A trip to Portugal is generally considered a luxury, but imagine travelling to Portugal for the 2025 World Council for Gifted and Talented Children, an event where over 40 countries present different academic specialties in front of a committee of international academics!
Mr. Berry and Dr. Degen had this opportunity when they travelled to Braga, Portugal for about a week. There, they presented a proposal, “Converging Neuroscience, Athletics, and Psychology to Empower Inclusive Gifted Instruction and Classrooms,” which was based on research from their recently published book, The English Coach’s Instructional Playbook: Classroom Strategies Informed by Neuroscience, which they had been working on since 2020.
The Experience at the World Council
During an interview, Mr. Berry talked about his trip to Portugal, which was his first time in the country, and his experience with the city of Porto and the capital of Portugal, Lisbon, which he described as very beautiful. He described a Cathedral near Braga, with a magnificent staircase and an eye-catching nave, naming it as his favorite site to visit. He also spoke about his book, explaining his primary purpose of sharing his findings in the field of education using scientific research, and also his favorite part of the book, which was the first two chapters. This is because of the scientific research. He also talked about how he enjoys speaking about his classes and his methods through research. He explained how,
“The Idea Behind our Book is that english teachers can do the same thing: breaking down the ‘winning preformance’ in reading and writing into movements or steps that we train every day with the students,”
a statement fueled by the importance of the book to him.
Dr. Degen also shared with us his favorite moments from Portugal, describing his visit to Fatima, the holy historical site in which Our Lady presented herself 108 years ago to three young children. Dr. Degen also spoke about the respect people had for this site, including if they themselves are not Catholic or don’t believe the Blessed Virgin appeared to those young children. Dr. Degen pointed out the Basilica, which caught his eye as he described it by referencing the Vatican. He also mentioned his own views on the real purpose of the trip, the conference for the World Council. Additionally, he mentioned being surprised at the fact that they were accepted to the conference, because it usually consists of college-level teachers. He explained that he is strongly passionate about the scientific part of the book, specifically neurological science. He described that,
“the goal was to take research from neuroscience and psychology and the world of athletics and to see how some of those principles should be lensed to design classroom activities and instructions in an English classroom.”
He mentioned how the book allots a lot of neural research and activity to high school children, rather than middle school, and the book being one of the first to do so. Dr. Degen also spoke about his presentation being based on some of the principles he wrote on his book about how teachers should change or modify their classroom for a better learning experience.
Final Thoughts
Mr. Berry expressed how “the conference was a fascinating experience,” since he was happy to be able to experience the various presentations from many different countries, as well as describing his own presentation, which went better than planned. He spoke about the fun of sharing the research, being able to have the thoughts of other teachers who share the same interests as him, as well as the fun of all the social interactions.
While neither professor will deny the alluring beauty of the cities and landscaping, Mr. Berry’s and Dr. Degen’s trip was not just for a vacation, but for the sharing of a teaching method they believe works best, supported by all kinds of scientific research, and the opportunity to receive feedback from many different people around the world who share similar interests.
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