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We create concept frameworks when we need a collection of concepts to either consciously or non-consciously think through, or act out, a specific set of processes. We carry out most of our everyday thinking via the application of non- conscious concept frameworks that we refer to as habits.142 As we create new knowledge, ideas and concepts, we provide our brain with additional resources that potentially could contribute towards creating new concept frameworks.
Everyday Application of Concept Frameworks
Sport is a good example of this process. In cricket or baseball, it is not possible to think consciously about what shot or placement we will play, when the ball is travelling at more than 140 km/h towards us, so it is necessary to predict the path of the ball non-consciously.143 The brain does this by looking for visual clues, including the pitcher or bowler’s stance, how they are holding the ball and the motion of their arms and feet. This is all achieved in fractions of a second. We refer to these actions as reflexes, or more correctly, habits. We have automated more than 90% of our daily actions into habits via the use of non-conscious concept frameworks, and that includes most of our teaching practices.
The important issue with these non-conscious (reflex) processes is that we must make a conscious effort to make changes to what amounts to a group of interrelated habits. Part of the reason that habits are so hard to break is that they are carried out non-consciously. We are not thinking consciously when we apply habits, so it is hard to change or eliminate them.
As we attempt to change how we interact with learners to learn more efficiently, we will soon feel and see how our ‘habits of teaching’ can overcome our good intentions. These habits affect everyone, but educators are particularly impacted by habits, due to the sheer number of interrelated concepts that make up the very complex concept framework of being an educator. The reusable nature of knowledge, ideas and concepts means that we can create an almost unlimited number of possible concept frameworks and apply them, non-consciously, ‘on the fly’.
Every knowledge element, idea or concept that we map can be a part of any number of concept frameworks, with each framework making use of different combinations of our knowledge, ideas and concepts. They are the alphabet soup of the brain. The number of possible combinations of all the knowledge, ideas and concepts that we host in our brain is phenomenal. It is no wonder that we can develop new ideas, concepts and concept frameworks so quickly and without limitation.
The brainwaves may provide clarity in the electrical storm, by synchronising all the activity corresponding to a single stimulus - the words of this page, say - to a particular frequency, while neurons attending to another stimulus fire at a different frequency.144 Helen Thomson
142 Habits range from drug addiction through to the way we clean our teeth. All our habits are formed via the same process but with different levels of addiction. All habits are very hard to modify, let alone break, but some are easier to modify and break than others, based on the hormonal response that first formed them. More information on this process can be accessed from the 2014 literature review ‘Whatever Were We Thinking?’ http://bit.ly/2ixVydf
143 Yahoo Answers. Retrieved from http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090311030723AAi8LmE
144 Thompson H. New Scientists (2010). Retrieved from https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20727680-200-alpha-beta-gamma-the- language-of-brainwaves/