What if student behavior problems, burnout, and disengagement aren’t discipline issues… but brain issues?

In this powerful leadership episode, Ryan sits down with Dr. Lisa Riegel—author, neuroscientist, and education innovator—to explore how brain science, motivation, and belonging intersect with Project Based Learning.

Lisa explains why today’s students seem “different,” how stress shuts down learning, and why schools must shift from compliance to psychological safety, relevance, and identity-based belonging if they want real engagement.

If you’re leading a PBL shift, this episode will give you a science-backed roadmap for how to get humans—not just systems—to move.

When students feel unsafe, judged, or powerless, their brains switch into survival mode. Thinking shuts down. PBL works because it gives students control, relevance, and purpose—lowering stress and raising executive function.

Lisa explains the Expectancy-Value Theory:

Motivation = “I believe I can” × “I care about this”

If either side is zero, motivation collapses. That’s why irrelevant worksheets and rigid instruction fail—even with “good” kids.

If a student walks into class and feels like they don’t belong, their brain perceives danger. Fight, flight, freeze, or tune-out follows. Strong classroom identity isn’t a feel-good extra—it’s neurological survival.

Change feels dangerous to the brain—especially for high-performers who fear becoming beginners again. That’s why leadership must start with trust, celebration, and permission to fail.

AI is offloading human thinking at an alarming rate.

In five years, success won’t be about what students know—it will be about how they think, regulate stress, solve problems, and work with others.

www.lisariegel.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisariegel/

www.epinstitute.net 

www.jakapa.com

Neurowell book link

Aspirations to Operations book link