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4.3: "Science" - Page 4-5   |
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EDUCATIONAL INTERVENTIONS FOR THE PROMOTION OF EMOTIONAL QUALITY. The art of life long learning. Utrecht January 2005: Dhyan E.W.M. Vermeulen. Statement:
The competence of mastering this interaction will give emotional quality, Emotional quality promotes the art of life long learning.2 Emotional quality as a circular process of cognition and perception needs a human relation, needs quality-time to feel- focus, find, flow and reflect. The art of changing the brain. Questions:
Neurological research3 supports the realization that learning produces physical change in the brain. This concept4 represents a new way to look at both, learning and neuroscience. In the last few decades, the idea of a fixed brain that can not change has been discarded. Now we know that the brain can change its own wiring, perhaps almost continuously. Like every living entity the brain is molded and reshaped by the forces of life acting on it. Every moment that we interact with this world the world becomes internalized, or mapped in our brain. Experiments have repeatedly demonstrated environment- dependent change in the brain, which happens as the connections between neurons become more extensive, become more or less active, or even more extend into new parts of the brain.5 Emotion. In psychology the word emotion is used to describe a person's responses at many different levels. One level is cognitive: the judgments and thoughts that arise in a particular feeling state. We can also describe emotion in terms of observed behavior: a gesture of anger or gentleness, a tone of voice. Facial expressions that spontaneously accompany moments of feeling are a particularly helpful way of specifying which emotion a person is feeling, and constitute another way to define emotion.6 On the physiological level, we can describe two components of emotional response: the body sensation that a person is aware of, such as a jittery feeling. Such sensations usually involve lower brain centers and control the autonomic nervous system and the release of hormones, with relatively long-lasting effects over a period of minutes or hours. A second physiological response is in the cerebral cortex. Findings in the last decade have given us a clearer picture than ever before of how the brain regulates emotions. It had long been assumed that the emotional centers were located deep within the brain in a series of structures that ring the underside of the cortex, called limbic system. More recent data7 suggest that while emotional impulse originates in limbic centers, how we express our emotions is regulated by structures that are newer in evolution, located in the prefrontal cortex just behind the forehead. Each side of the prefrontal cortex seems to handle a differing set of emotional responses.8 It is a very complex interaction in the brain that might make us withdraw in fear or disgust and have more positive feelings like happiness. The emotions we feel and how to handle them, are governed by this and other extensive and interconnected brain circuitry. There is evidence suggesting that other brain structures are very important in controlling emotional experience, two loops: the amygdala and the neo cortex. There is evidence suggesting that other brain structures are very important in controlling emotional experience, the amygdala being one. These structures are not in the cerebral cortex but at a lower level in the brain's organization. A path of communication has been worked out by Joseph LeDoux, a neuroscientist at New York University, showing that sensory information can take two separate paths: one up to the cortex and another through the thalamus to the amygdala. ( First loop behaviour-B1 see picture) The connection to the amygdala is very quick- a direct connection, but not very precise, because most of the sensory information goes via the other path, up to the neocortex, where it is analyzed through several circuits while a response is formulated. But the amygdala meanwhile quickly assesses the sensory data to see if it has emotional meaning and can trigger a response while the neocortex is still sorting things out. (second loop behavior B2, see picture) Emotions may be very difficult to control because the amygdala turns on other parts of the brain before the thinking brain, the neocortex does. Because the amygdala has diverse connections to parts of the brain that control the autonomic nervous system, as well as connections to the cortex, which is responsible for conscious experience, there is a hypothesis that the amygdala serves a place of convergence, giving it a central role in emotional life, so it can mobilize the body to respond white a strong emotion, particular fear, before the thinking brain quite knows what is happening. From recent experiments it appears that one important function of this connection for the frontal cortex is to regulate or turn off the amygdala. It seems that more left sided frontal activated brains of individuals may better at turning off there amygdales once they get activated so that negative emotions do not linger.9 
Picture 1: Some parts of the brain, relevant for B1 or B2 behaviour
Francesco Varela, in describing the structure and function of the immune system, calls it "the second brain." He makes an analogy between the immune system and the nervous system, pointing out that both are self regulating and control the response of the body to the environment. The immune system, like the nervous system can remember, learn and so adapt, not in cognitive sense, but in a physiological one. The interaction between the mind, the nervous system, and immune system provides a physiological basis for the influence of emotions on health. ( third loop a need for B1 and B2, see picture) Evidence for the strength of this interaction include that stress experienced by the nervous system hampers the functioning of immune system, and the immune system responses can be conditioned. The study of this responsive attuning between the nervous system and immune system called psychoneuroimmunology is a new subfield of biology. Psychoneuroimmunology is the study of relationships between the nervous system, the immune system, and states of mind. It engenders an understanding of the mind/body connection. When you ask how emotions affect the body, you need to consider the nervous system and how the brain works, and to realize that the immune system functions as a second brain of the body- not just metaphorically but concrete. Learning. Draganski and colleagues (2004) describe an experiment that demonstrated change in the human brain generated by learning. In this experiment young adults were taught to juggle. The training went on for a few weeks, until they all could keep at least three balls in they air at once. MRI images of the subjects brains before: and after the experiment showed that learning to juggle generated increased density in a small part of the brain associated with vision, especially in the area that responds to movement. When the students stopped practicing juggling and there skill declined, the density of that part of that part of the brain decreased going back toward its original state.10 What causes the changes that take place in the brain when we learn? This question has two or more answers essential to understanding the art of changing the brain by learning. One answer can be: Neurons possess biochemical pathways that make them grow and reach out to other neurons whenever they are active. When we practice something the neurons that control and drive that action will fire repeatedly. If a neuron fires frequently, it grows and extends itself out toward other neurons. Particularly in the cortex, neurons that fire more frequently will also reach out more frequently. Neurons do more than reach out, the actually connect. They can sent signals to one another if the places where they touch can transport this signals. These signaling connections are synapses. Synapses convert the isolated neurons into a buzzing network of neurons. In place of individual neurons we have an entire hedge of neurons sending signals back and forth through millions of synapses. These networks are the physical equivalent of knowledge, and the change in the connections make up the networks in learning. But: "What about emotion?" To create and change this buzzing network, we need more than just activity- we need emotion. For the brain emotion means:" Chemicals as adrenalin (fight or flight), dopamine (reward) or serotonin (sleep and peace)." When our network connections are awash with emotion chemicals synapse strength is modified and the responsiveness of neuron networks can be dramatically changed11. It can be very difficult to manage emotions in a state where a lot of adrenalin is flowing in the body and brain. It will be very difficult to become motivated to learn in a reward state or a state of depression. We need a safe and harmonious environment to learn. Emotions and cognitions can not be separated. Emotions and cognitions can not be separated. When emotions kick in, the brain pays attention and that attention is necessary for memory and learning; thus a positive emotional hook, such as an intriguing question, enhances the possibility to choice and to learn. The thinking part of our brain evolved through entanglement with older parts that we know are involved in emotion and feelings. Emotion and thought are physically entangled. This brings our body into the story because we feel emotions in our body, and the way we feel always influences our brain. In his pioneering book; Descartes Error: Damasio addresses this idea of the mixture of feeling and thinking. He uses the term of somatic markers for specific body feelings that go with specific cognitive experiences. Varela: "We are so used to our body working that we don't appreciate the complexity of this emerging process that maintains its working. Much as the human brain, where capacities such as memory or sense of self are emergent properties of all neurons, in the immune system there is an emergent capacity to maintain the body, and to have a history with it, to have a self." As an emergent property, this self is something that arises and is mapped in the brain. From the point of view of psychoneuroimmunology, the body would also have an identity that is conceptually designated, but doesn't exist anywhere. My body identity is not localized in my genes or my cells, but in a complex of interactions. Damasio uses the term of somatic markers for specific body feelings that go with specific cognitive experiences. Zull gives us an example: "When we solve a problem, we have feelings of pleasure and satisfaction. Or when we cannot understand a calculus or biochemistry text, we have feelings of frustration and despair. This emotion connection has implications for motivation." The triangle perception- cognition- relation -Quality time-feel-focus-find and flow. Emotional quality as a circular process of cognition and perception needs a human relation, needs quality time to feel- focus, find, flow and reflect.
We all are learning continuously. We must find ways to make this long life learning intrinsically rewarding. Learning should feel good. The person should become aware of those feelings. To achieve this goal, we need to make things happen. First: work on topics and activities that naturally appeal to us (perception/quality- identity). Second: an authentic relationship is a need for positive emotion, emotional quality and life long learning. We need relationships to re-construct our identity. Third: learning experiences, experiments and assignments should lead to progress, some sense of mastery and success. (Cognition of new successful concepts) We know that relationship is a first natural need for people. Psychologist and parents have long known from experience about the importance of relationship and emotional engagement to create basic thrust and an identity mediated by a life-story (narrative identity). Basic trust is trust in the continuity of others and the object world derived from early infantile experience12 Like Winnicott and Erikson, Sullivan stresses that the infant's early sense of security comes from nurturance of care taking- parents. Basic trust creates a protective cocoon we need to face and to live in this world. Identity is something we construct and re-construct by telling a story about our-selves (idem identity/ myself) as somebody (soi -body identity) who (Ipse identity / selfhood) did or experienced something. In this story telling other peoples are mirrors. To be a 'person' is not just to be a reflective actor, but to have a concept of 'I', to have self-knowledge. Self-knowledge is an interpretation- self representation in its turn and finds in narrative among other signs and symbols, a privileged mediation to construct and reconstruct identity13. What 'a person' is to be understood certainly varies across cultures (traditional difference male-female14 , or traditional religious identification), although there are elements of such notion that are common to all cultures.15 The capacity to use "I " in shifting contexts, characteristic of every known culture, is the most elemental feature of reflexive conception (B2) of personhood.16 Life experiences and learning changes the brain and because that we make new representations and body maps that re-construct our identity again and again.17 Or in other words: "A person with a reasonably stable sense of self-identity has a feeling of biographical and physiological continuity which she/ he is able to grasp reflexivity and, to greater or lesser degree, communicate to other people. That person also, through early trust relations, has established a protective cocoon which 'filters out', in the practical conduct of day to day life, many of the dangers which in principle threaten the integrity of the self18. Or as Charles Taylor put it: "In order to have a sense of who we are, we have to have a notion of how we have become, and of where we are going." There is surely an unconscious aspect to this chronic 'work', perhaps organized in a basic way through dreams. In addition to supporting what we know from research and practical experience, we hope that neuroscience will eventually tell us something new, even counterintuitive for our work in social learning contexts. 
see note 19 Education: The teacher as researcher: teachers training in EQ brain issues and action research. A story James E. Zull20 tells us: "As I began to explain less to my students, I came up with more ideas that once seemed counterintuitive. For example: "Rather than treating student errors as obstacles to learning." I began to welcome errors. They became my raw materials for helping students build knowledge. Instead of thinking: "my job was to eradicate error". I sought it out. It was futile to imagine that I could eliminate students' existing neuronal networks with a shake of my head or a red mark with a pen. Instead I saw student errors as clues for teaching. Errors help to identify gabs in student neuronal networks and provide ideas for how to build on these networks." We can learn to engage the whole brain. We can develop ways to engage several regions of the brain in learning and make life long learning more joyful for everyone. A useful, although greatly simplified, way to view the cerebral cortex is to divide it into four major functions: getting information by experience ( feel an know- sensory cortex) making meaning of information by reflection ( find integrative cortex) creating new ideas from this meanings( focus- integrative cortex in the front of the brain) and acting on this ideas (flow motor cortex). If we provide experiences and assignments that engage all four areas of cortex, we can expect deeper learning than when they have engage fewer regions. This knowledge is not only of value in educational processes, it can also be used in so called "learning organizations, in cultural and professional development processes and for personal grow projects."21 Interventions for emotional quality and effective learning - Quality time and ownership. The learner as a researcher can use EQ brain issues and action learning to make the client owner of his/her own 'learn to learn' process. To create emotional quality and to make learning more joyful and attractive for people (good feeling stimulates learning) we need to involve the ability to monitor one's own and others' emotions, to discriminate among them, and to use this information to guide one's thinking and actions"22 This include Gardner's inter- and intra-personal intelligences, and involves abilities that may be categorized into five domains: Self-awareness: Observing yourself and recognizing a feeling as it happens. Managing emotions: Handling feelings so that they are appropriate; realizing what is behind a feeling; finding ways to handle fears and anxieties, anger, and sadness. Motivating oneself: Channelling emotions in the service of a goal; emotional self control; delaying gratification and stifling impulses Empathy: Sensitivity to others' feelings and concerns and taking their perspective; appreciating the differences in how people feel about things. Handling relationships: Managing emotions in others; social competence and social skills23 24 
Picture 2: Loop 1 and loop 2 behaviour
In educational processes we (and also children and students) need a safe learning environment, we need a context that invite us, that activate our natural motivation to learn. Learning is a natural need for every human being.25 We also need the possibility to say: 'I am" we need cognition and relationship. We need communicative and cognitive input. We also need the possibility to 'stand still', quality time to feel, find, focus and perhaps flow. Stand still means take some time, begin neutral.26 Feel means- use your emotional antenna, be aware of your emotions and physical state (body). Find means - the cognition- knowing what to do in this special situation. Focus means choice - what action and behaviour will be the best in this situation. Flow means excitement and energy we experience if we are fully involved. For effective learning we also need time to reflect on the learning experience and to communicate our errors and learning notions for follow up. (see picture: "Loops and behaviour") Cognition of new successful concepts and some sense of mastery and success will motivate us again.Social competence skills27 like, being able to manage ones emotions, having good interpersonal and problem solving skills, are believed to have an impact on the decisions and behaviours that can either endanger or protect one's health.28 Implementation of EQ brain issues and instruments for development. Action learning and research: self science and research counseling. To implement this EQ effective learning approach we need learning practices (pilots) and exchange between theory and practise. Participative inquiry29 and action research can promote development and can produce evaluation data. Self science30 and research counseling both are good instruments for qualitative action research. The relationship between action learning and action research, as instruments for educational development can promote emotional quality in education.31 Self-science will fuse the cognitive and emotional skill development in a context that is inclusive and supportive, and also activates prior knowledge.32 Research counseling is an instrument for qualitative action research based in Touraine's theory of "subject" (sujet).This qualitative research approach is based in mutual equivalence and include the difference between 'sujet en survie' (B1 survival coping strategies) and sujet personnel (B2 life long learning projects). Author: Dhyan Vermeulen Educational expert APS /HVO Utrecht The Netherlands 0031 2856856/849 - 0031 625051957 References: Brembs.B Lorenzetti.F.D Reys.F.D Baxter D.A and Byrne j.H Operant reward learning in aplysdia. Neuronal correlations and mechanisms Science 2002 296 (55730) Childre.D& Cryer.B From Gaos to Coherence. The power to change performance Hearth Math 2000 Boog. B & Vermeulen D, Openness in cooperative exemplary action research University News Utrecht 1993 Boog.B & Vermeulen D, Openness in a sociological intervention: towards equivalence in a qualitative methodology. RUG 1993. Damasio A.R: Descartes Error; Emotion Reason and Human brain; New York 1994 Damasio A.R: Looking for spinoza- Joy sorrow and the feeling brain, New york/ Wereldbibliotheek 2003 Draganski.B Gaser.c Busch.V Schuierer. G: Neuroplasticity: Changes in grey manner introduced by training. Nature 427 2004 Giddens. A Modernity and Self-identity. Self and society in the late modern age. Cambridge: Policy press 1991 Kolb.D.A Experimental learning 1984 Mayer.J.D & DiPaolo. M.T & Salovey.P perceiving affective content in ambiguous visual stimuli: A component of emotional Intelligence: Does it make sense? Journal of personal assessment 54/ 1990 Ricoeur. P Oneself as another Chicago: Un Chic press 1992 Ricoeur.P Narrative Identity. In Wood On Paul Ricoeur: Narrative and interpretation Routledge London 1991 Touraine.A Critique de la Modernité. Paris : Fayard 1992 Touraine. A La voix et le regard, Paris 1978 Peter Reason :Three approaches to Predicative Inquiry: London 1995 Salovey. P & Mayer.J.D and Caruso. D The positive psygology of emotional intelligence- Handbook of Positive psygology New York; Oxfort University press 1990 Varela.F. Embodied mind, Paris 2003 Vermeulen.D Action Learning and action research- Reflecting from different perspectives: Theory and Practice of action research: Tilburg University press 1996 Vermeulen.D. Joyfull education for all. India Educational Academic Educational Journal New Zealand 2004 Vermeulen.D Report: Larsen.L and Plesner.T. Teaching for tolerance and freedom of religion and Belief UN Oslo 2002 Vinod Kumar Shanwal, Emotional Intelligence the Indian scenario 2004 Zull. J.E : Educational leadership September 2004 Notes:
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