ﾠﾠﾠﾠﾠﾠLast week, while attending the Elementary School Heads Association's annual conference, I heard a talk by Dr. David Sousa, an international educational consultant who focuses on applying current breakthroughs in brain research to classroom teaching. A highly engaging and fascinating speaker whom I hope to get to The Country School at some future time, Dr. Sousa emphasized how the brains of today's young learners differ considerably from those of previous generations. The omnipresence of television, computers, and video games, and the fact that many children's emotional needs are not being fully met because of exceedingly busy parental schedules, contribute to the dramatically different learning styles and needs of today's students.
ﾠﾠﾠﾠﾠﾠThree studies that Sousa cited illustrate some related charges. First, a recent study of K-12 students showed that 50% of elementary-aged children and 80% of middle school and high school students come to school sleep-deprived (defined as less than 8 hours of sleep). Another survey found that one-third of all children under the age of 12 have their own television or computer - or both - in their rooms. A third study asked 40,000 ten to sixteen year olds three questions: 1) How much “quality time” - defined as engaged in some kind of meaningful conversation - do you spend per week with you main caregiver(s)? (Average answer: 47 minutes per week); 2) How much time do you spend per week on the phone, watching television, using a computer, or playing video games? (Average answer: 13.7 hours per week); 3) Is the amount of quality time you spend with your caregivers enough, too much, or not enough? (26% said enough, 17% said too much, and 57% said not enough).
Lack of adequate sleep leads to a brain that cannot optimally learn. Too ready access to television or computers can compound this, as well as lead to brains that become habituated to - and crave and require even more - novelty. Perceiving that one is not spending enough quality time spent with one's caregivers can dramatically compromise one's ability to learn, to say nothing of one's feeling of competency in countless other areas.
ﾠﾠﾠﾠﾠﾠDr. Sousa was quick to point out that we as parents can have a profound influence on these three areas - sleep, access to television and computers, and “quality time” - and that, in turn, our actions or inactions can have a dramatic impact on our children's ability to learn.