About the Film
Grey Matters, a feature-length documentary, shows how teachers are finding compelling new ways to use brain science to turbo-charge teaching programs. It's 2013 - we know volumes about how the brain works but we're not applying it to how students learn. The film will cover three different teachers, in three different classrooms,observed over the school year. Interspersed with student conversations and neuro-cognitive expert interviews, the film examines the question, "Can neuroscience can remake the teaching process, and if yes, what does that look like in practice?"
Once upon a time there were a group of teachers. They cared very much about their students but could see that some of them were struggling to keep up with the work. They tried as best they could to tailor their teaching and sometimes, it would help but in a class of 25+ students, they couldn’t always do it. One day they decide to research how the brain actually functions to understand the learning and teaching process. Because of that, they discover Dr. Mariale Hardiman’s Brain-targeted Teaching Model and the graduate program at Johns Hopkins which she developed to teach teachers how to teach by employing the brains’ natural tendencies. They spend a year learning about how the brain works, the latest in neuroscience research, and most importantly, how to use that information in their classroom. Because of that, they return to their classrooms invigorated and refreshed, with renewed hope in making a difference in the lives of their students. Finally they have real insights into how the brain learns, based on research, along with student and teacher feedback. Now, instead of hoping things will stick, they know how to make them stick.
Although students respond extraordinarily, with preliminary data collection efforts showing an increase in test results, Dr. Hardiman and practicing teachers face a monolithic group of reluctant administrators and educators who view teaching as a checklist and place heavy emphasis on standardization and accountability.
These teachers, all following Dr. Hardiman’s lead, are determined to live up to Jean Piaget’s vision of education: “create individuals who are capable of doing new things, not simply repeating what other generations have done—individuals who are creative, inventive and discoverers.” They want to transform school into a place where students learn to solve problems that require answers, instead of a place where students solve problems that have pre-determined answers.
Once upon a time there were a group of teachers. They cared very much about their students but could see that some of them were struggling to keep up with the work. They tried as best they could to tailor their teaching and sometimes, it would help but in a class of 25+ students, they couldn’t always do it. One day they decide to research how the brain actually functions to understand the learning and teaching process. Because of that, they discover Dr. Mariale Hardiman’s Brain-targeted Teaching Model and the graduate program at Johns Hopkins which she developed to teach teachers how to teach by employing the brains’ natural tendencies. They spend a year learning about how the brain works, the latest in neuroscience research, and most importantly, how to use that information in their classroom. Because of that, they return to their classrooms invigorated and refreshed, with renewed hope in making a difference in the lives of their students. Finally they have real insights into how the brain learns, based on research, along with student and teacher feedback. Now, instead of hoping things will stick, they know how to make them stick.
Although students respond extraordinarily, with preliminary data collection efforts showing an increase in test results, Dr. Hardiman and practicing teachers face a monolithic group of reluctant administrators and educators who view teaching as a checklist and place heavy emphasis on standardization and accountability.
These teachers, all following Dr. Hardiman’s lead, are determined to live up to Jean Piaget’s vision of education: “create individuals who are capable of doing new things, not simply repeating what other generations have done—individuals who are creative, inventive and discoverers.” They want to transform school into a place where students learn to solve problems that require answers, instead of a place where students solve problems that have pre-determined answers.
info@changethelensproductions.com
