The brain and learning, 6

Today’s brain and learning concept: the brain learns through conscious and unconscious processes. A great deal of the insights we acquire and the patterns that we grasp are a consequence of ongoing unconscious processing, perhaps more than we realize or care to admit. Neuroscientist Joseph LeDoux (1996) wrote that he processes of the “cognitive unconscious span many levels of mental complexity, all the way from the routine analysis of the physical features of stimuli by our sensory systems to remembrance of past events to speaking grammatically to imagining things that are not present, to decision making, and beyond.”

Educators and psychologists have known for a long time that understanding is largely a consequence of deep cognitive processing. Complex and “deep” learning depends on a person’s capacity to take charge of the processing of experience which is a matter of becoming aware of what is actually happening. That is, to “be mindful” of one’s own experience of learning—focusing not only of what is being learned, but on how one is learning.

Mindfulness has implications for learning and for our relationships. Thich Nhat Hanh (1976) wrote that “‘mindfulness’ refers to ‘keeping one’s consciousness alive to the present reality'”. Ellen Langer (1989) notes that being aware of what is actually happening is different from mindlessly moving though life. When we are mindless we are locked into what Langer calls “category traps,” or static ways of thinking and perceiving.

That’s not necessarily always a bad thing. When I get in my car at the end of the day I “mindfully” put the key into the ignition and cautiously pull out of the parking spot, but after that, I tend to engage in “Zen driving.” Somehow, the next thing I am mindful (consciously aware) of is pulling into the driveway. For twenty minutes I’ve “zoned out” while engaging in a complex act of coordinated thinking and skill: driving. A “category trap” can be negative in our relationships with the same people over a long period of time (like our family or congregation), or in the ways in which we are programmed in our religious beliefs.

The truth is that despite all our attempts at intellectual learning, many of our underlying beliefs and assumptions remain the same and are the invisible forces that keep us in a box, stuck in a loop, or keep us stuck in patterns of thinking and functioning.

By bringing to conscious awareness our assumptions, beliefs, habits, and practices we begin to take charge of them and of our own learning and performance. In young children, it is usually necessary for an adult teacher to mediate their experience so that they can become aware. As we grow older we have the capacity to develop awareness and to engage in metacognitive observation. The more we can observe in our thinking, the more we can self-regulate and take charge of our own learning.

Implications for teaching and learning: Help your learners be aware not only of what they are learning and why, but of how they are learning. Model “mindfulness” in how you teach. When teaching new concepts or beliefs help learners identify and articulate the “cognitive traps” that can be an obstacle to learning.