Brain Waves & Community Building in Schools
This fall, teachers across the country will spend countless hours and plenty of their own funds to set up a welcoming classroom for their students. I love seeing their pictures on social media. Their hearts are in the right place. Their creative efforts will make an important first impression.
At the same time, school administrators will spend countless hours planning opening week orientations and professional development. They examine data to identify targeted areas for growth. They plan a welcoming activity and provide coffee. They are determined to launch the school year on the right foot.
I wonder if they are planning for something more important – at the core of our educational process. How can we create a supportive community in every school for both teachers and students? The challenges facing us this year are tougher than ever. Racial, political and economic tensions intertwine with accountability pressures. What can we do for the social-emotional needs of teachers…..so that they can address the social-emotional needs of their students?
If we want the human beings in schools to thrive – not merely survive – we need to establish a supportive community. For most of us, our sense of community began with a loving family where we got messages that we have value and we belong. Brain researchers tell us that those messages go deep into our subconscious. They tell us that those early messages influence how we view experiences and ourselves throughout life. For all of us, there will be bumps in the road – sometimes huge craters.. If we have a supportive, positive, hopeful community, we can blossom and grow through our challenging times.
Schools can use brain waves research in their efforts:
Delta waves – deep sleep (needed for restoring health).
Theta waves – between waking and sleeping (mindful meditation breaks too).
Alpha waves – creative, reflective pondering when the subconscious generates brainstorms and connections.
Beta waves – active thinking at 3 levels:
Low – paying attention (listening, reading, observing)
Mid – focusing alert attention; using higher order thinking.
High – during stressful, survival times
Too often schools and classrooms require us to operate in high beta levels. When teachers and students experience pressure to perform and intensive competition over long periods of time without a break, it contributes to issues with physical health (heart disease, digestive problems, immune disorders) and mental health (depression, anxiety, phobias, scattered thinking). Students can’t process information in that state so their learning declines too.
Administrators and teachers who understand brain waves can intentionally design times to encourage different brain activity.
How could administrators help create safe, collaborative community for faculty that encourages them to interact using low/mid beta waves and provides creative problem solving alpha wave time?
How could teachers create a classroom environment for their students that engages them with low/mid beta waves and provides structured alpha wave time for processing new ideas and skills?
Who wouldn’t want to work in a school like that? More in my next blog! Your comments are welcome!
