{"id":12387,"date":"2015-05-08T00:14:07","date_gmt":"2015-05-08T07:14:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=12387"},"modified":"2015-05-08T11:54:40","modified_gmt":"2015-05-08T18:54:40","slug":"nourishing-the-whole-child","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2015\/05\/08\/nourishing-the-whole-child\/","title":{"rendered":"Nourishing the whole child"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dr. Adele Diamond, left, with Dr. Rania Okby<\/a> at a Canadian Associates of Ben-Gurion University-hosted event at the University of British Columbia, in which Okby discussed some of the health challenges facing the Bedouin in Israel. (photo by Cynthia Ramsay)<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Next week, Adele Diamond, professor of developmental cognitive neuroscience at the University of British Columbia, will be presented with an honorary doctorate from Ben-Gurion University. The professor spoke with the Jewish Independent<\/em> at her lab on the UBC campus.<\/p>\n

Born in New York City, Diamond\u2019s academic career took root at Harvard, where she studied anthropology, sociology and psychology, but was not yet interested in the brain. After she decided to retire her first thesis idea, she was inspired to take a closer look at brain development in babies.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy first year in graduate school, my advisor [Jerome] Kagan was jumping up and down about all the changes you see in babies\u2019 behavior in the first year of life. No matter where they are in the world, whether they\u2019re in kibbutzim, in nuclear families, they\u2019re in Africa, they\u2019re in Asia, it doesn\u2019t matter. You see the same cognitive changes at basically the same time during the first year. He said, \u2018It can\u2019t all be learning and experience, their experiences are too different. There has to be a maturational component [in the brain].\u2019 He was so excited about this, you couldn\u2019t help but be excited,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Today, Diamond\u2019s lab seeks to understand how children\u2019s minds and brains develop. Specifically, she studies an area called the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and the cognitive abilities that depend on it, known as executive functions (EFs).<\/p>\n

In a 2011 paper, Diamond describes the critical role of EFs. \u201cTo be successful takes creativity, flexibility, self-control and discipline. Central to all those are executive functions,\u201d including cognitive flexibility (thinking outside the box, perspective taking), working memory (mentally relating different ideas and facts to one another) and inhibitory control. Other EFs that depend on these three building blocks include mental reasoning, creative problem solving, planning and execution.<\/p>\n

EFs can be lacking in children who have behavioral, neurological and developmental disorders and are compromised in kids diagnosed with attention deficit disorders and autisms. The PFC is also influenced by environmental factors, compromising EF in kids experiencing poverty and other disadvantages and stressors. Fortunately, there are interventions that have been found to be successful, especially when implemented in early childhood.<\/p>\n

\u201cTraditional activities that have been part of all cultures throughout time (e.g., dance, music-making, play and sports) address all these aspects of a person \u2013 they challenge our EFs (requiring focus, concentration and working memory), make us happy and proud, provide a sense of belonging and help our bodies develop,\u201d the lab\u2019s website explains. Importantly, Diamond\u2019s lab has \u201cdocumented marked advances in executive functions due to an early childhood school curriculum (Tools of the Mind) that requires no specialists or expensive equipment, just regular teachers in regular classrooms. The children who spent more time in social pretend play outperformed their peers who received more direct academic instruction.\u201d<\/p>\n

She explained in a 2007 paper, \u201cBrain-based doesn\u2019t mean immutable or unchangeable. EFs depend on the brain, yet exercising and challenging EFs improves them, much as physical exercise hones our physical fitness. Yet, transfer is never wide; to get diverse benefits, diverse skills must be directly trained and practised.\u201d<\/p>\n

There is a deep connection between mental health and EF and it\u2019s not just depression and anxiety that have a negative impact \u2013 sadness and loneliness also correlate with compromised EFs. \u201cPrefrontal cortex and executive functions are kind of the canary in the coal mine. So, if anything isn\u2019t right in your life, it\u2019s going to hit prefrontal executive functions first and most,\u201d she said. \u201cSo, if you\u2019re sad, if you\u2019re lonely, if you\u2019re troubled, if you\u2019re not physically fit, if you\u2019re not getting enough sleep, if you don\u2019t feel socially supported, if you feel ostracized, any of those things, it\u2019s going to impair executive functions. A lot of people notice that when they\u2019re feeling stressed or down for whatever reason they can\u2019t think as clearly or exercise as good self-control \u2013 and that\u2019s not just your perception, it\u2019s really true … the phenomenological experience is credible.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a lot of technical reasons why that\u2019s true for prefrontal in the neurochemistry. That\u2019s one of the reasons I argue that we have to care about the whole child. We can\u2019t say school is just about the cognitive, because if the child is sad, if the child is stressed, if the child is lonely, the child\u2019s not physically fit, the child isn\u2019t going to be able to do as well academically as the child would otherwise be able to do. The child can\u2019t show the academic potential he actually has.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cIf you step in right away when the kids disagree then they don\u2019t have the chance to work it out among themselves…. I think a lot of kids don\u2019t have that now. Parents are too afraid. There isn\u2019t any place to play and I think those are important learning experiences.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The trend towards structured play can be problematic for a child\u2019s developing brain. \u201cThe helicopter mom, who needs to structure it all for the kids, doesn\u2019t give them any chance to have some autonomy, have some say, use some creativity and work out disagreements,\u201d Diamond said. \u201cIf you step in right away when the kids disagree then they don\u2019t have the chance to work it out among themselves…. I think a lot of kids don\u2019t have that now. Parents are too afraid. There isn\u2019t any place to play and I think those are important learning experiences.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another useful tool in developing mental discipline can be memorization. In the West, we have largely decided that memorization is not a worthwhile, but there are cultures where rote memorization is still highly valued.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn East Asia, they have too much extreme of memorization and too little creativity,\u201d Diamond said. \u201cThe child\u2019s goal is to learn from the masters, not question them, not try to come up with new things. First, get to know what the sages have to teach us. In some ways, I think the Orthodox Jewish education is like that. Each generation that is further from Mount Sinai knows less, and so we really want to try to absorb all that the older generations have to teach us before we think about surpassing them.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I think a mix is the right way…. I used to be on the bandwagon of memorization is just stupid; I hated it when I was in school. You can just look up these things, why do you have to memorize it? Then I was in Dharamsala, I gave a talk to the Dalai Lama, and we were talking afterwards. I asked him, I said, \u2018I\u2019ve told you about Tools of the Mind. What is a Buddhist way to train the minds of young children?\u2019 The Dalai Lama said, \u2018We don\u2019t try, we wait until they get older.\u2019 But his translator, [Thupten] Jinpa said, \u2018We have them memorize. We\u2019ll take something long and each day they have to memorize a little more. It\u2019s a mental discipline that we\u2019re teaching them.\u2019 I think it\u2019s a way of disciplining the mind, training the mind. I think there\u2019s a real place for it, in that case.\u201d<\/p>\n

In fact, memorization can afford more cognitive and creative freedom. \u201cWhat you want to do as you keep getting older is not have to pay attention to the fine details and be able to chunk things, so that you can deal with more and more the bigger picture and relating things,\u201d said Diamond. \u201cThe more things are memorized, the more you can chunk it. You don\u2019t have to go through the words of the poem, you just say the name of the poem and now you have all of it. Now you have a lot more information at your disposal to be able to play with and work with….\u201d<\/p>\n

Most of all, it\u2019s important to grasp the (misunderstood) role of joy in nurturing developing minds and healthy children, she suggested.<\/p>\n

\u201cFirst, we often think that joy is the opposite of serious. If we\u2019re walking down the school corridor and the kids are having a great time in the classroom, there\u2019s lots of noise, we think they must be on recess, they couldn\u2019t possibly be doing a lesson because there\u2019s too much happy noise coming out of there. That\u2019s, I think, a bad misconception. You can be learning and doing serious stuff and still have a great time. And you don\u2019t have to be miserable to learn important stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n

Attachment is another key to healthy development. \u201cI think Jewish families are pretty good about having secure attachment,\u201d she said. \u201cSometimes they get a little enmeshed later, but I think that Jewish families really let the child know that the child is loved and cared for, they\u2019re there for the child.\u201d<\/p>\n

She added, \u201cOf course, a kid who is not securely attached is going to be more fearful, it\u2019s going to be harder for other people to get close to him, for him to get close to other people. A kid who is securely attached thinks the world is a good place, he\u2019s safe, he can trust other people, he can trust the world. There\u2019s a lot more reason to feel relaxed and joyful.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cThe analogy I use is who learns a route better: the driver or the passenger? Everybody knows the driver does and we all know why, because the driver has to use the information and the passenger is just passively sitting there…. If you say, well, why should kids be actively involved in learning as opposed to just be passive recipients, everybody can understand that point and then we get to the more virtuous things.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

An influence in Diamond\u2019s work is Abraham Joshua Heschel\u2019s emphasis on doing. In Judaism, action, not belief, is key. \u201cThere are two things. One is, when we\u2019re not talking about virtuous things, we learn better when we\u2019re actively involved. The analogy I use is who learns a route better: the driver or the passenger? Everybody knows the driver does and we all know why, because the driver has to use the information and the passenger is just passively sitting there…. If you say, well, why should kids be actively involved in learning as opposed to just be passive recipients, everybody can understand that point and then we get to the more virtuous things.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Dalai Lama has said, if you want others to be happy, practise compassion. If you want to be happy, practise compassion. Now, the first part makes sense to everybody. The second part doesn\u2019t always make sense.\u201d It will never make sense intellectually, she continued, \u201cthe only way it makes sense is for you to do something nice for somebody else and see the wonderful smile you get in reaction, and then you understand. Or somebody says how meaningful that was to them or how important it was and then you see what you get back. But there\u2019s no way to understand that without experiencing it.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, you tell the cynical kid, \u2018I want you to just do it for awhile.\u2019 What Heschel said is that the musician might be playing for the money but if he\u2019s thinking about the money when he\u2019s playing the concert he\u2019s not gonna play a good concert. While he\u2019s doing it, he\u2019s got to be heart and soul in the music. So, if the child wants to see what it\u2019s like to do nice things for people, during those few times when he\u2019s doing nice things, he\u2019s got to be heart and soul, not cynically doing it, but doing it genuinely. I think, in short order, the child can see that he gets something back from it. You don\u2019t have to do it for years and years before you can see the wisdom of what mom and dad wanted. You can see it pretty quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n

The upcoming honor from BGU has grown out of a mutual appreciation. \u201cI have lectured at most Israeli universities, but one of my favorites is Ben-Gurion, I think I\u2019ve been there more than others…. I met the president [Rivka Carmi] last time I was there and she wanted me to come back and teach the course again.\u201d They formed a personal relationship, as well, Diamond said, and then, recently, Carmi nominated her for the award.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Basya Laye<\/strong> is the former editor of the<\/em> Jewish Independent.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dr. Adele Diamond, left, with Dr. Rania Okby at a Canadian Associates of Ben-Gurion University-hosted event at the University of British Columbia, in which Okby discussed some of the health challenges facing the Bedouin in Israel. (photo by Cynthia Ramsay) Next week, Adele Diamond, professor of developmental cognitive neuroscience at the University of British Columbia, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12406,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[3726,2864,3556,309],"class_list":["post-12387","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local","tag-adele-diamond","tag-health","tag-ubc","tag-university-of-british-columbia"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12387","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12387"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12387\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12406"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12387"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12387"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12387"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}