Education Through a Neural Lens!
It's easy to ignite learning when we understand how to ignite the brain
Mission / Vision / Commitment
Mission: We knock down the barriers of stress, bias and emotional reactivity with powerful, practical and proven brain-based learning strategies so that all students can learn.
Commitment: We Commit to ...
- creating a culture of affirming environments - face to face and remote
- affirming educators' humanity and identities
- empowering and investing in educators' autonomy, mastery, purpose
- building an inclusive community of people who care about education, educators, students & human potential
Vision: To bring safety, structure and a sense of belonging to every student and classroom by uniting the neuroscience of learning with the power of teaching.
Equity & Inclusion: In the spirit of representation, elevating diverse educator experiences, and co-creating brain-aligned practices, Neural Education is seeking to embody its commitment to equity and inclusion by making our events more accessible to BIPOC and LGBTQ+ educators. If you identify as black, indigenous, a person of color, or LGBTQ+, you are invited to submit this scholarship form to request funding for summer institutes.
Pledge: Using Neural Education’s research-based methods and practices, rooted in cognitive-neuroscience, classrooms can become low-stress, safe and productive learning environments where all students can be seen, their voices heard and their potential realized.
What We Do
Inspire Teachers
to ignite their classroom using research-based brain science methodologies which allow them to manage the classroom by managing the brain.
Provide K-12
Professional Development
to help educators realize a new paradigm - a way of thinking about teaching and learning using a neural lens.
Translate Neuro-scientific Research
(how the brain processes and retains information), into accessible classroom practices and processes.
Improve Educational Outcomes
for all students by empowering them to access their own potential as they understand themselves and see themselves as learners.
"Neural Education offers a deeper understanding of the brain's amazing capacity. When this understanding informs the classroom, lessons come alive - joy and meaning are brought back to learning."
Terry Bergeson - WA Superintendent of Public Instruction 1996-2008
Pacific Lutheran University - Former Dean, School of Education and Kinesiology
How We Do It
We translate neuroscience research into practical teaching and learning tools that can be applied to real classrooms with real results!
Understanding how the brain works, what stimulates it and how to harness the connections in a positive way enables teachers, parents, and students to flourish.
- Summer Institutes
- School Year Implementation Workshops
- School Year Book Studies
- Parent / School Outreach
- Seminars / Webinars
- Conferences
- Peer-reviewed Papers
All Institutes are currently being held virtually.
Summer Institutes
In this one-week immersive course, a framework and foundation in evidence-based Neuroscience is taught that empowers educators. Every participant will gain insight into the science behind how children learn and be given practical and proven skills to identify and re-engage students.
35 Clock hours eligibility! Standard or STEM clock hours.
(+$35 clock hour admin fee)
Learn how to:
- Create a stress-free classroom for all
- Eliminate disciplinary referrals
- Increase Academic Performance
- Help students self-engage with voice and agency
Registration will open February 2022
- Basic 1 - Virtual - Date TBA
- Basic 2 - Virtual - Date TBA
- Basic 3 - In Person - pending
Tuition (2021)
$995 w/ up to 70% scholarships!
- Only $299 early bird
- Only $348 (w/i one month of start)
* scholarship request for BIPOC and LGBTQ+ educators
For more information, click the yellow icon or go to the Institutes page
This Advanced Neural Education Institute offers graduate educators the opportunity to widen and deepen the neural lens that was introduced in Basic Neural Education Institute. Concepts and techniques that were explored earlier will be honed and polished for application in the classroom. In addition, participants will leave the institute with an action plan for classroom implementation and school-wide dissemination.
20 Clock hours eligibility! Standard clock hours.
(+$25 clock hour admin fee)
Learn how to:
- Advance your application of neuroscience fundamentals
- Scale neuroscience within your school community
- Help Students access deep learning
Registration will open February 2022
- Advanced - Virtual
- Date TBA
Tuition (2021)
$595 w up to %70 scholarships!
- Only $147 early bird
- $197 (w/i one month of start)
* scholarship request for BIPOC and LGBTQ+ educators
For more information, click the yellow icon or go to the Institutes page
"In my 25 years of being in education, this is HANDS DOWN the VERY BEST professional development I've been part of...ever!!"
Karey Richardson, Principal - Stahl Junior High
Champion Certification Program
You've Been a Participant - Now Become a Champion
The Neural Education Champion Certification program has been designed to train passionate educators to help reach teachers, administrators, families and policy makers. They in turn knock down the barriers of stress, bias and emotional reactivity with powerful, practical and proven brain-based learning strategies that help all students learn and succeed.
"Becoming a Neural Ed Champion has literally changed my life.” Audrey Gallagher - Kent SD
Certified Neural Education Champions are changing the future of education by uniting the neuroscience of learning with the power of teaching! Champions have the opportunity to present and deliver Neural Education content in the form of paid presentations in a variety of professional development settings (virtual and in-person): courses, institutes, conferences, Implementation Workshops, and more.
Open to alumni who have attended both Basic and Advanced Institutes
Alumni password required
Book Study September 2021 through April 2022
Replaces previous PLC's
Neural Education is excited to announce our newest program offering: Book Study. Each year we will highlight a different book that uses cutting edge Neural Science to apply in the classroom.
For the 2021/2022 School year, Neural Education Founder and author Kieran O'Mahony will be leading a study of his recently published book The Brain-Based Classroom.
The book study meets virtually once/month on Monday from September - May (we skip January). Each month a section of the chosen book is reviewed with discussion and conversations with the author(s) or Neural Education Champion.
Making a Difference
Impact of applying Neural Education Principles
Neural educators view teaching and learning as collaborative practices that grow cognitive capacity with the goal of helping every student reach their full potential.
- Classrooms are viewed as greenhouses that promote neural growth
- Student behavior is re-framed to be seen as the brain’s way of communicating overload/stress/anxiety
- Lessons become opportunities to co-create - giving students autonomy and purpose
- School communities shift to focus on relationship building which fosters academic growth
- Classroom management is seen as a side-by-side endeavor with the goal of cultivating neurotransmitters
"Learning about the brain allowed me to understand my own behavior in relation to the behavior of my students. Consequently, I was able to change my beliefs about student behavior by looking through a neural lens. Now I see the student, not the behavior."
Karen Foley, Elementary Teacher - Lincoln Elementary
"We have high poverty and ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences) climate. I’m seeing how knowledge about learned helplessness helps my children move beyond the “I’m no good” freeze stage. What is interesting for me is that kids who used to give up on the learned helplessness kids are now reinvigorated to teach them resilience by practicing it themselves."
Debbie Dougherty - Toppenish Middle School
Awards
Regional WASA Community
Leadership Award
Washington Association of School Administrators (2020-2021)
In recognition of community members exhibiting outstanding contributions to education.
Phi Beta Kappa Pathfinder Award
Puget Sound Association - Phi Beta Kappa
(2017-2018)
Honors those who encourage others to seek new worlds to discover, pathways to explore, and untouched destinations to reach.
EEAW Diversity in Action
Award
Environmental Education Association of WA (2010-2011)
In recognition of individuals who demonstrate cultural awareness and who encourage a multicultural approach to education.
How YOU can Help
AmazonSmile is a website operated by Amazon with the same products, prices, and shopping features as Amazon.com. The difference is that when you shop on AmazonSmile, the AmazonSmile Foundation will donate 0.5% of the purchase price of eligible products to the charitable organization of your choice.
- Sponsor a teacher!
- Sponsor a portion of a Summer Institute
- Be a vendor at a Summer Institute
- Donate money where it is needed most (Click the Donate Now button at the top of the page.
Volunteer your time!
We have lots of ways you can help!
Share what we are doing
There are lots of ways!
Who We Are
Founder
Chairman of the Board
Kieran O'Mahony
PhD, BcID, FRGS,
Program Co-Creator
Board Vice-president
Missy Widmann
EdD
Board of Directors
Kieran O'Mahony - Chairman
Missy Widmann - Vice President
Ed Bland - Treasurer
Christine Young - Secretary
Ashley Valentine
Paul O'Beirne
Maria Mackey
Kimberly Phillips
Nathan Hoerschelmann
Anne Tipper - Advisor
Featured Sponsors
PLU seeks to educate students for lives of thoughtful inquiry, service, leadership and care—
for other people, for their communities and for the Earth.
Celtic Life & Heritage Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit public benefit corporation whose purpose is to preserve the Irish Celtic heritage for the benefit of Americans of Irish descent; and for all others who are interested in amazing stories, rich history, and would love to experience the goodness of an Irish Blessing.
The Foundation celebrates and preserves Irish Celtic heritage primarily through themed education modules (available for public, private, and home schools) along with short media vignettes, and most recently the Irish card game Seanchaí.
WAETAG empowers educators and communities to support and champion for the educational and social emotional development of talented and gifted students.
SPU is a Christian university fully committed to engaging the culture and changing the world by graduating people of competence and character, becoming people of wisdom, and modeling grace-filled community.