Five Big Ideas for Effective Teaching: Connecting Mind, Brain, and Education Research to Classroom Practice

This is the second edition of the seminal text designed to empower educators with an innovative and inspiring conceptual framework for effective teaching. This bestseller is grounded in the synergy of five big ideas for connecting mind, brain, and education research to classroom practice: neuroplasticity, potential, malleable intelligence, the Body-Brain System, and metacognition. Updated and expanded to include new sections on social and emotional learning, this edition offers a firm foundation for implementing current rigorous standards. The authors draw on their experience working with tens of thousands of educators worldwide to drive the book's focus on practical application. Essential ideas are reinforced through vignettes, examples, inspirational stories from teachers, strategies, reflective questions, and current research on how people learn.

New for the Second Edition:

• An exploration of how guiding students to develop cognitive, affective, and behavioral competencies can improve their personal relationships, peer and teacher interactions, and academic outcomes.
• An examination of recent advances in understanding how brain plasticity extends over the life span, how working memory supports students to tackle more complex learning tasks, and how teaching students about growth mindsets can power learning.
• A synthesis of the science behind the power of positivity, learning potential, metacognition, the social aspects of cognition, and the Body-Brain System for classroom and school applications.
• An expanded reference list with relevant new publications.

• Foreword by Robert Calfee  ix
• Acknowledgments  xi
• Preface xiii
• Introduction 1
• Teacher Education and Professional Development: Preparing, Developing, and Supporting Teachers by Providing Them with a Firm Foundation 1
• Teachers as Learners: Enhancing Mindsets and Methods 4
• Five Big Ideas from Research to Application 5
• Prologue: Challenges and Opportunities in 21st Century Schooling 9
• In Support of a Gold Standard for Educational Professionals: Teachers as Adaptive Experts and Lifelong Learners 11
• Challenges in the Current System of Teacher Education and Schooling 12
• Tools for Learning and Teaching in the 21st Century 14
• Brain, Plasticity, Potential, and Intelligence 15
• The Body-Brain System 17
• Metacognition 19
• The Challenges of Teaching Today 21
• Opportunities Knock for Lifelong Learners 24
• Connecting the Science of Learning to the Art of Teaching 27
• 1. Big Idea 1: Implications of Neural Plasticity for Learning and Teaching 28
• Understanding the Science of Neural Plasticity 30
• Brain Development Over the Life Span 33
• Plasticity Research and the Classroom 37
• From Research to Classroom Practice: Plasticity in Action 41
• What's the Big Idea? 45
• 2. Big Idea 2: Recognizing Human Potential 48
• Misunderstanding Potential: The Fixed Mindset 50
• Defining Potential in the Classroom 51
• Teacher Expectations About Their Students' Learning Potential 54
• Educational Leadership: Beyond the Classroom 59
• From Research to Classroom Practice: Guiding Students to Actualize Their Learning Potential 61
• What's the Big Idea? 62
• 3. Big Idea 3: Understanding Intelligence 65
• Conceptions of Intelligence 68
• Dynamic, Changeable Intelligence 73
• Malleable Intelligence, Growth Mindsets, and Student Learning 73
• Malleable Intelligence, Motivation, and Effort  75
• Rehearsal: Talent vs. Deliberate Practice 79
• Using Formative Assessment for Intelligence-Building 81
• Educational Leadership: Beyond the Classroom 82
• From Research to Classroom Practice: Intelligence and a Growth Mindset for 21st Century Success 82
• What's the Big Idea? 89
• 4. Big Idea 4: The Body-Brain System at Work for Learning 92
• Social and Emotional Learning 93
• Modeling and Teaching Practical Optimism 97
• Managing Stress 99
• Stronger Bodies, Sharper Minds 100
• The Search for Causal Connections 103
• High-Octane Fuel for Learning 105
• Preparing for Learning with a Good Night's Sleep 107
• From Research to Classroom Practice: Putting the Body-Brain System to Work 108
• What's the Big Idea?  111
• 5. Big Idea 5: Metacognition as a Path to Becoming Functionally Smarter 115
• Metacognition Through the Ages 116
• Thinking About Thinking: Two Layers of Learning 117
• Connecting Metacognition and Executive Function 119
• Teaching and Facilitating the Use of Cognitive Strategies 121
• Connecting Cognitive Strategies to Current Rigorous Standards 123
• Gathering Information 124
• Exploring and Elaborating 128
• Communicating What You Have Learned 134
• Teaching Cognitive and Metacognitive Strategies by Example 138
• A Metacognitive Approach to Social and Emotional Learning 140
• From Research to Classroom Practice: Learning by Teaching and Reflecting on Your Professional Practice 144
• What's the Big Idea? 145
• 6. Teaching, Learning, and Neuroeducation Myth Busting 148
• Becoming an "Apprentice" of Effective Education 149
• There Is More to 21st Century Education Than the 3 Rs—A Lot More 150
• You Can Get Better at Almost Anything If You Set Your Mind to It 152
• Your Brain Is a Learning Muscle—Build It 153
• Early Intensive Reading Instruction Can Open New Worlds 154
• The Little Engine That Could Had the Right Idea 155
• Don't Forget: You Can Remember 157
• Support Physical Activity to Support Learning 160
• Your Role as a Myth Buster 161
• 7. Your Journey of Learning and Teaching 162
• The Importance of Learning Together 163
• Connecting with a Worldwide Professional Learning Community  170
• The Joy of Informal Learning 172
• Rising to the Hope and Challenges of Your Professional Practice 173
• References 176
• Index 196
• About the Authors 209

Donna Wilson and Marcus Conyers are developers of graduate degrees focused on applied Mind, Brain, and Education science and are founders of the Center for Innovative Education and Prevention. Donna, former chair of Education at University of Detroit Mercy, is faculty with ASCD, and Marcus is a PhD research supervisor with Canterbury Christ Church University.

"Especially now in the pandemic of COVID-19, when educators in schools and colleges are faced with less time to spend with their colleagues, this book may serve well as a resource for continuing to learn about their own learning and their students' learning. As a framework to launch conversations, this book could be of use for teachers and administrators working together in professional learning communities. The last chapter in particular focuses on the learning that can happen in small communities of educators seeking to exercise their bodies and minds with challenging ideas. For teacher educators, this book could kick off discussions with preservice teachers about how to navigate teacher certification requirements. At a time when life in schools and universities may seem overwhelming, this book offers readers a glimpse into framing this moment as an opportunity to expand and develop."