Chapter 3 Brain Research and Learning over the Life Cycle by Manfred Spitzer

Spitzer’s argument is that brain research not only shows that we are born for learning and do it for our entire life, but also shows the conditions for successful learning and differences in learning at different stages of life. The time has come, he says, to use this understanding for shaping the learning environments and learning programmes; we can no longer afford to treat the most important resource that we have, our brain, as if we knew nothing about how it works. Thus, it is important to create the conditions for transferring insights from basic studies of learning in brain research to the practice of teaching. His discussion is organised around the following themes: from examples to rules; mechanisms for learning; phases, stages and windows; schooling and learning for life; emotions and learning; the decreasing rate of learning with age; learning, age and wisdom.