at the bottom of this pageBrain based learning theory principle #1:
All learning is physiological / all learning involves both mind and body.
Explanation
Whenever we learn, in other words, whenever we acquire new information and especially when we are subject to meaningful experiences, the brain undergoes a physiological change. Its structure is subtly changed in a process called plasticity, or more precisely neural plasticity.
In simple terms, when we learn something new, the experience - information and emotional response to the information and the context in which it was experienced - actually brings about a small physiological change in the brain. Small strands called dendrites sprout and eventually groups of dendrites combine to make stronger structures called synapses.
These synapses are like traffic junctions where different 'information highways' intersect. This is why some experts talk of laying down a neural pathway when we learn something new. And the more we repeat a particular experience or learning pattern the stronger that neural pathway becomes. So learning has both a mental and physical impact on the brain.
In the Classroom
So what does this mean in practical terms in the classroom?
First, that learning is not meant to be a passive activity which targets only the mental information students receive. Students learn best when they are able to combine physical activity as well as mental activity. Too often in classrooms teachers restrict their students to long periods of sitting still which is not only boring but actually works against effective learning.
The remedy is to make learning activities much more active, whether students are focusing on practical skills or more abstract concepts.
And repeating successful learning patterns strengthens that learning. Practice doesnt necessarily make perfect but practice does make permanent, so we need to give students lots of active opportunities to revise and recycle what they've learned until it becomes firmly established.
Brain based learning theory principle #2:
The brain/mind is social.
Explanation
Human beings are hard wired to be sociable, to seek contact with other human beings.
Part of this drive to be sociable is our desire to learn by imitation and to respond to behavior that we see others do. We are drawn to attach meaning to the experiences and information we meet when we are in contact with other people.
In the classroom
Teachers can harness this drive to construct learning by setting up activities that enable students to talk with other students, to discuss the learning together. In this way, ideas can be explored together, confirmed, rejected, modified and transformed.
As teachers we are missing a trick if we don't use this powerful natural tool for learning. Rather than worrying about students talking in class we could focus more on using student talk and social interaction to promote real learning.
Brain based learning theory principle #3:
The search for meaning is innate.
Explanation
We are programmed to make sense of what we experience. So we organize information and experience in ways that we can understand, depending on the context in which we find ourselves.
Interest plays a big part in how we filter the huge amount of information that comes our way and what we're interested in, we feel the need to understand
In the Classroom
In class it's sometimes hard to believe that our students are interested in what we want them to learn. But when we find ways of stimulating in our students the inherent desire to find meaning in what's going on in class, the battle is already half won.
This has huge implications for the curriculum we put in front of our students every day.
Even though we have to meet the demands of curriculum programmes and examination syllabuses, we can still give students some choices.
In particular we can give them choices in how they carry out learning activities. They can work in groups, they can produce presentations, they can act out scenes, they can use
kinesthetic learning techniques
Brain based learning theory principle #4:
The search for meaning occurs through patterning.
Explanation
We have a strong desire to attach meaning and order to what we experience and we have a powerful capability to do just that.
Our brains impose meaning by looking for connections in information. We are adept at perceiving patterns, structures, frameworks in information that help us to organize what we perceive into meaningful insights.
In the Classroom
In class we can use this facility for patterning by wrapping up the information to be learned in ways that encourage learners to make sense of them.
For example, we can ask the kind of questions that get students to see connections between different facts rather than simply to regurgitate facts; we can explain concepts through metaphor and story; we can get students to observe, hypothesize and eventually come to the right conclusions through discussion, exploration and reasoning.
Above all we can get students to make progress by using the patterns they already know to expand their learning horizons.
Brain based learning theory principle #5:
Emotions are critical to patterning
Explanation
There is no such thing as neutral learning.
Whenever we learn anything, whether it’s a chunk information or a wider experience, we have some kind of emotional response. So every decision we make, every thought we have is in some way linked to our emotions.
In the Classroom
This is one of the most powerful implications of brain based learning – that the classroom is an emotional place, in the widest sense.
When teachers promote positive attitudes in class, treat students with respect, build a ‘feel good’ factor they tend to be more successful than when they don’t do these thing.
And that’s because students respond emotionally to what happens in class.
From a cognitive point of view, how well or badly students understand information and master it will depend partly on their emotional response to it. If they don’t feel a real emotional connection they won’t learn it as well as when they do
. So we need to use materials that draw our students in to ‘new’ learning because it’s presented in attractive and inviting ways. We need our students to form a positive emotional link to new learning and to ‘buy into it.’
Brain based learning theory principle #6:
The brain/mind processes parts and wholes simultaneously.
Explanation
Our brains can take in complex information and identify individual features but at the same time can link related bits of information together.
This is how we establish reality – we piece together the different fragments with the express purpose of combining them together so they make sense to us.
In the Classroom
We can use our students’ need to synthesise knowledge and experience by setting learning in contexts that make sense.
So for example, when starting a new topic in class, we can give students an overview of what they will be learning, show them how the individual strands fit together to make a complete and meaningful topic.
We can do this for a whole course of study: frequently reminding our students of the ‘big picture’ helps to keep them on track and to see the progress they’ve made and can make.
Find out here about #7 to #12 of the
principles of brain learning theory.
Return from Brain Based Learning Theory to Brain Based Learning
Return to Classroom Management Success
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