Psychoeducation: How the nervous system develops

Psychoeducation: How the nervous system develops

The autonomic nervous system learns through experience. This process begins before birth as we take in and respond to our environment. Adverse environments can have an adverse effect on this shaping process. Prenatal adversity can include maternal stress, poverty,...
Brain basics: Learning, development and neuroplasticity

Brain basics: Learning, development and neuroplasticity

How do we become what we are? How do we change? Imagine an open hillside with no path. One day, some hikers come along and trudge up to the top of the hill, leaving a faint track of beaten grass where they have walked. The next day other hikers arrive and follow the...
Place-based and community-engaged education

Place-based and community-engaged education

In the book, Place-based learning in the global age, Gregory Smith talks about a social movement called ‘The new localism’ that has emerged as a result of the disruption of traditional community life that came about as a result of economic development. This movement...
Educating the hunter-gatherer way: Self-directed learning

Educating the hunter-gatherer way: Self-directed learning

In a recent article in the Economist I read that young children should be the first to return to school after the Covid-19 pandemic on the basis that they are not yet capable of self-directed learning. This is quite ironic – young infants, arguably, are the most...
Practice: Developing observational and attentional skills

Practice: Developing observational and attentional skills

Observation without evaluation “You can learn a lot just by watching” – Yogi Berra What happens when we observe something without evaluating it? The primary way we ‘know’ something is pre-conceptual – it comes before thoughts and ideas. The normal way we process...