The importance of clarity and goals for learning

This article first appeared at JALT Mind, Brain, and Education SIG, Volume 5, Issue 1 (ISSN: 2434-1002)
There is one valuable idea in educational neuroscience that has changed my thinking: the brain cannot not learn, but it changed me in a way you might not expect. When we read that the brain cannot not learn, those of us that have no knowledge about how the brain really works might think it easy for the brain to harness untapped potentials that make becoming a genius, or a recognized expert, within easy reach for all of us.  However, that is not true. That is precisely why we must start digging for more knowledge about our neurological processes that promote learning because believing without knowing is akin to preaching without doing and, in both cases, the result is doomed to be disastrous (Kahneman, 2002).

Let us start by examining the fact that the brain cannot not learn. This, by the way, is an adage that is recurrent in the neuroscience literature but one that I give Tokuhama-Espinosa credit for (2014). The fact that the brain is an organ that regulates our survival means, at its core, that every act it performs is guided towards keeping us alive. The fact that we need to constantly adapt to the ever-changing circumstances around us means that we are increasingly challenged to upgrade our knowledge and upskill our capabilities. This is inherent to our species and runs in tandem with our most basic interests as it is something that is deeply rooted in our systems for biological safekeeping.

A second implication of this adage is that the brain is constantly learning, either at a conscious or unconscious level and that is a warning for teachers. Whether they have prepared lessons that take this into account is not a question, but rather a principle that should steer their purposes and practices. The moment teachers truly understand that students are constantly picking up bits of information and linking them to previous knowledge to make sense of what is important to them, teachers can realize the importance of being clear about their intentions for learning. To facilitate the learning, we must be clear about our goals.

A feature of the brain that is often discussed in the literature is that it is a physical organ that works towards efficiency (Achard & Bullmore, 2007; Braun, Muldoon, & Basset, 2001; Supekar et al, 2008). This is easy to understand once we acknowledge that this organ  consumes more than 20% of the body’s energy to perform the functions that keep us alive and make us develop in our contexts (Ramacciotti, 2018). It has built-in mechanisms that safeguard our actions by making sure that safe routes are used (Sporns, 2011; Van den Heuvel et al, 2009). One such safe route is that of learning intentions. As learners, we are constantly moving from a comfort zone towards a discomfort zone when navigating in the social interactions that permeate our learning. That means we are leaving the safe realm of familiarity to pursue new concepts, ideas and constructs that are made available in our social environment, but which are still to be understood and mastered, and therefore, are unfamiliar to us.

This was first perceived by Vygotsky (1978) who turned into a psychological construct coined as ZPD (Zone of Proximal Development) which has been advocated in cognitive science (Csibra & Gergely, 2006; Goswami, 2008). The fact that we have to forgo safety and leave our comfort zones to move towards unfamiliar terrain cannot be accomplished if we do not place a high value on the intended result, i.e., the goal and objectives of the learning. It is not enough to be in a socially conducive environment; our brains have to envisage what the final picture looks like, and that requires clarity in our learning goals.

This boils down to a simple yet effective analogy, which, by the way, aids learners in making a positive transfer (Richland, Zur, & Holyoak, 2007). When we start to assemble a puzzle piece, irrespective of size, what is the first thing that we do? We look at the whole picture. We have to see what we are aiming at which becomes both the compass to guide us, and the purpose for engaging in such an endeavor. As puzzle assemblers know too well, such a purpose is what prevents us from giving up when we face the little individual pieces, especially in the case of 500-piece or more puzzles, that seem to have no connection to the final result.

When we secure a purpose, what that means in regard to learning is making it clear what we want to achieve.  In other words, teachers should provide learners with a vision of what success looks like, which then becomes their compass and purpose. Relying on that vision, learners know that, given time, and patient effort, they will eventually get there. We have given them a purpose and that safeguards not only the journey, but also the destination. Learning Success, then, lies on the horizon so the challenge and the obstacles we face become worthy of our commitment. That is how we learn intentionally and that is why we must move forward purposefully with clear goals for each and every learning endeavor. To put it shortly, the brain cannot not learn, but it learns best when we have a clear vision and purpose to guide it.

References
Achard, S., & Bullmore, E. (2007). Efficiency and cost of economical brain functional networks. PLoS Computational Biology, 3(2), e17.
Braun, U., Muldoon, S. F., & Bassett, D. S. (2001). On human brain networks in health and disease. eLS, 1-9.
Csibra, G., & Gergely, G. (2006). Social learning and social cognition: The case for pedagogy. Processes of change in brain and cognitive development. Attention and Performance XXI, 21, 249-274.
Goswami, U. (2008). Principles of learning, implications for teaching: A cognitive neuroscience perspective. Journal of Philosophy of Education, 42(3‐4), 381-399.
Kahneman, D. (2002). Maps of bounded rationality: A perspective on intuitive judgment and choice. Nobel Prize Lecture, 8, 351-401.
Ramacciotti, M. (2018). Aprender: entendendo o cérebro. Oficinal Digital. 
Richland, L. E., Zur, O., & Holyoak, K. J. (2007). Cognitive supports for analogies in the mathematics classroom. Science-New York then Washington-, 316(5828), 1128.
Sporns, O. (2011). The non-random brain: efficiency, economy, and complex dynamics. Frontiers in Computational Neuroscience, 5, 5.
Supekar, K., Menon, V., Rubin, D., Musen, M., & Greicius, M. D. (2008). Network analysis of intrinsic functional brain connectivity in Alzheimer's disease. PLoS computational biology, 4(6), e1000100.
Tokuhama-Espinosa, T. (2014). Making classrooms better: 50 practical applications of mind, brain, and education science. WW Norton & Company.
Van den Heuvel, M. P., Stam, C. J., Kahn, R. S., & Pol, H. E. H. (2009). Efficiency of functional brain networks and intellectual performance. Journal of Neuroscience, 29(23), 7619-7624.
Vygotsky, L. (1978). Mind in Society. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press.

Suggested Readings
Dweck, C. S. (1986). Motivational processes affecting learning. American psychologist, 41(10), 1040.
Ramacciotti, M. (2018). Understanding Visible Learning through a Brain Targeted Teaching Framework. Proceedings of the 2018 IAFOR European Conference on Education, 39-50. (ISSN: 2188-1162). Available at http://papers.iafor.org/wp-content/uploads/conference-proceedings/ECE/ECE2018_proceedings.pdf 
Titsworth, S., & Mazer, J. P. (2016). 5 Teacher Clarity: An Analysis of Current Research and Future Directions. Communication and Learning, 16, 105.

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