A Joyful Conference, The Crux of Learning, and Using AI
by Susan Cole Ross, president emeritus, NEALS
The 2026 NEALS conference at New Hampton School provided an energetic and welcoming opportunity for ~50 teachers and learning specialists to gather and share latest research in brain based teaching and AI instruction. We began with what we all pine for, an opportunity to connect. Posing as trees or leaves, we met new and old friends and discussed our roles in student lives. We moved on to find a partner with whom to share our most recent learning and in the process found a new colleague who shares our dedication to students, to schools, and to our profession.
We journeyed from “Good to Great” when Glenn Whitman stepped up and energized us with a deep dive into evidence-based learning. Best known for his work as Director of the Center for Transformative Teaching and Learning (CTTL) and co-authored book “Neuroteach,” he shared the science of learning with us, as he has with his own faculty, focusing on mind brain education, melding cognitive science, child psychology, neuroscience, and the latest educational practice and research. For instance, did you know that formative assessment has a statistical significance of .4 for learning? We need to do more.
The pedagogical crux is found in distinguishing whether we design for teaching or whether we design for learning. The performance art of teaching can be mesmerizing, but the important work happens in each student’s brain. This definition of learning provides the core question of our conference and of our roles as advocates for learners and teachers.
In 2019 alone 1800 articles were based on debunked neuromyths, outdated concepts that do not inform teaching for learning. Thus, in teams, we played a Neuromyth blasting card game called “Face the Mind-Brain Education Facts” and all members in attendance took home a free set for our faculty. In the process we found that, indeed, “learning happens when people have to think hard,” as professor Rob Coe explains.
After a collegial lunch together in the spacious New Hampton dining hall and a tour of its impressive learning center, we returned to present Jen McMahon with the 2026 NEALS Service Award for her exemplary career serving NEALS since 2015 as well as students and faculty at New Hampton School and throughout New Hampshire public schools since 2008.
Our afternoon session with Glenn Whitman delved into the application of AI to education and the teaching of discernment in selecting AI based approaches and information for teaching and learning. The key is, how can we leverage AI to increase thinking and learning? First, teachers must consider, according to Dr. Ian Kelleher:
“How does learning happen and where can AI support or strengthen those conditions? What uses of AI are educationally defensible and transformative?“
Thus, if we move thinking hard to the top of any learning experience, including those involving AI, students will thrive. As ever, teachers will always be critical to this process of discernment and to student buy-in. “Every child needs a teacher who has an irrational belief in them,” according to Gregory M. Walton, author of “Ordinary Magic.”
