Sturgeon teachers are getting schooled on children’s brain activity.
On Friday Sept. 16, 290 teachers and support staff from the Sturgeon School Division spent the day studying neuroscience to better handle children who are at risk.
The program was developed to help support children who have mental health issues or behavioural challenges but Sandra Brenneis, director of learning and support of the Sturgeon School Division, says the program helps teachers better support all students.
“We can only work in the cognitive part of the brain when the rest of our brain is in a really alert and calm state,” Brenneis said. “We take the best information about brain development and childhood development and potential things that could interrupt or insult that development and make sure that we are creating learning environments that take all of those things into account.”
The program is based on the work of the Child Trauma Academy, a not-for-profit organization based in Houston, Texas, that helps to improve the lives of high-risk children.
Brenneis and Wayne Rufiange, principal of Morinville Public School, partnered with the academy to bring the training to Sturgeon. This is the second year they are running the teaching session and so far they have seen improvements in students.
“We went in targeting emotional behaviour support issues – we are find it has a wide impact,” Brenneis said. “Students who have high anxiety are loving this stuff. It’s really great skill building for them and we are seeing a really positive outcome.
After the teachers spend the day learning about the brain they will then teach their students what they have learned so children are able to understand their own brains as they relate to learning. Brenneis said the reason this program is so effective is because it empowers children and helps teachers and children work together towards the same goal.
The program was brought to Sturgeon because of the increasing emotional and behavioural challenges teachers are having with children across the province. Brenneis said the problem is not unique to Sturgeon but it was something that the division found “profoundly important.”
“I would say it’s a pervasive problem of our culture right now that people are disconnected,” Brenneis said. “Parents are sometimes at a loss on how to support kids that are more challenging.”
The first session was brought to the division last year and since its inception teachers have seen improvements in students. The teachers found that students with behavioural issues were able to focus for longer periods of time, needed less teacher intervention and were also able to accomplish more schoolwork.
The school division plans to continue to run the program and will hold another session next year to bring more teachers into the program.
