Brain Science for Principals: What School Leaders Need to Know

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Brain Science for Principals: What School Leaders Need to Know features leadership of learning from the perspective of recent findings of educational neuroscience. Each chapter explores a question related to learning and offers practical suggestions for principals. Divided into six sections, each of the 24 short chapters can stand alone or the book can be read cover-to-cover. The opening section explains how understanding brain neuroplasticity changes belief in fixed intelligence. A partial list of subjects explored in the book includes neurogenesis, neurodiversity, memory, brain fitness, the emotional connection, effects of stress, poverty, embodied cognition, movement, mindset, ELL issues, multitasking, the role of the arts, ages and stages of the brain, emotional intelligence, creating resonance, and maintaining mindfulness. The conclusion underscores how neuroscientifically literate principals can enhance learning and advance social justice. Writers of the book anticipate a future when educational neuroscience findings about learning become part of the education of every principal and school leader. Knowing how the brain works is the key to the future of education.

Reviews

Neuroscience has and continues to offer exciting insight into how both children and adults learn and grow. Brain Science for Principals effectively translates the research to practical application which will serve school leaders in their efforts to create a culture and environment supportive of all learners. This is an important and timely read. -- Jason Leahy, executive director, Illinois Principals Association
Brain Science for Principals is a brilliant read and needs to be on the reading list of every principal and education administration program. It is a brain myth buster and has the potential to make each reader neuro-wise and not neuro-nave. Bravo! -- Lori A. Russell-Chapin, PhD, LCPC, professor, Education and Health Science associate dean, & co-director of Center for Collaborative Brain Research, Bradley University, Board Certified Neuro Therapist
As a teacher educator who has worked with many teachers in our graduate degree programs with majors in brain-based teaching, I have often heard them say how much they wished their administrators knew more about the brain and how people learn. This book provides leaders with just such a resource! Principals who read this book will be better able to support teachers to increase instructional effectiveness through their understanding of how learning occurs. -- Donna Wilson, PhD, lead developer, Brain-Based Teaching Programs, Fischler School of Education, Nova Southeastern University
The responsibilities of principals are complex and expanding and this book supplies information they need. Written by practitioners, principals new to the profession will find current information and applicable strategies they likely did not receive as part of their training. Seasoned principals will recognize many of the ideas posed from previous information on child development and student motivation but with enriched and updated information from neuroscience. All principals will gain new perspectives of students diverse academic, physical, and emotional needs and have the scientific backing they need to create environments where students learn in brain-friendly ways, experience subjects that motivate and enrich them, and are less constrained by old notions of who they are or who they can become. -- Debby Zambo, PhD, associate director of the Carnegie Project on the Education Doctorate (CPED), professor emerita, Department of Leadership and Innovation, Arizona State University
Principals passionate about closing achievement gaps and ensuring all students achieve to their fullest potential need to read this book. Getting to know the whole student and where they are is key to ensuring students succeed and grow. This book connects the ideas of intelligence and mindsets as they relate to learning and provides advice that principals can believe and follow! -- Dan Lamboley, principal, Parkside Junior High School, Normal Unit #5, Normal, Illinois
After immersing into the in-depth research of Brain Science for Principals, I realized my principal colleagues and I have focused ourselves as instructional leaders with a fixed mindset as opposed to a more effective learning leader or an effective growth leader. Dr. Linda Lyman and her colleagues have done an outstanding job clearly outlining through extensive research what effective educational leaders need to know about Neuroscience. -- Randy Simmons, principal, Peoria Notre Dame High School, Peoria, Illinois
Accountability for student growth is at the forefront of every conversation. We are in an age where student growth is the focus of politicians, administration, teachers, parents and students. Brain Science for Principals offers insights into brain research that supports the environments that can cultivate learning. I found the book easy to read and helpful in understanding the impact of brain science on education. The format of the book allows for reflection about what is read, which leads to implementation of ideas to create a school culture for addressing the needs of the whole child. -- Elizabeth Zilkowski, principal, Charter Oak Primary School, Peoria School District 150
Understanding how the brain, intelligence, and emotional control change as children develop is a useful and important skill for educators, not only because of the consequences for learning, but also to help promote equity in schooling. Imagining that the brain can be developed, nurtured, and grown presents a shifted paradigm for principals who make decisions about student learning, disciplinary consequences, and physical activity. Any principal committed to social justice, to include learning, would be well served by reading this book with the teachers in the building and explore the implications for the way we do schooling. -- Charol Shakeshaft, PhD, professor, Virginia Commonwealth University, Department of Educational Leadership

Author Bio

Linda L. Lyman is a professor in the Department of Educational Administration and Foundations at Illinois State University. Through her teaching and writing, she has explored and advocated leadership approaches that enhance learning, promote growth through dialogue, and advance social justice.