Neurobiology tells us that learning is an emotional matter: the success with which new information will be processed depends on the emotional state of the learner. When we are in a state of panic, the brain is in fight or flight mode and cannot integrate information deeply, let alone allow for intellectual expansion into higher order thinking such as synthesis, creativity or evaluation. If students are in fear of being hit, they are distracted with worry and in no state to integrate new information harmoniously.
AuthorConrad Hughes
Conrad Hughes (MA, PhD, EdD) is a Research Associate at the University of Geneva's department of Education and Psychology; Campus and Secondary Principal at the International School of Geneva's La Grande Boissière, Université de Genève.
He is Campus and Secondary Principal at the International School of Geneva, La Grande Boissière, the oldest international school in the world. He has been School Principal, Director of Education, International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme Coordinator and teacher in schools in Switzerland, France, India and the Netherlands. Conrad, who is also a member of the advisory board for the University of the People, senior fellow of UNESCO's International Bureau of Education and research assistant at the University of Geneva's department of psychology and education, teaches philosophy. His PhD (2008) is in English literature: The Treatment of the Body in the Fiction of JM Coetzee. His EdD thesis (2019), written at Durham University, is on the relationship between prejudice and education with specific focus on how education can reduce prejudice. He is the author of numerous articles in peer-reviewed journals and as Director of Education at the International School of Geneva he led the publication of Guiding Principles for Learning in the 21st Century with UNESCO. He has been chief editor for special editions of Springer’s Prospects Journal with entries by leading academics such as Sugata Mitra, Steve Higgins, Doug & Lynn Newton, Scilla Elworthy, Paul Black, AC Grayling and Juan Carlos Tedesco. Conrad's most recent books are Understanding Prejudice and Education: The Challenge for Future Generations (2017, Routledge) and Educating for the 21st Century: Seven Global Challenges (2018, Brill).