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Know Your Reticular Activating System

Behavior is infectious. Others will copy your behavior; you will copy someone else’s behavior. And when you copy someone else, you change your brain. It’s epigenetic: environment changes the brain. For that reason, environment is important. The brain can reorganize itself as a result of stimuli that are presented through external sources. In schools, we expect that mentors and leaders will present stimuli that are meaningful for each individual so that the brain adjusts in a good way. This is not necessarily always the case. Schools are establishments with as many hidden curricular constructs as those that are visible and tangible.

In every classroom, every playground, every cafeteria, every library, in fact, anywhere the child goes during a day in the life … there are socially constructed societal themes that affect the child’s brain. How it plays out for any child depends on a number of factors that are complex, and as nuanced, as life itself. A couple of very definable aspect lenses, however, help explicate some outcomes.

Mental models matter. First, if we are aware of, and understand the construct “autonomic nervous system reactivity” for any student, then we can view social constructs through a neural lens that will help a student engage, and be successful, in school. Second, if we are aware of, and understand how labeling and stratification infuse an insidious counter-affect into any relationship-building process, we can avoid negative outcomes of classroom competitive practices. These two mental models will be made visible in relation to a critical survival structure at the back of each child’s brain that can make the difference between success and failure in your classroom.

Reticular Activating System

The human brain is one of the most complicated and complex structures in the universe. Millions of bits of information need to be processed every second. The reticular activating system (RAS) acts as a filter that sifts through the incoming information—only about 1% is brought to conscious awareness. It is programmed (hardwired) to choose only the important information to bring to your attention. Millions of other bits are processed in the background that never arrive to conscious awareness—things like heart rate, blood pressure, temperature, and so on.

The decision to bring information to conscious awareness will be influenced by safety, survival, and beliefs. The reptilian brain is always concerned with survival, and is alert to anything incoming that could warn of danger. Additionally, voluntary bits that you, the user, deem important will be forwarded to consciousness. The RAS can, therefore, be a student’s best ally when it looks out for safety. Conversely, it can be the worst enemy when it confirms the student’s belief about her ability to learn. Imagine the following scenario:

RAS let her down. Actually, it did its work according to its function. As the filter in Sarah’s brain, it looked for what was important to her. Whatever Sarah had decided to focus on, her RAS filtered incoming sensory information and delivered as she asked. Sarah already believed that she was no good at math. So, when her teacher corrected the part of the one problem that was incorrect with a RED pen, that was the filter that broke the camel’s back. RAS controls focus and attention. Sarah didn’t see the other questions, which were in fact correct. She didn’t hear the part when the teacher told her that this simple error was a very small oversight and really didn’t take from her understanding of the problem or the solution. All Sarah heard and saw were what her RAS allowed her to see and hear. It basically confirmed her beliefs. She was no good at math.

Your beliefs are important to your RAS—that is how it knows what you want it to focus on. When I say the words, “I can’t bounce two balls; I am so uncoordinated.” Then, that is what usually happens. Every time I drop a ball, the internal self-talk reminds me, “See, I told you … you can’t bounce two balls.” So why try! It’s easier to just give up. Beliefs, self-talk, and proof follow each other around in a kind of self-fulfilling prophecy. RAS is constantly looking for things that you told it you believe. It doesn’t matter to RAS if it’s negative or positive. And the more proof you see (RAS confirms it for you), the stronger your belief is that it is true. “I’m no good at math, and teacher marks my paper with RED INK.” In a strange self-fulfilling way, the stronger your belief is, the more likely you are going to tell yourself it.

Sarah’s friend Chloe, on the other hand, is a resilient adolescent whose RAS is doing the same filtering process, but with a very different outcome. Chloe believes that she is pretty good at math. In fact, she doesn’t really care either way. She basically does the bare minimum to get by in a class that is just ok for her. When she receives teacher feedback, she ignores the RED marks and approaches the mistake as just one of those errors that she missed because she was in a rush. When the teacher points out the detail that she had missed, she smiled. “Got this. We’re good,” and jotted a quick note on the page before consigning it to the folder where all the other “finished” work was hidden away forever. Chloe’s RAS and Sarah’s RAS are doing exactly the same thing—confirming their innermost beliefs.

RAS is part of our brain. And we can rewire our brain by building and strengthening new pathways. The more intentional and frequent we are about a desired change, the stronger the new pathway becomes. The RAS reacts to novel, and/or unexpected inputs, and through habituation blocks out familiar sounds that it “gets used to.” For instance, the person who lives near the airport doesn’t hear the airplanes taking off anymore, but the visitor to his house is shocked at how loud the noise is when they are directly in the flight path for departures. The RAS is activated. Similarly, in a crowded noisy room, a mom will detect her own child crying above the din.

Know your RAS. It is critical for survival, and you can make it your friend. It carries out crucial inspection by working ceaselessly in the background to keep the body functioning, even when we are at rest. The brain, as a whole, processes at something like 400 billion bits per second. It’s a lot of checking and managing to make sure we are breathing and pumping blood. It controls information flow so that approximately 2,000 bits of information per second are allowed enter (88), and conscious activity works at about 60 bits per second (89). These filters protect the brain from becoming overloaded.

Teacher Talk

Strategies for Change

Plasticity and Reticular Activating System can work to be the teacher’s best friend or conversely worst enemy. Get to know the connection, be familiar with methods that grow structures, so that function is not leading the equation. Structure has to come first.

Simple Strategies

Relationship building is critical for “teach to the orchid.” How the teacher uses her voice makes a difference to a hyper-vigilant student. She is expecting to be rejected, overlooked, punished, singled out, and made to feel stupid. Use voice to be welcoming, available, and supportive. When the classroom is fun and engaging, there is a higher potential for learning to occur.

Voice Can Be Used to Build Relationships

• Speak in a different cadence
• Adjust voice, tone, and inflection
• Intentional pauses increase novelty
• Suspenseful pausing builds anticipation
• Use gestures while talking

Movement Is All About Knowing How to Make a Safe Space for the Orchid Child

• Be intentional and thoughtful about how you interpret your space
• Stand still when you are making an important point. Repeat it, tell it again, and reinforce
• Move strategically across your space when you are asking a question to facilitate discussion

Storytelling Is an Important Attentional Focus for the Orchid Child

• Illustrate important concepts through storytelling
• Use visual aids and photographs, colorful cartoons, and charts
• Use cultural items from the children’s world so that they can see themselves in your class
• Use humor; RAS loves an attentional jolt

Co-create Your Space With the Students

• Help Students represent their learning with mind maps, diagrams, and simple sketches
• Use scaffolding questions that allow students to find their voice in a metacognitive moment
• Use fun oxytocin brain breaks

Vocabulary

Reticular Activating System, Attentional Focus, Self-Talk