The Importance Of Brain Development

Brain Development

Brain development is reliant upon the experiences a person has in life. The brains way of changing in response to these experiences is called plasticity. According to O’Donnell, Et. Al, (2016, p 100) By simply stimulating and using the brain, this results in greater interconnectivity rather than lacking stimulation and disuse which causes pruning. Pruning is the brains way of shedding information it doesn’t need or use. O’Donnell, Et. Al., (2016, p 100) asserts the stimulation provided by education or experience, results in the connection of more and more neurons enhancing learning, brain development and cognitive development. As a result of brain development, changes in behaviour are expected. It can be argued these changes

O’Donnell, Et. Al., (2016, p 100) supports this claim by stating neural interconnectivity occurs rapidly for children between 6 and 12 years old. According to Zembar Et. Al., (2010) during middle childhood cognitive development is expected in the form of further language development, logical or concrete reasoning capabilities emerge, memory volume grows larger, further emotional development occurs including a sense of who they are and what they can achieve as well as moral and ethical understanding. Essentially, middle childhood milestones are considered advancing prior skills learnt in the early

O’Donnell, Et. Al., (2016, p 99) states that via repeated exposure to an enriched educational setting, neurons are stimulated, causing an increase in the number of connections between them. Neural connections are crucial when processing information during the learning process. Educators must be aware of each stage of development which occurs in the brain to ensure curriculum is planned to encourage stimulation and further development as the child matures. Woolfolk (2016, p 74) states it becomes increasingly problematic to alter patterns of functioning within the brain as an individual ages. It is clear an educators’ focus on brain development is more effective in the early years. As stated, in the early years, play based learning is priority. Barblett (2010) asserts ‘not all play is kind or inclusive, so educators have to act accordingly to ensure that play is not harmful.’ Educators must keep a watchful eye on the social interactions between children so as to guide them towards social competence. Barblett (2010) reiterates by educators’ getting to know children, their interests and their families, together they can plan play-based activities. By knowing a students’ background an educator can plan lessons to maximise engagement and ensure milestones are