ROBERT KOSASKY

“To Know and Inspire Each Child”

ROBERT KOSASKY

In recent years, the Center for Trans- formative Teaching and Learning has increasingly “operated at scale,” reaching thousands of educators in dozens of countries on six continents (give us a call, Antarctica). The talent of our CTTL leadership, the generosity of its supporters, and the power of Mind, Brain, and Education (MBE) Science have fueled this growth and impact.

And yet the CTTL’s success and energy remain rooted in its home soil: the mis- sion, culture, and people of St. Andrew’s. Because of the CTTL, St. Andrew’s has become a laboratory of excellence that demonstrates the unique truth and efficacy of school-based research – the real-life creation, implementation, assessment, and iteration of better teaching and learning. We build trust with educators in all kinds of locations and schools because we know firsthand what truly works.

St. Andrew’s mission statement makes one core promise: “To know and inspire each child in an inclusive community dedi- cated to exceptional teaching, learning, and service.” Over the past decade MBE has become part of the fabric of St. Andrew’s because we want to live into our mission more fully. To really know students, teach- ers need to understand how their brains think and feel and learn. To fully inspire students, teachers need to offer them the durable confidence and power that only self-understanding can provide.

As you have already read in my colleagues’ articles, at St. Andrew’s our research-informed practices are grounded in relationships and service to others, es- pecially our students. Our school’s promise

of growth, well-being, and achievement depends on our culture of belonging and our inclusive belief in each child’s and teacher’s intrinsic worth and potential. In this joyful and challenging environ- ment, students and adults alike can thrive together.

As you read these articles by St. Andrew’s faculty, students, alumni, and research partners, I hope that you are not daunted. Instead, I hope you are inspired to join us.

Robert Kosasky (rkosasky@saes.org) is Head of School at St. Andrew’s.

Introduction: Promising Research 1 Daniel, D. (2019, November). The State of the Onion: Peeling Back 20 Years of the Science of Learning and Instruction. Learning How to Learn. Talk presented at Learning and the Brain Conference, Boston, MA.

2 Dekker, S., Lee, N. C., Howard-Jones, P., & Jolles, J. (2012). Neuromyths in Education: Prevalence and Predictors of Misconceptions among Teachers. Frontiers in Psychology, 3.

3 Macdonald, K., Germine, L., Anderson, A., Christodoulou, J., & McGrath, L. M. (2017). Dispelling the Myth: Training in Education or Neuroscience Decreases but Does Not Eliminate Beliefs in Neuromyths. Frontiers in Psychology, 8.

I. Emotion and Congnition: Creating a Positive Classroom Culture 1 Carissa Romero. What We Know About Belonging from Scientific Research. Mindset Scholars Network. 2015, 1.

2 Lisa Quay. The Science of “Wise Interventions”: Applying a Social Psychological Perspective to Address Problems and Help People Flourish. Mindset Scholars Network. 2018, 1.

3 The Center for Transformative Teaching and Learning. Classroom Culture: Field Guide. Neuroteach Global. 2019.

4 Carissa Romero. What We Know About Belonging from Scientific Research. Mindset Scholars Network. 2015, 4.

5 Lisa Quay. The Science of “Wise Interventions”: Applying a Social Psychological Perspective to Address Problems and Help People Flourish. Mindset Scholars Network. 2018, 3.

6 The Center for Transformative Teaching and Learning. Classroom Culture: Field Guide. Neuroteach Global. 2019.

7 Immordino-Yang, M. H., & Damasio, A. (2007). We Feel, Therefore We Learn: The Relevance of Affective and Social Neuroscience to Education. Mind, Brain, and Education, 1(1), 3–10.

II. The Science of Forgetting and the Art of Remembering (Part II) 1 Because I’m Happy. Harvard Graduate School of Education. Retrieved January, 2020, from https://www.gse.harvard.edu/news/ uk/15/03/because-i%E2%80%99m-happy

III. The Tiny House Project: Creating Agents of Change 1 Schonert-Reichl, K., Smith, V., ZaidmanZait, A., & Hertzman, C. (2011). Promoting Children’s Prosocial Behaviors in School: Impact of the “Roots of Empathy” Program on the Social and Emotional Competence of School-Aged Children. School Mental Health, 4(1), 1-21.

2 Kashdan, T., Barrett, L., & McKnight, P. (2015). Unpacking Emotion Differentiation: Transforming Unpleasant Experience by Perceiving Distinctions in Negativity. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 24(1), 10- 16.

IV. How an Unplanned Action Research Project and a Small Dose of Vulnerability Led to Better Student-Teacher Relationships and Joy in the Classroom 1 Whitman, G., & Kelleher, I. (2016). Neuroteach: Brain science and the future of education. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield.

2 The Science of Teaching and School Leadership Academy. (2018). https://www. thecttl.org/. The Center for Transformative Teaching and Learning at St. Andrew’s Episcopal School.

3 Smith, D., Frey, N., Pumpian, I. & Fisher, D. (2017). Building equity: Policies and practices to empower all learners. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

4 Mueller, P. A., & Oppenheimer, D. M. (2014). The Pen is Mightier Than the Keyboard. Psychological Science, 25(6), 1159-1168.

5 Staff, N., & Doubek, J. (2016, April 17). Attention, Students: Put Your Laptops Away. Retrieved from https://www.npr. org/2016/04/17/474525392/attention-studentsput-your-laptops-away.

6 Chen, P., Chavez, O., Ong, D., & Gunderson, B. (2017). Strategic Resource Use for Learning: A Self-Administered Intervention That Guides Self-Reflection on Effective Resource Use Enhances Academic Performance. Psychological Science, 28(6), 774-785.

V. Chasing Sleep 1 Time is the Prize: Our Research Informed Schedule in Think Differently and Deeply volume 3 (2018).

2 Teens and sleep: Why you need it and how to get enough. (2008). Paediatrics & Child Health, 13(1), 69–70.

3 U.S Department of Health and Human Services National Institute of Health, Your Guide To Healthy Sleep, publication no. 11-5271, [Page 13], November 2005, accessed August 24, 2019, Retrieved from https://www.nhlbi.nih. gov/files/docs/public/sleep/healthy_sleep.pdf

4 Whitman, G., & Kelleher, I. (2016). Neuroteach: Brain Science and the Future of Education. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.

VI. Dialing Down Stress Without Dumbing Down My Class 1 The title was created by Stanford University’s Denise Pope for a workshop that Denise and Ian co-presented at SXSW EDU2019.

2 Wiliam, D. (2018). Embedded formative assessment. Solution Tree Press.

3 Quigley, A., Muijs, D. & Stringer, E. (2018). Metacognition and Self-Regulated Learning, Guidance Report. Education Endowment Foundation.

4 Pashler, H., Bain, P. M., Bottge, B. A., Graesser, A. C., Koedinger, K. R., McDaniel, M. A., & Metcalfe, J. (2007). Organizing instruction and study to improve student learning, IES Practice Guide. National Center for Education Research.

5 van Merrienboer, J. J. G., Kirschner, P. A., & Kester, L. (2003). Taking the Load Off a Learner’s Mind: Instructional Design for Complex Learning. Educational Psychologist, 38(1), 5–13.

VII. Planting Seeds of Kindness: It All Begins in Preschool 1 Aknin, L. B., Hamlin, J. K., & Dunn, E. W. (2012). Giving Leads to Happiness in Young Children. PLoS ONE, 7(6).

2 Borba, M. (2017). UnSelfie: Why Empathetic Kids Succeed in Our All-About-Me World. Touchstone.

3 Licona, T. (2018). How to Raise Kind Kids: And Get Respect, Gratitude, and a Happier Family in the Bargain. Penguin Books.

4 Wittmer, D. S., Petersen, S. H., & Puckett, M. B. (2017). The Young Child: Development from Prebirth Through Age Eight. Pearson.

5 Jones, D. E., Greenberg, M., & Crowley, M. (2015). Early Social-Emotional Functioning and Public Health: The Relationship Between Kindergarten Social Competence and Future Wellness. American Journal of Public Health, 105(11), 2283–2290.

6 Durlak, J. A., Weissberg, R. P., Dymnicki, A. B., Taylor, R. D., & Schellinger, K. B. (2011). The Impact of Enhancing Students’ Social and Emotional Learning: A Meta-Analysis of School-Based Universal Interventions: Social and Emotional Learning. Child Development, 82(1), 405–432.

7 Okon-Singer, H., Hendler, T., Pessoa, L., & Shackman, A. J. (2015). The neurobiology of emotion-cognition interactions: Fundamental questions and strategies for future research. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 9.

VIII. Going Big on Retrieval Practice 1 Agarwal, P. K., & Bain, P. M. (2019). Powerful teaching: Unleash the science of learning. Jossey-Bass

IX. Using Creative Writing to Improve Memory 1 Theory of Mind: Understanding Others in a Social World. Psychology Today. Retrieved January 9, 2020, from https://www. psychologytoday.com/blog/socioemotionalsuccess/201707/theory-mind-understandingothers-in-social-world

2 How Stories Change the Brain. Greater Good. Retrieved January 9, 2020, from https:// greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/how_ stories_change_brain

3 The Neuroscience of Narrative and Memory. Edutopia. Retrieved January 9, 2020, from https://www.edutopia.org/article/ neuroscience-narrative-and-memory

4 Shah, C., Erhard, K., Ortheil, H.-J., Kaza, E., Kessler, C., & Lotze, M. (2013). Neural correlates of creative writing: An fMRI study. Human Brain Mapping, 34(5), 1088–1101. https://doi.org/10.1002/hbm.21493

5 Gotlieb, R., Jahner, E. E., ImmordinoYang, M. H., & Kaufman, S. B. (2015). How Social-Emotional Imagination Facilitates Deep Learning and Creativity in the Classroom. Retrieved from https://scottbarrykaufman.com/wp-content/ uploads/2016/07/CUUS2378-17_Proof_ RG_061016.pdf

6 Yuan, Y., Major-Girardin, J., & Brown, S. (2018). Storytelling Is Intrinsically Mentalistic: A Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study of Narrative Production across Modalities. Journal of Cognitive