2. Connecting the hemispheres

Outline

We know that our brains are divided into two hemispheres, and that different areas of the brain have a dominant responsibility for different functions and actions. It is important to maximise our brain use; some studies say that we use less than 5 per cent!

In general, the Western educational system is strongly weighted towards the functions of the left brain – reading, writing, listening, and activities involving logic and sequence. ‘Right brain’ activities involving images, colour, music, creativity and intuition seem to be edged out of the curriculum more and more with the increasing pressures and demands for exam performance and other statutory requirements. However, introducing right brain activities to the classroom does not only improve right brain skills, but improves the brain's performance as a whole. The more we can use activities in our classrooms that connect the two hemispheres of the brain, the more learning that will take place.

Learning will also be maximised if we can help our brains develop an appropriate filing system for all the new information we receive. The easiest way to do this is to share with your students the ‘big picture’, the overall objective for that lesson, unit or module of work. You objective is the one thing you would want all of your students to have learned or understood in your lesson, or perhaps the one thing you would teach if your lesson only lasted two minutes. In this respect, learning is like doing a jigsaw – it is much easier if you have seen the picture on the box first!

Activity 2

Look at the simple diagram of the brain's hemispheres above. It is the back of the brain that deals with visual data, what we see under normal everyday circumstances. Click on and play the short interactive quiz.

Take part in the quiz either below, or lauch it in a separate window.

Launch in separate player
(Flash animation - To make the most of this unit, you will need to install the latest Flash plug-in.
)

You can see that the further we go down the quiz list, the more of the brain we use. The more of the brain we use, the more learning that will take place.

Now consider some of these simple strategies to connect the two hemispheres of the brain.

‘To connect the hemispheres and enhance learning, ask students to:

Describe (left) a picture or diagram (right)
Visualise (right) a written description (left)
Convert text (left) into a picture (right)
Turn key words (left) into a poem (right)
Identify key words (left) and write them in a different colour (right).’

(Hughes, 1991, p. 46)

Try out at least three of these strategies in your classes this week. Assess whether you think they have had a positive impact on learning and recall of the information learned.