What I’ve Learned Working for Building Brains
By Niobe Ebel
As a recent high school graduate who is living in limbo between grade school and university, I have missed learning something new everyday. While I say that, I would like to acknowledge that every day is an opportunity for learning; however I am speaking more specifically of topics associated more directly with the curriculum I was taught throughout grade school. Things such as biology, English, and math. Working with Building Brains Together (BBT) has filled this gap of learning that I felt I was experiencing while waiting to pursue my post secondary education. Everything I have been taught is highly important to understanding the ways in which we all interact with the world! I will highlight several of them in the rest of this blog post.
You may find yourself wondering: what exactly is executive function? I had the exact same question three months ago. While executive function is brought up a fair bit in conversation, sometimes it’s hard to pinpoint an exact definition. Alberta Family Wellness has a video (that will be linked below!) that uses the metaphor of air traffic control. In this metaphor your executive function can be thought of as the air traffic control tower at a busy airport. The airplanes are everything you are experiencing in the world and everything you have to keep track of throughout the day. Just like air traffic control your brain works to direct the flow of information and keep it organized as more obligations add up. Three different aspects of executive function are: behavioural inhibition (regulation), working memory (holding information and manipulating it), and cognitive flexibility (seeing situations from varying perspectives). These aspects work together to determine how effective a person's executive function is. But it is important to note the brain is an organ always learning and adapting so everyone, no matter their age, can always improve their air traffic control!
Serve and Return interactions are foundational to building a strong and healthy brain! Serve and Return is based upon the reciprocal interactions between any two humans. I am a big fan of metaphors so I’m going to use another one to explain this concept (this metaphor also comes from the aforementioned Alberta Family Wellness Video). Serve and Return can be thought of as a tennis match between two people. Instead of a ball being passed back and forth, it is differing forms of communication, like words or eye contact. These interactions provide a firm support for all the learning and development that a child will do in the future!
Play helps the brain develop! Before working with BBT I believed that the only way I could make my brain stronger was through traditional forms of learning like school. But that is completely not true! Brain development occurs when new neural pathways are created through exposure to new situations. These pathways are then strengthened through repetition and use. There is probably no better form of exposure than play. It is important to allow a child to play and imagine because not only is it fun, it is helping them develop new neural pathways and develop executive function skills such as flexible thinking, working memory, or emotional regulation.
There are a ton of free resources available so you can start learning about the brain too! I have always found neuroscience interesting but daunting because I didn’t know where to start with my questions. Since starting with BBT I have been told about countless free resources available to the community that help explain brain development, the importance of social interactions, the value of play, and much more!
On the BBT website there are multiple free hour-long courses that highlight the basics of the brain. I really enjoyed Brain Architect Level 1 as a starting point for my deep dive. There is also the Brain Story Certification offered by Alberta Family Wellness. This course is 20 hours, self paced, and features videos and articles made by professionals that highlights (like the title suggests) the entire story of our brains
Be on the look out for a bright yellow tent around Lethbridge this summer - that’s us! Ready to grow our brains through play opportunities.
Through working with Building Brains Together I have learned so much that now shapes how I see and interact with the world. I’m glad I could share a few things with you!
Resources mentioned:
https://www.albertafamilywellness.org/training/
https://www.buildingbrains.ca/courses
References:
Alberta Family Wellness, How Brains are Built: The Core Story of Brain Development, YouTube, October 18th 2013, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmVWOe1ky8s