles.
As educators, we must recognise the inherent challenge in the revelation of neuroplasticity. Science is telling us that no student can be left behind, that all students can learn and develop the skills of our subjects. It is telling us that given the right learning experiences, with the right amount and type of practice and with the right amount of determination and patience any student could be a concert pianist or a cabbie or a cosmologist. Let’s become brain builders
