In the film, the King of England, who has stammered since early childhood, is about to deliver the most important speech of his reign: the announcement that Britain is entering the war against Germany. A hesitant tone, pauses between words and repeated sounds are not what subjects expect to hear—especially when they are being asked to risk their lives in return.
But the most remarkable aspect of this situation—what concerns us as teachers and connects this true story with neuroscience—is the attitude of Lionel Logue, who trains the monarch to improve his prosody while helping him overcome the stress that paralyses him.
Any learning we wish to impart will follow a natural, pre-established neural pathway.
Without realising it, Logue—like so many teachers by vocation—understands that being stressed, distressed or placed under excessive pressure does not support cognitive learning. By creating a warm, bright environment, encouraging the King to breathe fresh air and relax, and finally looking him in the eye and asking him to forget everything else and read the speech to him—to his teacher—as though he were a friend, Logue helps the King overcome this difficult challenge.
At a neural level, relieving the tension caused by stress allows the cerebral cortex to function fully, enabling the student to achieve their goals. Just as in the film, natural light—or, failing that, good lighting—a pleasant atmosphere that does not generate discomfort or activate the emotional brain networks that alert us to danger, and seeing the teacher as an “ally”, a creator of pathways and an observer of processes, all help learners reach their fullest potential.
Any learning we wish to impart will follow a natural, pre-established neural pathway. A student who feels unsafe or threatened, whether the threat is real or perceived, will activate networks in the emotional brain that prevent information from being processed by the cognitive brain. In a state of alert, the responses for which the brain is prepared include fighting, fleeing and freezing, among others. We now know that it is essential to create welcoming environments with firm yet achievable working guidelines, allowing the natural functioning of the brain to guide the knowledge we wish to impart towards areas of association and long-term memory.
Prof. Nse. Mirta Pola Rossi
Director of Practical English Teaching Cultural Inglesa in Quilmes.
Director of the Neuropsychoeducation Training Programme and the Neuroscience Teacher Training Course delivered in English by Asociación Educar.
Member of the British Neuroscience Association, Cambridge Neuroscience, the Dana Foundation and ASCD, among others.
