@TeacherToolkit
Ross Morrison McGill founded @TeacherToolkit in 2007, and today, he is one of the ‘most followed educators’on social media in the world. In 2015, he was nominated as one of the ‘500 Most Influential People in Britain’ by The Sunday Times as a result of…
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Are teachers making the most of the teenage brain in the classroom?
Adolescence – defined as the period from puberty to around age 25 – is a crucial period of brain development, influencing learning, behaviour, and social cognition. Teachers who understand these changes can enhance engagement, self-regulation, and student outcomes.
This research explores how the adolescent brain undergoes significant changes in structure and function, affecting how students think, learn, and socialise.
From this study, we can learn how MRI scans have “undergone unprecedented expansion” (Blakemore, 2012), and transformed our understanding of brain maturation, showing that adolescence is a period of both cognitive growth and vulnerability. It’s a relatively new research field.
The adolescent brain is still developing, particularly in self-regulation, decision-making, and social reasoning. Research using MRI shows that white matter increases (improving communication between brain regions), while grey matter decreases due to synaptic pruning, a process that refines neural connections based on experience, “contingent upon culture” (Choudhury, 2010).
The teenage brain and learning
Adolescents rely more on the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) for social reasoning. Think, the front of your brain, which makes peer influence and emotional responses more pronounced. Over time, brain activity shifts towards more efficient processing networks, allowing students to think more critically and independently.
Teachers who understand adolescent brain development can better support learning, behaviour, and engagement.
Cognitive changes during this stage mean that students may struggle with impulse control, emotional regulation, and long-term planning. This also explains why students are highly sensitive to peer influence and motivated by social validation.
Making neuroscience work in the classroom
I still remember standing in my London classroom, watching a student hesitate before answering a question—not because they didn’t know, but because their peers were watching. Adolescents crave peer approval, and neuroscience confirms it. By understanding how the teenage brain develops, teachers can shape environments that support confidence, risk-taking, and deeper learning.
Rather than dismissing these behaviours as immaturity, teachers can use neuroscience to design lessons that leverage how the adolescent brain learns best.
Credit: Blakemore, 2012
Helping students think smarter
- Scaffold learning and use retrieval practice: The adolescent brain is still developing executive function skills, so breaking tasks into manageable steps and regularly revisiting content improves retention.
- Encourage metacognition: Explicit strategies like self-assessment, reflection journals, and goal-setting help students think about their thinking and take ownership of their learning.
- Foster social learning: Since peer influence is strong, use collaborative learning, peer mentoring, and discussion-based activities to deepen understanding and engagement.
CPD questions for teachers:
- How do current teaching strategies support adolescent cognitive development?
- In what ways does classroom design impact students’ ability to self-regulate and focus?
- Are behaviour management approaches aligned with what we know about adolescent impulse control?
- How can teachers balance the need for structure with students’ growing independence?
- What role do peer relationships play in shaping learning? (See The Hidden Lives of Learners, Nuthall, 2007)
- Are students given enough opportunities for self-reflection and metacognition?
- How can teachers use real-world applications to make learning more relevant to teenagers?
- What strategies are in place to support emotional regulation and resilience?
- How can assessments be structured to account for developing executive function?
- Are school behaviour policies aligned with what is known about adolescent brain development?
Teachers who understand adolescent brain development can design lessons that support cognitive growth, enhance engagement, and improve student outcomes.
The research concludes:
A distinctively under-researched area in cognitive neuroscience is how context and culture affect brain development. (Blakemore, 2018).
I am now wondering about how school culture influences adolescent cognition, and what little we know about this…
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