Teen Brain Research in Education
Better Understanding of Choices High School Students Make
It’s becoming common on high school campuses to hear the expression, “their brains are not yet fully wired,” referring to teens whose actions might have raised eyebrows. The expression is over-used to explain poor academic motivational habits, the perceived need to “bump down” course requirements, and the acceptance of complacency and mediocrity in holding students to high expectations. At some future point students themselves may excuse a missing homework assignment by stating, “my brain is not fully wired,” which will be more acceptable than, “my dog ate my homework.” Yet there is merit to understanding the teen brain and developing strategies to overcome the pitfalls.
What the Recent Studies Show
Writing in the October 2008 Harvard Magazine (“The Teen Brain”), Debra Bradley Ruder summarizes research being conducted at Children’s Hospital in Boston and Harvard Medical School. “Research during the past ten years…has revealed that young brains have both fast growing synapses and sections that remain unconnected.” The research, conducted by Frances E. Jensen and David K. Urion, demonstrates that “the last section [of the brain] to connect is the frontal lobe, responsible for cognitive processes such as reasoning, planning, judgment.”
Similarly, Dr. Ken C. Winters’ research (Adolescent Brain Development and Drug Abuse, Department of Psychiatry, University of Minnesota, June 2008) concludes that, “The teenage brain is quite capable of demonstrating plenty of mental ability. But the teenager…is more likely to act impulsively and with gut instinct when confronted with stressful or emotional decisions…” Conforming to other research, Winters states that teenagers do not reach the ability to exercise “high level reasoning” until their mid-twenties.
The research may help to explain why top tier students that excel not only in upper level academic classes but engage in innumerable extra curricular activities and service projects make poor choices in other parts of their lives. All too often, however, teachers, parents, counselors, and school administrators are apt to use the “frontal lobe” disconnect as a blanket excuse for every teenage failure or “meltdown.” Not completing homework might be an organizational issue tied to immature brain development, but, unlike the inability to grasp a “critical thinking concept,” it can be easily remedied.
Using the New Research Wisely
There is no “quick fix” to very complex problem that, ideally, should be individualized since every student is a unique learner. The night after 9/11, a Psychology student who had lost an uncle in the disaster called his teacher and said, “I don’t know which emotion to pick.” Sensitivity to strong emotional issues certainly falls within the realm of brain awareness and the ability to counsel and guide students that desperately need support.
Administrators and staff tasked with developing professional development seminars for faculty should consider in-house training sessions on brain compatible learning as well as developing a general understanding of how teen brains work. This will affect how professionals teach and what kinds of responses all school personnel will have toward on-going teen problems that cross over into the school day.
Similarly, PTA-sponsored events can be used to educate parents. Why does a student making straight A’s get caught using illegal substances? Why is a star athlete cited for excessive speeding? Why do the best students frequently make poor choices? Understanding the teen brain and applying that knowledge benefits all members of the extended school community.
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