Pedagogical Implications of Neuroplasticity and Critical Thinking:  How to Be the True Version of Yourself

Pedagogical Implications of Neuroplasticity and Critical Thinking:  How to Be the True Version of Yourself

الآثار التربوية للمرونة العصبية والتفكير النقدي: كيف تكون النسخة الحقيقية عن نفسك

د. منى صايغ   Dr.Mona Sayegh[i]

Abstract

This paper aims at demystifying the concept of neuroplasticity and how it works. It also clarifies how educators can benefit from its implications in their pedagogical practices. How both neuroplasticity and critical thinking can release the hidden power of both educators and students is also explained. In addition, critical thinking strategies and virtues are discussed.

Key words: neuroplasticity, education, critical thinking, learning, pedagogical implications

الملخص

تهدف هذه الورقة البحثيّة إلى إزالة الغموض عن مفهوم المرونة العصبيّة وعن كيفيّة عملها. كما توضح كيف يمكن للمعلمين الاستفادة من آثار المرونة العصبيّة في ممارساتهم التربويّة. وكذلك يُشرّح كيف يمكن للمرونة ، والتّفكير النقدي إطلاق القوة الخفية لكل من المعلمين والطلاب. بالإضافة إلى ذلك، نناقش استراتيجيات التفكير النقدي وفضائله.

الكلمات المفتاحية: المرونة العصبية، التعليم، التفكير النقدي، والتعلُّم، الآثار التربوية

Introduction

Education is definitely living one of its hardest times in Lebanon. A lot of adversities have followed each other. The starting point of deterioration is marked by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic that derailed the face-to-face education and replaced it with online and blended learning despite the lack of infrastructure as well as the trained staff. This was followed by social and political havoc that created instability in the educational system. Worst of all was the economic recession that forced both educators and learners to be out of their schools and universities due to repeated strikes. All of this exacerbated the quality of education, unfortunately. Learning loss is huge and recovery needs a lot of time. Is it possible, then, to catch up with the criteria of the 21^st century education? Harasym et al., (2008) report the criteria of students in the 21^st century as follows:

In December 18, 2006, Time magazine printed a special issue titled “How to Build a Student for the 21st Century”. It was declared that to be effective in the 21st century, students must think their way through abstract problems, work in teams, distinguish good information from bad, and be multilingual and globally/ environmentally sensitive. In addition, they indicated that a student must be a critical thinker, a problem solver, an innovator, an effective communicator, an effective collaborator, a self-directed learner, information and media literate, globally aware, civically engaged, and financially and economically literate.

Obviously, there are many accessible features that can manipulate human resources and innate human potentials. They fall into different categories: mental, psychological, social, and cultural. This research addresses one key aspect of the profile of the 21^st century student: being a critical thinker, and another key aspect of his innate powers: the brain, mainly the neuroplasticity feature. For this purpose, review of the literature was conducted and the research answers the following questions:

1. What is neuroplasticity, and how does it work?
2. How can neuroplasticity enhance pedagogical practices?
3. How can critical thinking be promoted?
4. How can both neuroplasticity and critical thinking enhance human hidden powers?

Juxtaposition of the 21^st Century Requirements and the Problematic Educational Status Quo

In the light of the criteria mentioned by the Time magazine, in order to succeed in the 21st century, students will need a skill set far beyond the existing one. Being able to think critically, speak clearly, use constantly evolving technology, be culturally aware and adaptable, and have the judgment and open-mindedness to make complicated judgments based on accurate analysis of data are requirements for success in today’s rapidly changing world. Jobs that cannot be performed by computers will be definitely the most fulfilling jobs of this century.

However, students will not acquire the reason, logic, creative problem-solving, concept development, media literacy, and communication skills best suited for the daily complexities of life or the professional jobs of their future if they do not have the opportunity to develop their higher order, cognitive skill sets. They will not be able to compete on the global job market with students who are now honing their executive functions and talents.

Besides, paying school visits as an educational counselor reveals undesirable teaching practices, most of the time. Ironically, rote learning is dominant, and students are handed books with material to memorize. This issue is exacerbated by a crammed curriculum that needs updating. Traditional teacher-centered classes still dominate; students’ brains are considered vessels to fill with information; rare or meager training of teachers is performed. The result is that most teachers still rely on the past views of how people learn. Needless to say, both teachers and students are stressed out and demotivated. When adding all these conditions to the above mentioned learning loss, we see a gloomy picture which calls people in charge to urgent action.

Past view of the Brain

          Years ago, it was thought that by the time we reached our very early teen years, the brain had completely developed and matured. However, thanks to recent advances in the study of the brain, researchers have discovered that this is far from the truth. As long as people are alive and able to take actions, whether they are aware of them or not, their brain’s structure can change because neuroplasticity is a lifelong process. This means they have the ability to overcome genetic characteristics thanks to the brain’s capacity to change in response to stimuli outside (Cunningham, 2016, p.5).

What Is Neuroplasticity?

The term “neuroplasticity” refers to “the biological system of processes by which brains acquire, encode, transmit, store, and retrieve mutually exchanged information. This is the capacity that allows developing and adult brains to respond and adjust when operating at various coexisting levels, including molecules, neurons, circuits, networks, individuals, and societies” (Tovar-Moll, & Lent, 2017). Simply put, Neuroplasticity simply means that the brain is malleable, and that “You are creating, at this moment, the person you are going to become tomorrow.” (Helmstetter, 2013, p. 11).

How Does Neuroplasticity Work?

Neuroplasticity includes three aspects: pruning unused cells to better meet the metabolic requirements of neurons that are used more frequently, strengthening connections in the circuits that are used the most, and developing of more robust and numerous connections between neurons (Willis, 2011).

 Research shows that “the brain grows and changes based on feedback. What one tells it, changes it. And while it’s rewiring itself, the brain then feeds those new programs, those new pictures of oneself, back to them. It’s a feedback “loop.” What one puts in, they get back out, in a continuous “neural activity feedback loop.” (Helmstetter, 2013, p. 24).

The brain develops new neuronal pathways or strengthens existing ones in response to repeated messages. With sufficient repetition, pathways turn into roads, and then freeways, eventually with a lot of repetition, turn into superhighways. Imagine that your real recorded neural networks—the ones that contain your beliefs, attitudes, and opinions about everything—are those paths, roads, highways, and superhighways. Beliefs, attitudes, and opinions are developed in this way as a result of this process of neural pathway construction. In this sense, you are programmed, but it is not genes that determine your future. Genes are just like switches activated by your thoughts (Helmstetter, 2013, pp. 40 – 41).  It is your thoughts, self-talk and others’ speech that program you.

What one can be worried about is the type of program that has been instilled in them since it may be either a constructive or a destructive one. Indeed, early developmental adversity and stress are linked to maladaptive changes in brain function and development.

However, neural plasticity promotes healthy development across a broad spectrum of rearing contexts and may contribute to resilience even in cases of mediocre parenting or social and economic hardships. Yet, adaptive neuronal plasticity might also signify fragility in some situations. There is growing evidence that stress exposure at levels that exceed an organism’s capacity to handle it may harm brain development (Bryck & Fisher, 2012). This is what Martin Seligman, the father of positive psychology, refers to as learned helplessness which is a condition of feeling powerless as a consequence of traumatic or stressful events or repetitive failure and inability to find solutions to problems.

Nonetheless, there are ways to leverage neural plasticity, promote healthy development and remediate the effects of early stress via intervention efforts. Evidence of brain training through changes in behavioral and psychosocial functioning has been shown in contextually oriented school-and-family-centered prevention and intervention studies. Target skills include self-regulation, self- control, and working memory (Bryck & Fisher, 2012).

 For this reason, in order to be proactive rather than reactive, or at least to modify an instilled program or even to abolish it, one has to develop the power of critical thinking. Education is a socially structured type of learning that simplifies this task since it includes constant interaction between the minds of various participants, including students, teachers, family members, and others.

Most people, however, struggle with critical thinking, especially in today’s culture where asking too many questions is frowned upon. But, when used correctly, the critical method gives us a high level of confidence in the judgments we must make and assists us in reaching fair and responsible conclusions on which to base our actions.

So far, we can come up with two conclusions:

1. Education can take advantage of the rewards of neuroplasticity.
2. Critical thinking can be enhanced to produce the best version of ourselves.

These two conclusions are elaborated below.

 Positive Implications of Neuroplasticity for Education

These most important cognitive activities have been known in neurology for more than a century as “executive functions.” The terms employed in educational language for these executive functions are higher order thinking and critical thinking. These are flexible, interpretive, creative, and multidimensional thinking skills, and they are ideal for today’s problems and tomorrow’s opportunities. These skills entail preparation, flexibility, tolerance, risk assessment, deliberate decision-making, analysis, and postponing immediate gratification in favor of long-term objectives. Additional advantages of these executive functions include organizing, sorting, connecting, prioritizing, self-monitoring, self-correcting, self-assessing, abstracting, and focusing (Willis, 2011).

In the light of what preceded, it is educators’ duty to provide learners with the chance to acquire the fundamental knowledge and skills they need through experiences that stimulate their developing executive function neural networks. The prefrontal brain circuits of judgment, critical analysis, induction, deduction, cognitive reasoning, activating prior knowledge, and prediction are all engaged during active learning events.

Students learn to make connections between what they are learning and what they already know as a result of these encounters, which fosters creative information processing. When two previously independent memory circuits are stimulated simultaneously, neuroplasticity enters the picture, and new connections (dendrites, synapses, and myelinated axons) physically develop between them. This is a phenomenon known as “neurons that fire together, wire together”. Another feature of the brain’s neuroplasticity is the ‘disuse pruning’. The brain essentially dissolves isolated tiny neural networks of ‘unincorporated’ knowledge and procedures that are only seldom triggered. This aligns with the ‘use it or lose it’ principle (Willis, 2011).

In this way, new rote memories stay solitary bits of information in tiny, disconnected circuits unless they are merged into bigger related networks. New information is assimilated into the existing established neural network of previously acquired linked memory only by intentional mental manipulation using prior knowledge. When students detect connections to the earlier knowledge stored in such networks, rote memorization is assimilated into the strong existing networks of long-term memory. This process explains what Piaget referred to as adaptation of schemas, the building blocks of knowledge, in which assimilation, accommodation and equilibration take place when an individual is faced with a state of disequilibrium.

This implies that students need to be explicitly taught how to use executive functions to set goals, make judgements, organize, prioritize, compare, contrast, connect to prior knowledge, give new examples of a concept, participate in open-ended discussions, synthesize new learning into condensed summaries, symbolize new learning into new mental constructs and write across the curriculum (Willis, 2011).

  Another point that requires attention is that students’ motivation, learning, and academic success are significantly impacted by their beliefs about their brains, including whether they view intelligence as a trait that is fixed or stable or as a quality that can develop and change (Dweck, 2006, cited in Gutshall, 2020). According to research, students are more likely to believe that their intellect is improvable once the concept of neuroplasticity is explained to them (Tirri & Kujala, 2016, cited in Gutshall, 2020).

 The end result will be that students develop a growth mindset, set goals and get concerned with becoming smarter. Teachers contribute to developing the growth mindset in their students by their pedagogical approaches, giving feedback and praise, and dealing constructively with failure and setbacks, building self-efficacy and grit. They will also promote their teaching practices by manipulating the neurobiology of learning in their preparation of activities. For this desired purpose, research proves that when teachers are taught about how neuroscience affects learning, their attitudes and beliefs toward the aforementioned factors of learning will change, thus affecting their teaching efficacy, grit and pedagogical approaches (Gutshall, 2020).

Consequently, the end result of enhanced teaching efficacy would be enhanced learners’ efficacy. In doing so, cognitive strategies need to be incorporated into the teaching process so that they become a routine part of students’ learning process; classes should respect principles of constructivism and should be structured to be student-centered classes that promote active learning; learners need to know when they are making progress; they should be involved in decision-making processes about curriculum design; they should also feel valued and appreciated (Sewell & George. 1997).

Fortunately, the growing body of research on brain plasticity has the potential to improve education on a strategic, organizational, and individual level. The most significant addition of neuroscience to education to date has been to prompt a re-examination of the dominant philosophies of education. Professionals who can assess neuroscience potentials and work with educationalists to maximize the advantages for kids and teens [and teachers] are urgently needed (Rees et al., 2016).

In the part that follows, one of these cognitive skills, critical thinking, is discussed.

Critical Thinking: The Pathway to Become Original

The definition of critical thinking comprises three components:

1. Process: The process of critical thinking involves active and skillful conceptualization, application, analysis, synthesis, and/or evaluation of information/knowledge.
2. Method: Methods involved in critical thinking could be observation, experimentation, reflection, reasoning, or communication.
3. Purpose: Critical thinking aims at acquiring knowledge and taking action (Harasym et al., 2008)

 Philosophy of education attributes a sublime role to critical thinking. It is stated that “Critical thinking is not an aim of education, but the aim.” (ten Dam & Volman, 2004).  In essence, critical thinking does not mean mere raising of informative questions; it requires the shrewd use of reflective skepticism. It also incorporates many components of critical inquiry that raises a lot of questions to evaluate and interpret arguments, assess authorities and sources, and examine reasonable alternatives to produce more satisfactory solution to, or insight into, the problem at hand.

Critical thinking abilities must be learned experientially and with lots of feedback. Having the student solve problems, make judgments, or determine what to think or do in a rational and reflective manner would be a more effective teaching technique. A skeptic who has to be persuaded of the authenticity and precision of the information or data before using it is referred to as a critical thinker. Last but not least, a critical thinker makes an attempt to learn from their past mistakes. In this sense, the critical thinker’s toolkit ought to incorporate substantial reflection (Harasym, 2004).

Since it includes expert judgment and careful observation, critical thinking does not necessarily imply negativity and fault-finding. It describes the mental processes required to recognize, scrutinize, and assess statements and arguments; discover logical errors, misconceptions, and prejudices; develop and use compelling arguments to support conclusions; and arrive at reasonable decisions. Intellectual standards like clarity, precision, accuracy, applicability, consistency, logical soundness, completeness, and fairness control it (Bassham et al. 2013, pp. 1-2).

In the light of Bloom’s taxonomy of educational objectives, critical thinking is often equated with analysis, synthesis and/or evaluation, the higher-order thinking skills. Halpern (1998, cited in ten Dam & Volman, 2004) comes to the following taxonomy of critical-thinking skills: verbal-reasoning skills; argument-analysis skills; thinking skills such as hypothesis testing; thinking in terms of likelihood and uncertainty; decision-making and problem-solving skills.

By connecting the current educational practices with how the brain works, it can be concluded that “We have done what we were programmed to do, instead of what we could have done!” (Helmstetter, 2013, p. 34).

However, one has the incredible chance to reset their own usable intelligence because they do not have a finite IQ that is genetically preprogrammed into them. Brain scientists and personal development coaches are already developing brain workouts that will alter the neuronal structure of the brain. Everyone who desires it will have the opportunity to become more capable, alert, and in tune with their surroundings (Helmstetter, 2013. p.36).

 In this sense, some educators may not be the best versions of themselves, nor do students. Hence, everyone should maximize their potentials and live the optimal version of themselves. Luckily, education is the paramount medium which can be operated on so that the new generation get the desired results. Each and every one of us, indeed, needs this reset; critical thinking is the key.

Conceptualizing an Operational Framework of Critical Thinking

Critical thinking itself involves a number of interactive attributes: skills, knowledge, and disposition. Cognitive skills are needed to perform higher order functions such as reasoning evaluation, and self- regulation; they display intellectual maturity which is a prerequisite for critical thinking. Disposition implies willingness to do something, given certain conditions; knowledge makes critical thinking possible. Figure 1 displays the interactive framework of these attributes.

Figure 1: Critical Thinking: An Operational Framework. (Thomas & Lok, 2015, pp. 98)

The Teachability of Critical Thinking

The ability to think critically has existed since the time of Socrates (470–399 BC). The Socratic approach to education relies on posing challenging questions to the student, and to respond to their question by posing another question. Through the use of questions and answers, the instructor helps the student engage in critical thinking by encouraging them to consider their assumptions and prejudices in order to better comprehend and solve problems. Critical thinking can only occur if the learner is motivated and challenged to engage in higher-level thought processes (Harasym et al., 2008).

“The goal of instruction should be to allow students to deal sensibly with problems that often involve evidence, quantitative consideration, logical arguments, and uncertainty; without the ability to think critically and independently, citizens are easy prey to dogmatists, flimflam artists, and purveyors of simple solutions to complex problems.” (Moore, 2014. P. 96).

 “Characteristics of instruction that enhance critical thinking are: paying attention to the development of the epistemological beliefs of students, promoting active learning, a problem-based curriculum, stimulating interaction between students, using real-life motivating problems” (Ten Dam & Volman, 2004).

Virtues of Critical Thinking

It is crystal clear that critical thinking is essential for proving our rational nature and making us survive and thrive in a rapidly-changing world. As such, not only is critical thinking valuable in the classroom, but it is also extremely important in the workplace and in life in general, for it helps us avoid making foolish, unwise and irrational decisions in our personal life. Besides, it is crucial in prompting the democratic processes of a country since it enlightens citizens to make the right national and political decisions as well as those pertaining to the general good and welfare. Otherwise, citizens will fall preys to dogmatic thinking and will be entrapped in a vicious circle of societal problems that were created due to the absence of higher-order thinking skills. This can be confirmed by what Albert Einstein once said, “The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the level of thinking we were at when we created them.”

More importantly, critical thinking is essential for the liberal thought. Most of the times, people have not dared to question inherited beliefs. They believed that the Earth was the center of universe; the Earth was flat; slavery was the just norm; women were inferior to men; demons caused diseases and such kinds of beliefs that were taken for granted. Only when men like Galileo, Martin Luther King, Albert Einstein, and other remarkable thinkers broke the boundaries of traditional thinking did truth emerge.

Thus, if critical thinking is that important in building free citizens, it should, then, be one of the core skills that must be cultivated throughout education. The question that raises itself here is: Why is critical thinking not very common even among many highly educated and intelligent people? The answer lies in the fact that there are obstacles that hinder its growth. Some of these barriers lie in the lack

of relevant knowledge, closed-mindedness, narrow-mindedness and short-term thinking skills. Other factors include prejudice, bias, egocentrism, sociocentrism and conformism. In addition, wishful thinking, stereotyping, self-deception, fear of change and denial are also some factors that impede adopting the critical mode of thinking (Bassham, et al., 2013, pp.9 -11). This puts a huge burden on the shoulders of educators to embed this skill in students at an early age so that one of the bright outcomes of the educational process becomes: producing citizens with the profile of critical thinkers. So what are the characteristics of critical thinkers?

 Characteristics of Critical Thinkers

In “Teaching Critical Thinking in Psychology”, Dunn et al. (2008) examine the literature about critical thinking and describe the characteristics of critical thinkers as follows:

Critical thinkers can accurately explain their decisions; consider alternative explanations for any state of affairs; curb their emotional reactions to others’ arguments; determine the truth or falsity of assumptions; develop and present reasoned and persuasive arguments; distinguish between primary and secondary sources of information; distinguish credible from non-credible sources of information; distinguish evidence from opinion, common sense, anecdotes, and appeals to reality; distinguish opinion from fact; draw inferences; formulate and ask appropriate questions; gather data from multiple sources relevant to a problem to be solved or a decision to be made; identify their preconceptions about important issues; and understand the uses and abuses of mathematical and statistical information in decision making.

In an anonymous online guide titled The Ultimate Guide to Critical Thinking the profile of critical thinkers is described in terms of ten traits. Critical thinkers are defined in terms of curiosity which is manifested by an inquisitive mind that pushes them to learn about a broad range of topics and interests and renders them long-life learners. They are also characterized by compassion since they think the emotional, instinctual, and intellectual aspects of human existence should go hand in hand. In addition, critical thinkers show awareness to the underlying details of whatever is going around them in an attempt to be good problem solvers coming up with constructive outcomes. Moreover, critical thinkers confidently display the initiative to make decisions. This decisiveness is shown by weighing options and imagining the outcomes; they choose moving forward instead of procrastinating even when the image is incomplete. Furthermore, honesty is a trait that reveals itself in the critical thinkers’ moral integrity, compassion, ethical consideration and fairness in dealing with others as well as in one’s ability to manage their emotions, impulses and desires. Besides, they possess willingness to be active listeners, to learn from one’s own mistakes and readiness to reconsider opinions and attitudes. Creativity is an unquestionable trait of critical thinkers since it is the natural outcome of their never-ending search for constructive outcomes for problems. Perseverance is a natural quality about their mindsets; they never give up, rather they stay tuned in on the task they are working with. Another important trait about critical thinkers is that they are objective and unbiased. Finally, a distinguishing characteristic about critical thinkers is that they do not only care for the final product, but they are keen about the learning signposts during their journey. So they reflect on their mistakes, learn from them, internalize this knowledge, and move forward with a store of ideas to improve their work (The Ultimate Guide to Critical Thinking, 2019, pp. 4-9).

Conclusion

The world is changing rapidly, and luckily enough we are endowed with malleable brains. Speaking truth to power, we should be grateful and utilize this this gift of neuroplasticity judiciously and invest it to the benefit of our upcoming generation; education is the best investment since its product is the man. Worldwide, the way people teach, test and evaluate students is currently being completely reconsidered in light of advancements in the field of neuroscience, particularly in the area of neuroplasticity. Each and every aspect of education, including child rearing, classrooms, textbooks, grading, methods of instruction and teaching each individual student has undergone the change (Helmstetter, 2013, p. 36). It is high time to take action.

On the other side of the coin, critical thinking challenges the programs inculcated in us, both educators and students, or that are intended to be enforced on us blindly. It helps us think outside-of-the-box and create new meanings and hypothetical assumptions and test them. In the language of neuroplasticity, critical thinking tends to create new synaptic responses and form new neural networks, which make us outcast faulty beliefs or crippling assumptions and create original meanings and identities. Critical thinking acts as a pathway to live the best versions of ourselves and be original. In brief, both neuroplasticity and critical thinking offer educators a chance of producing a new thinking, innovating and promising generation.

الهوامش

[i] educational counselor at MEHE and an instructor of Psychology, Education, English Language courses; a licensed clinical psychotherapist by MOPH; an accredited trainer; has a Ph.D. in Psychology, BA degree in English literature, BA degree in Educational psychology, TD in Education, MA in Educational Studies, mainly in teaching English Language, MA in Clinical Psychology, Diploma in Pedagogical Counseling; has spent 35 years teaching, coordinating, training teachers, and offering educational consultations and counseling services using CBT and DBT skills and conducting IQ test for kids and adolescents.

Email:mona.g.sayegh@gmail.com

مستشار تربوي في وزارة التربية والتعليم العالي ومدرس في علم النفس والتربية ودورات اللغة الإنجليزية؛ معالج نفسي سريري مرخص من قبل وزارة الصحة العامة؛ مدرب معتمد؛ لديه دكتوراه. في علم النفس، درجة البكالوريوس في الأدب الإنجليزي، درجة البكالوريوس في علم النفس التربوي، TD في التعليم، ماجستير في الدراسات التربوية، وخاصة في تدريس اللغة الإنجليزية، ماجستير في علم النفس السريري، دبلوم في الإرشاد التربوي؛ أمضى 35 عامًا في التدريس والتنسيق وتدريب المعلمين وتقديم الاستشارات التعليمية والخدمات الاستشارية باستخدام مهارات العلاج السلوكي المعرفي (CBT) والعلاج السلوكي المعرفي. (DBT) وإجراء اختبار الذكاء للأطفال والمراهقين

References

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