8. What is the groups informed opinion of this trend, theory, or effective practice based on their research, experiences and reflective thought.
"Success" can be achieved with small, incremental implementations is encouraging; much of brain research validates what good teachers have been doing for a long while. Understanding brain functioning enables us to refine strategies & techniques with which we are already comfortable.How our group opinion evolved:
For a wide scale adoption of brain-based learning, support from the top down is required. I was astonished to read that schools invested heavily (some 2 years or so) BEFORE implementation. So, that indicates buy-in from the top. In these dire financial times, are we able to direct resources toward becoming "critical consumers of brain research"? Certainly development of integrated, thematic units of study is a huge time investment, and time is money!
I hadn’t though about the "financial" side of it. … it would work for an individual school without much cost I think… BUT, if a system is really going to implement it in every classroom, you’re right – we’re talking money here. Teacher workshops? Resources? Other issues: Teacher’s time to revamp lesson plans. Physical facilities to carry this out (such as the media center – we’re not physically able to truly have multiple tasks in large groups going on in our media center. Almost like that open-classroom concept in the media center!). And, what about discipline issues. Teachers who have taught in the traditional structured manner could find themselves in a nightmare of chaos without control – it could be they need some training, … which also brings up potential for personnel issues and teacher stress for those who aren’t cooperating or simply can’t make it work. Anyway, my opinion is that it’s the way to go, but it will probably be off to a slow start, one teacher or school at a time.
Be Cautious and Use Your Brain : The human brain is fascinating. Personally, I can’t believe God even trusts us with one! Brain research is an ever-evolving field. As we know more about the brain and how it functions, who knows what may be possible? However, since it is so evolving, schools and parents should be cautious and not jump on the theory of the moment. Before sinking money and man-hours into things like brain based curriculums, schools and parents should wait until the theory or product has been proved beyond the shadow of a scientific doubt. For example, many of the articles and sites I came across were by or about particular products and companies. This made me wonder how much had been proven and how much was for show and profit. Yet, at the same time we should not totally err on the side of caution and not use what is being found out about the brain. Each brain is different and there will never be a "one size fits all" way to reach every brain and have every single student learn perfectly. I think my overall opinion can be showcased by a favorite quote I found in my research. "Brain research certainly will have more to tell us about how children's brains develop, but each small step, each specific finding, must be replicated by other studies. Hypotheses that generalize from MRI images to classroom teaching methods may be interesting and fun to read, but they should be regarded with a true scientist's skeptical eye. At the present time, the best judge of effective classroom practice is not the neuroscientist, but the knowledgeable and experienced educator" (Bergen 2002, 377). As humans and as learners, we know what works for us and what does not work for us and our brains and we adapt. In that way, we are all brain researchers. So, in some way we have to combine the natural things our brains can do with proven science and techniques to fully utilize the schooling and learning process.
Next: 9. What are two essential questions that could be used to check for understanding?
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University of South Carolina
College of Mass Communication and Information Studies
School of Library and Information Science
Page last updated on 01/28/08