Why Do I Need a Teacher When I’ve Got Google

drumming lessons.
    In a similar vein, Darwin used to have what he called his ‘thinking walks’ in a part of his garden he designed for that purpose, part of a process he called ‘long pondering’. Not only does movement stimulate the thinking brain it also changes the neurological ‘state’ you are in. We tend to have children in the same state – i.e. sitting at a desk – whether they are taking new information in or trying to process that information. But, as Darwin found, maybe the second process would benefit from a different state to the first.
    One final insight about the cerebellum from the wonderful Feinstein book is that it is in this part of the brain that we find the most differences between the male- and female-type brains, with the cerebellum of adolescent boys ‘being about 14 per cent larger than cerebellums in adolescent girls’, adding that ‘the difference remains throughout adulthood’.
    So, to sum up, brains need to move, thinking is neurologically linked to movement and boys need more of it than girls. This brain science is hardly rocket science is it! Let’s move now, though, from sea squirts to eels. Or rather EELS. An article in
Time
magazine in 2004 9 gave a detailed account of what is known about the teenage brain that could best be summed up with that one acronym, that is to say:
    Experiences
– to grow the brain. They need things that are novel, that are new, that are unpredictable, that stand out from ordinary day-to-day experience. This is what grabs them. They are bored and turned off by predictability and commonplace.
    Engagement
– to focus it properly. They need to be involved in things that they find interesting, challenging and relevant or, preferably, all three. They need to be given the time to get involved in things and receive feedback as to whether what they are doing is working or not and what they can do to become better.
    Love
– to help it grow well. They need to know that,
whatever they do
, they will have unconditional love of the significant adults in their life, be it parents or teachers. You might hate their actions but it will never stop you loving them for who they are. They might annoy you, frustrate you, exasperate you, they might have crashed your car, left the shower running for three days or killed the neighbour’s cat by accident, but your love for them is non-negotiable and something they can always rely on, until the day one of you dies. In fact, Dr Curran’s whole analysis of millions of years and billions of dollars-worth of understanding about the brain boils down to that one four-letter word. And, in the classroom, if they know you love them then ‘neurochemically they will have no option but to learn from you’.
    Structure
– to help it grow safely. They need clearly defined boundaries that they will push against because that is what adolescents do, it’s their job. But that doesn’t mean to say they don’t want them or need them. They do, very much. Remember, too, that love and structure does not equal stifling them. They need the chance to go it alone too within the parameters you have set. Think of it as ‘tender loving neglect’.
    Let me finish this chapter on the teenage brain by sharing with you ‘A Teen-Age Bill of Rights’ 10 published in the
New York Times Magazine
in 1945, the year after the birth of the ‘teenager’ and quoted in a book by Jon Savage,
Teenage – The Creation of Youth 1875 – 1945
. Although described as ‘distinctly wussy’ 11 by the
New Statesman
when reviewing Savage’s book, the charter seems to be an eloquent call for what the neuroscience tells us – give me excitement, engagement, structure and love.
    1 The right to let childhood be forgotten
    2 The right to a ‘say’ about his own life
    3 The right to make mistakes, to find out for oneself
    4 The right to have rules explained, not imposed
    5 The right to have fun and companions
    6 The right to question ideas
    7 The right to be at the romantic age
    8 The right to a fair chance and opportunity
    9 The right to struggle toward his own philosophy of life
    10 The right to professional help whenever necessary.
    (Savage 2007)
    Measuring how many of these rights the teenagers in your school have may be a good starting point.

Chapter 12
Is that an iron bar through your frontal lobes or are you just pleased to see me?
    What do all these activities have in common?
    • Working out if I should get a job in McDonald’s to pay for my trip to