Introduction

Learning doesn’t happen unless the emotional brain is engaged and in a positive, receptive state.  This program shows you why this is the case, and just how critical the limbic system is too effective learning.  Everything that goes into our brains is immediately given a unique and idiosyncratic emotional ‘tag’.  This sets the tone for the rest of the information that follows about the topic we are teaching in that individual’s brain.  We have to get the right emotional state before we begin teaching content. 

Going beyond accelerated learning and focusing entirely on the essential emotional experience of being in the classroom this program contains specific activities and approaches for engaging a wide variety of learners – in particular kinesthetic learners who make up the majority of the classrooms today.  

Participants will be given a toolkit of ideas and resources to help them engage these all-important emotional parts of the brain, thus ensuring more attention and heightened motivation from many more of their pupils.  This is an intensely practical program and it is helpful if participants have already completed the one day Introduction to Emotional Literacy in order to gain an understanding of the background to their own learning.

To create the best chance for every child through the provision of a positive emotional education.

We aim to support and train all the adults, professional and personal, who live and work with children in a variety of methods, models and practices which will ensure that all children receive a sound grounding in emotional literacy. That is, that they will be able to recognize, understand, express and manage their own emotions and those of others successfully.

We do this in the understanding that children who receive this particular kind of emotional coaching are more likely to be able to reach their potential in the widest sense. We believe that by focusing on sound social and emotional development they will be most likely to develop well at every other level too and become well rounded, creative, happy and socially adept people at the end of their schooling.


 

Whole Brain Teaching and Learning

This article reviews the concepts of Ned Herrmann’s Brain Dominance theory and instrument. Herrmann’s Whole Brain Model can be used to build learning experiences to enhance learning and make it more memorable for all participants.

 

Ned Herrmann’s Research 

Ned Herrman's Whole Brain Model combines Roger Sperry's left/right brain theory and Paul MacLean's triune model (rational brain, intermediate brain and primitive brain) to produce a quadrant model of the brain.  The quadrants are:

 

· Left Cerebral (upper left) 

 

· Left Limbic (lower left) 

 

· Right Limbic (lower right) 

 

· Right Cerebral (upper right 

 

As with the other brain models, each area has functions associated it to create a model of thinking and learning. Practitioners of HBDT use the following labels each quadrant for persons whose strongest preference is in that quadrant:

 

·  Left Cerebral: Theorists 

 

·  Left Limbic: Organizers 

 

·  Right Limbic: Humanitarians 

 

·  Right Cerebral: Innovators 

 

 

 

Theorists: These are people who like lecture, facts, and details, critical thinking, textbooks and readings, etc.  The brain dominance for theorists is the upper left (cerebral).

 

Organizers: These are people who prefer to learn by outlining, checklists, exercises and problem solving with steps, policies and procedures. People with these preferences have lower left (limbic) brain dominance.

 

Innovators: Innovators prefer brainstorming, metaphors, illustrations and pictures, mind mapping and synthesis, and holistic approaches.  The brain dominance for innovators is upper right (cerebral).
Humanitarians: Prefer cooperative learning and group discussion, role-playing, and dramatization.  Their brain preference is lower right (limbic)

 


Preferred Learning Activities 

Knowledge of HBDT can help people in the training and education fields develop and deliver training that is more applicable to everyone and is also better remembered.  Each quadrant has a preferred style of learning and preferences for particular types of learning activities. When the activity matches a learner’s preference, there is an increased probability that learning will occur. Below are some activities with the HBDI preference that prefers that activity shown in parentheses: 

 

· Precise definitions (theorist) 

 

·  To-the-point, factual learnings (theorist) 

 

·  Step-by-step instructions (organizer) 

 

·  History, timelines (organizer) 

 

·  Brainstorming or free association activities (innovator) 

 

· Visual or graphic mind-maps (innovator) 

 

· Use of personal impact stories (humanist) 

 

· Collaborative activities (humanist) 

 

Frustrations in Learning

 

When training is biased mostly toward one HBDI preference, persons with other preferences will experience a great deal of frustration. Participants can check out mentally when the training environment has too many of the frustrations for their HDBI preference. Below are some of the types of frustrations people can experience. The HBDI preference that might experience that frustration is shown in parentheses after the frustration: 

 

· Vague, ambiguous instructions (theorist) 

 

· Inefficient use of time (theorist) 

 

· Too slow a pace (innovator) 

 

· Lack of overview/conceptual framework (innovator) 

 

· Disorganization, poor sequencing, hopping around (organizer) 

 

· Lack of practice time (organizer) 

 

· Impersonal approach or examples (humanist) 

 

· No sensory input; sterile learning climate (humanist) 

 

Teaching & Learning Assumptions 

The Whole Brain teaching approach starts with several teaching and learning assumptions that are very consistent with MBTI principles:

 

1.  People have different preferred modes of thinking and learning 

2. Those preferences influence how we: 

 

·  process and store information 

 

·  retrieve information 

 

·  make meaning out of information 

3. All learning groups are made up of people with different thinking style preferences, different ways of knowing, and different learning styles. 

4. Effective learning is “whole brained”, taking advantage of the all the mental processes of the brain 

5. Teachers and trainers typically design learning experiences that reflect their own thinking/learning preferences. 

6. In light of the above, we need to re-examine all of our previous assumptions about teaching and learning 

7. The content, design and delivery of each learning point must be whole brained to meet the diverse learning and thinking styles of the learners. This is achieved by “paraphrasing” the learning point in each of the different modes of the whole brain model. 

 

Herman International has designed a training kit that helps developers and trainers pick activities to ensure whole brain training.  The kit has cards with several learning activities for each HBDI preference. The idea is that each learning module or segment should have activities for each quadrant’s preferences. One recommendation is to pick two activities for each quadrant.

So a balanced training might look like this:

 

· Agenda (quadrant B) 

 

· Overview (quadrant D) 

 

· Warm-up (quadrant C) 

 

· Factual lecture (quadrant A) 

 

· Concrete examples (quadrant B) 

 

· Brainstorming or mind-mapping (quadrant D) 

 

· Critical review of material (quadrant A)

 

·  Journaling or stories (quadrant C) 

When teaching, managing and communicating are going well, they are most likely whole-brained. They also noted that when things don’t seem to be working, it’s likely we’ve forgotten one or more of the quadrants.