AKA
Brain-Based Education
Brain-Based Teaching
Neurolism
Whole-Brain Teaching
Embodiment Discourses comprise perspectives on learning that refuse a separation of mental and physical. Mental and physical are understood as integrated and inseparable aspects of the body. Phrased differently, the body is not seen as something that a learner learns through, but as the learner. Correspondingly, behaviors are not seen as goals or indications of learning, but as integral elements of learning.
Learn More...“Learning as acquisition” – the Acquisition Metaphor – is probably the most commonly invoked learning metaphor in English. It is evident in such phrases as “grasping the point,” “taking things in,” “getting it,” “picking things up,” “hard to swallow,” “remember this stuff,” and “cramming for the test.” It is not theoretically sophisticated, relying on the assumption that knowledge comprises externalized objects, and asserting that learning is a process of moving those objects from the outside to the inside.
Learn More...The Attainment Metaphor is prominent in current discussions of formal education. It frames knowledge as existing in discrete regions (e.g., fields, areas) to be traversed, and learning is typically framed as progressing across (and sometimes dwelling in) those regions. Learning is cast in movement-based sensibilities –e.g., as “getting there.”
Learn More...Interpreted directly, Discovery Learning is rooted in the assumption that knowledge is out there, and learning is about finding it and taking it in. That is, it is a modest elaboration of the Acquisition Metaphor, with nearly identical assumptions about knowledge, but ascribing more agency to the learner – who’s seen less as a passive receptacle and more an active agent.
Learn More...Cognitive Science is the study of cognition in humans, non-human animals, and machines. It brings together psychology, linguistics, computer science, neuroscience, anthropology, philosophy, and other domains. Typically, the foci of Cognitive Science are identified as learning, development, perception, attention, reasoning, emotion, consciousness, memory, language, creativity, and intelligence, and its are identified as better understanding the mind, advancing practical knowledge of learning, and developing intelligent devices.
Learn More...Neuroeducation weaves among neuroscience, psychology, educational technology, and other relevant disciplines in studies of the interactions of biological processes and educational efforts. Its broad aim is to generate a research base that will inform and orient teaching in a comprehensive and coherent way.
Learn More...Neuroscience is a multidisciplinary branch of biology that focuses on the structure, functions, and development of the nervous system. With a scope that spans the thousands of distinguishable substructures between the molecular to the cognitive, Neuroscience combines domains as varied as molecular biology, physiology, and psychology (among many others) while it has given rise to many other disciplines.
Learn More...Cognitivism is explicitly developed around the metaphor “brain as computer.” It thus focuses on how information is acquired, processed, and organized. Learning is seen in terms of integration of new information into existing structures through processes of internal codification.
Learn More...Focus
Teaching practices based on popular interpretations of brain research
Principal Metaphors
- Knowledge is … object, commodity, goal, information
- Knowing is … mastery of knowledge
- Learner is … a brain-based accumulator (individual)
- Learning is … acquiring, discovering/uncovering, attaining, inputting
- Teaching is … delivering, facilitating, guiding, leading
Originated
1990s
Synopsis
Proponents of Brain-Based Learning claim almost the same conceptual territory as Neuroeducation, with a somewhat more pragmatic emphasis. Brain-Based Learning aims to interrupt entrenched practices, conventions, and assumptions about the learning process by drawing scientific research into brain function and cognitive development, but its main focus in on school programs, lesson designs, and teaching methods. Typical emphases include:
- Active Processing (Geoffrey Caine & Renate Caine, 1990s) – examining the form of and deriving meaning for new knowledge
- Orchestrated Immersion (Geoffrey Caine & Renate Caine, 1990s) – situating learners in a rich, deliberately structured learning environment
- Relaxed Alertness (Geoffrey Caine & Renate Caine, 1990s) – a state of minimized fear, prompted and nurtured by the teacher
Commentary
The strongest criticisms of Brain-Based Learning seem to be coming out of Neuroeducation. At their most extreme, the criticisms arrive in the form of accusations that Brain-Based Learning has a vested commercial interest in perpetuating neuromyths and peddling remedies. Such reproaches appear justified in the tendency in the Brain-Based Learning literature to offer narrow prescriptions, each founded on a singular insight (e.g., brain plasticity, consequences of stress, or role of physical exercise). Further, the vocabulary used in the Brain-Based Education literature to characterize learning, teaching, and education is scattered, inconsistent, and entirely uncritical – regularly invoking the Acquisition Metaphor, the Attainment Metaphor, Discovery Learning, and Cognitivism rather than notions more aligned with Neuroscience and its associated Embodiment Discourses.
Authors and/or Prominent Influences
Diffuse, in part because the discourse is largely industry based.
Status as a Theory of Learning
Brain-Based Learning is not a theory of learning.
Status as a Theory of Teaching
Brain-Based Learning is explicitly a theory of teaching – or perhaps, as some critics frame it, a commercial industry of educational artefacts.
Status as a Scientific Theory
Brain-Based Learning draws its orienting principles from Neuroscience and Cognitive Science – but, unlike Neuroeducation, it is not itself associated with a research program. That is, there is no effort to test its pedagogical advice, and so it cannot be described as scientific.
Subdiscourses:
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Active Processing
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Orchestrated Immersion
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Relaxed Alertness
Map Location
Please cite this article as:
Davis, B., & Francis, K. (2021). “Brain-Based Learning” in Discourses on Learning in Education. https://learningdiscourses.com.
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