Afternoon session for Our Lady's Abingdon Librarians' INSET
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Transcript of Afternoon session for Our Lady's Abingdon Librarians' INSET
READING AND WELLBEINGScience and strategies
with Nicola
Morganwww.nicolamorgan.com
More information
• Your handouts• My website (www.nicolamorgan.com)
– Today’s blog Handouts with hyperlinks This presentation
– Lots of free things– Teaching resources – discount code
• Free Brain Sane newsletter: wellbeing, brains, adolescence, stress, science of reading and learning, digital/online effects
This afternoon
1. How the brain reads2. What differences our choices make3. The science of reading as a route to
wellbeing performance– And how to encourage it
Brain “plasticity”
• Brain is “plastic” = anything we do changes it• “Use it or lose it” • When we do something a lot, we grow
relevant areas – (more connections)– London taxi driver study
• Grow areas at expense of others– Time spent and space available
• TIME spent on activity is crucial
What does reading do to our brain?
• Changes it – and therefore us• Not evolved to read (see Proust + the Squid)• We borrow from other areas:– Visual/perceptual/spatial– Linguistic– Cognitive– Motor
• So, time spent reading grows some networks at the expense of others
Have we damaged our brains?!Matthew H. Schneps:
An astrophysicist with dyslexia
Quotes from Scientific American Mind, Aug 19 2014
“The Advantages of Dyslexia”
Bet he canspell it, too
We’re reading 3x (?) as much as in 1980
But of what?1. More simple texts2. More non-fiction3. More online/screen
See THE ORGANIZED MIND by Daniel Levitin
1. Simple or complex?
• “Obscurantism” – remember more?• Research with Wordsworth + Shakespeare:– Remember/comprehend more– More brain activity in language areas AND
autobiographical memory AND emotion• Our brains like to be woken up?– If text looks hard, our brain prepares
2. Fiction or non-fiction?
• Should value all reading choices, but… • Might story be crucial to empathy?• Keith Oatley + Raymond Marr – – Such Stuff as Dreams (book)– Onfiction (blog)– Article referenced on your handout
• No! CAUTION re this research
Caution about this research
• Laboratory-based, measuring something hard to measure
• Doesn’t look at different types/quality of factual writing
• Crucial that children read – need to enjoy• Four words: Diary Of Anne Frank…
2. Digital or print?
2. Offline: ebook readers
• Evidence: digital may slightly impair comprehension + recall
• But research is ongoing and very specific– See New Scientist 29/10/2014 (handout)
• Some e-readers also bring distraction• Many find harder to find “engagement”?
Online
• Mostly information / factual• Shorter and shallower?• Faster? • Competition on page and in room– Decisions about links– Distractions
Suggested positives?
• Getting better skimming? (Probably)• Getting better at finding info? (Yes, but not
remembering. Might be OK?)• Better at avoiding distractions? (No) • Better at multi-tasking? (No)
Multi-tasking problems
• “Bandwidth” problems – capacity is c.120bps• Loss of focus and concentration – *• Attempt causes stress and overload• Lower performance on certain tasks – those
requiring concentration
Again, see The Organized Mind
Other negatives about online
• Exhausting; low-level anxiety• Can affect sleep• Poorer memory• More TIME online = less what? – Physical exercise – (good for brain)– Time to think and be creative– Time to rest or do nothing– Time for reading for pleasure, “engagement”
• “Just over 36% of the world’s population is projected to use a smartphone by 2018, up from about 10% in 2011.”
Source: Statista, The Statistics Portal
The answer is not reading more
Readaxation
Definition: “Reading to relax, as a conscious strategy for wellbeing and stress management. The aim is to feel and function well.”
Relaxation is not a luxury
Benefits of R4P – evidence!
Reading Agency Literature Review 2015: • Self-esteem; greater life satisfaction• Increased vocab and general knowledge• Increased empathy + self-understanding• Better mood + relationships• Reduced stress
How do we make it happen?
Victor Nell (1988) The psychology of reading for pleasure: Needs and gratifications. “Unless people experience reading as a pleasurable activity, they will stop reading and choose more enjoyable alternatives.”
Also see Nell’s book, Lost in a Book
“Motivational Flowchart”
A FLOWCHART!
1. Nell’s “Motivational Flowchart”
If Adequate skills + Correct book selection + Expectation of benefit => Will try pleasure reading If physiological + cognitive benefits ensue: more pleasure reading. If not, other activity.
Possible benefits• You feel less stressed• You can switch off from worries • Helps you get to sleep • Helps you understand other people better • Helps you face and understand difficult times • Helps you know more about the world – including facts • Improves imagination/creativity • Helps you succeed better at school • Increases vocabulary • Improves confidence and self-esteem
Use my Readaxation diary
• See handout
• Discuss relaxation/stress benefits with students: give them autonomy
2. Properly value it• Mantra: not luxury – affects performance• This pleasure has no negative and lots of
positive side-effects – know the evidence• Model reading pleasure ourselves• Is your school library the “heart of the
school”?– SoA campaign and award
3. Make time for it
How?
• SMT + teachers must be onside• DEAR, ERIC• Classroom boxes – subj teachers onside• Educate re sleep – digital switch-off before
bed time to read• Library as sanctuary
In summary
• Relaxation is not a luxury but necessary for health and wellbeing
• Readaxation is not the only way to relax but it is a perfect one, and science proves it