Title: THE LEARNING DISABLING EFFECTS OF MIND-SHAME

Biography:

President of Learning Stewards and Director of the Children of the Code Project, David Boulton is a learning-activist, technologist, public speaker, documentary producer, and author. As a learning theorist and architect David designed Apple Computer’s ‘Electronic Campus’. He has been an adviser to the Chair of the California Senate Education Committee, a member of the U.S. D.O.E.’s Gateway Project, and a featured blogger for the National Association of School Superintendents. He appeared in the PBS Television show “The New Science of Learning: Brain Fitness for Kids” and in the Science Network’s “The New Science of Educating” broadcast. David's current project, the "Online Learing Support Network", is a revolutionary new technology and pedagogy that is redefining how the internet supports learners world wide.

Abstract

We are all wired to experience shame. We can feel shame about any aspect, attribute, ability, possession, relation, or reflection of ourselves that we consider to be important and, in relation to which, we we consider ourselves to be failing or not good enough. Just as it is natural for us to feel pain when our bodies get hurt, it’s natural for us to feel shame when our ‘selves’ get hurt. And, just as it is natural for us to want to avoid what causes us pain, it’s natural for us to want to avoid what causes us to feel shame. What happens to children who grow up ashamed of their learning? What happens to children who grow up ashamed of their minds? This session will present the learning disabling effects that result from children learning to feel ashamed of their minds, of their abilities to learn.