Emotion and cognition are not separate systems, but are intricately connected.
We have to unlearn to change or break habits.
Students succeed or fail by design.
Knowing these facts fundamentally shifts the way we design instruction. Design for the learning brain is an approach to teaching and learning that can be implemented in any context- from classrooms, online courses and content, museum exhibits, brochures, meetings, professional trainings – and more! It integrates a range of research-based frameworks to make a difference for student learning.
Contact to collaborate with Allison to design for the learning brain to ensure equitable access, engagement, and rigor. Join in this design journey that will transform your practice.
• Design for Learning that Taps into the Power of Emotion
• Blog: Reducing “Tigers in our Classrooms”
• Excerpt from Engage the Brain
• Read an article: Leveraging Neuroscience in Lesson Design
• Read an article: How to Support the Emotional Link to Learning
• Try it! Understand and Communicate about Emotions to Support Deep Learning
• Listen to a podcast: Think UDL: Engaging the Brain
• Watch a webinar: Engage the Brain from publisher ASCD (free sign in required)
• Order the book from ASCD: Engage the Brain
• Take an online course (option for grad credit!) on Learning and the Brain
• Schedule a keynote or professional development trainings on emotions & brain. Contact
Change Your Beliefs and Your Classroom
with Universal Design for Learning (UDL)
• Blog: Unraveling or Unlearning?
• Excerpt from Unlearning and Book Club Guide
• Try it! Lesson Planning with UDL or UDL: A Teacher’s Guide
• Watch a conference presentation, UDL to Support Your Core Values
• Try It! How to Break Down Barriers to Learning with UDL
• Order the book from CAST Publishing: Unlearning and see why we wrote this book
• Schedule a keynote or professional development trainings on strategies to design for equity and inclusion through unlearning. Contact
Share key brain facts with colleagues, parents, and students
• Try it! Tips to help your child if they are “stuck” in remote learning
• Watch a conference presentation: Stories of how Students will Exceed our Expectations
• Read an interview with Allison: Learning Follows Access, How UDL Can Help your Child
• Order the Quick Reference Guide from ASCD: The Brain and Learning
Consultations & Testimonials
Schedule a speaking engagement, training, or consultation (virtual through summer 2021). Topics include emotions and the learning brain (including discussion on implicit bias), unlearning. and ask about the popular simulated neural network! Contact.
“I am already using the ideas from your session to design my course next semester.”
“The connection to brain science deepened my understanding of why my techniques work – or do not work – with my students.”
“Your session had the most impact on my work and your enthusiasm was contagious, thank you.”
Allison Posey is a curriculum and design specialist at CAST, a non-profit in Wakefield, MA, where she collaborates with educators from across the U.S. and internationally to implement Universal Design for Learning (UDL). She also teaches courses at Lasell University. Prior to her work at CAST, she taught science in high schools and community colleges and earned a certificate in art from the Maryland Institute College of Art and a degree in Mind, Brain, and Education from Harvard Graduate School of Education. Learn more about Allison in this interview, or on Twitter @AllisonAPosey, or by emailing abp977@mail.harvard.edu.