"More than ever, Adventist educators need resilience and vision to handle the many complex issues and challenges facing 21st century schools,” says Linda Caviness, Ph.D., associate professor of curriculum and instruction in the La Sierra University School of Education and coordinator of the Summer Institute. “The degree of skill that educators have in addressing these complexities strongly affects their relationships with students, decision making, problem solving, team building and overall physical energy.”

“The heart now is being described as a sensory organ. Like other sensory organs, it can create hormones and neurochemistry, the substance that, along with electrical current, conducts information transfer and creates our emotional states. Some research now indicates that at times the heart responds to sensory data simultaneously or even nano seconds before the brain responds,” says Caviness who has researched brain learning since she learned that her son, Tad, had Niemann Pick disease. She read everything she could find on the brain and was amazed at how neuroscience confirmed what both the Bible and Ellen G. White taught.

“Spiritual tone often gets relegated to the optional category as we consider mind and body health,” says Caviness. “But now new data emerging from the study of the heart-brain help us see more objectively—in graphic form—the advantages of keeping God at the center of our being. Research focused on heart-brain connections is helping educators and students understand the science that supports sound counsel in Scripture and the Spirit of Prophecy.” As an outgrowth of her research, Caviness stresses to each class she teaches how important it is to be right with God before working with students.

“Formerly, neuron structures were believed to be properties of the brain,” adds Caviness. “These tiny structures help constitute the system of information transfer and memory within the brain. Now, however, approximately 40,000 neuron-like structures have been discovered in an atrial area of the heart. This is a minute number considering the 100 billion neurons in the brain. Nevertheless, this may help explain why an increasing body of data indicates that the heart has capacity for memory—like a little mind in the heart.”

The La Sierra University School of Education is gearing up for its third annual Summer Institute: Brain and Learning to be held Monday, July 10. The topic is “Resilience in the Classroom: Heart-Brain Connections and Teacher-Student Affect.”

Topics include: how to think more clearly and make smarter decisions, especially under pressure; how to develop more brain-friendly instructional strategies; and how to create a stronger school culture and espirit de corps.

Cutting edge research leaders will make presentations, including Rollin McCraty, Ph.D., director of research for the HeartMath Research Center in Boulder Creek, Calif. Since 1991, HeartMath has focused its research on the physiology of and relationship between the heart, stress and emotions. Their research has been published in numerous health and science journals and featured in USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Newsweek and Readers Digest. They recently appeared on NBC’s Today Show and on the CBS networks’ The Early Show.

Other presenters include Robert A. Rees, Ph.D., director of education and humanities at the Institute of HeartMath, who previously taught and worked in administration at UCLA for 25 years; Joann Cleland, Ed.D., professor emerita of education at Arizona State University West and a private literacy consultant; Melvin Campbell, Ph.D., retired faculty member from the LSU School of Education and author of Readers Theatre in the Classroom with Cleland and Readers Theatre for Christian Worship with Edwin Zackrison; VirLynn Burton, M.A., instructional specialist at Wells Middle School, Riverside, Calif., with 25 years teaching experience and an international presenter; and Caviness.

The Summer Institute will be held on the campus of La Sierra University. To register, call the School of Education 951-785-2266 or 951-785-2203 before June 23.

LSU Develops New Concentration

La Sierra University is developing a Brain, Heart and Education concentration for graduate and post-graduate students in the School of Education. The program will be modeled after and mentored by Harvard University’s Mind, Brain and Education. Those interested should contact Linda Caviness, program developer, at 951-785-2484, or Elissa Kido, dean of the School of Education, at 951-785-2266.