Most of us don't need to be told that stress is bad for us. In a learning setting, however, stress has not been adequately researched. Part of learning is going through a process of confusion - i.e. we don't know the answers and we are trying to make sense of the concepts. Not knowing is typically viewed as worthy of stress. If current research on how stress impacts the brain holds, then we should be spending time developing learners competence in handling uncertainty. We need to teach learners to accept and cope with ambiguity, confusion, and contradiction. Learner flows through those spaces.
Posted by gsiemens at April 6, 2006 1:45 PM | TrackBackHi George,
the research into PTSD and brain damage goes back at least 10 years and prior to that, anecdotal evidence suggested that this was the case.
The principal problem for adult sufferers of PTSD, particularly older adults, is that there has been no intervention to correct the brain damage and therefore many adults struggle with muddle-headedness, which they interpret as a sign of stupidity.
My understanding George, is that you work in the K-12 sector. I work with adults and am myself a survivor of childhood trauma and torture. The earlier we can intervene with kids, the less we will "spend" on people when they are adult and the richer the adult lives will be...best..janet
Posted by: Janet Hayes at April 6, 2006 7:19 PM