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Ruth Virginia Barton ~ Ruth@PeaceWorx.net ~ RuthVirginia.wix.com/RVBartonEPortfolio

  and   BRAIN-BASED LEARNING!!

The Home School has as its foundation the educational philosophy of brain -based learning, the scientific parent of Social and Emotional Learning (SEL - its brainchild :).  Educators have combined neuroscience, with its modern brain-scan technology, with the student-centered pedagogy (system of teaching, although in this case it's learning :) developed especially since the 1960s, to produce an evidenced-based system of learning that is rooted in science and based on how the brain actually works!  Now we understand scientifically what students - especially children - need most to help their brains learn optimally:  plenty of sleep, good nutrition and water, and an environment of relaxed alertness.  

 

What the brain most definitely does not need in order to learn is too much stress.  What happens then is the neocortex, home of higher-order thinking, overloads and shuts down as the body's autonomic nervous system takes over brain function.  This condition is recognizable in situations of great fear; it is hard to think in times of panic.  This phenomenon has given rise to brainbased learning and thus, Social and Emotional Learning, and the recognition of emotional intelligence (Goleman, 1995), multiple intelligences (Gardner, 1993), and the audio, visual, and kinesthetic learning styles.  When a child or adult has undergone great trauma, and has experienced powerlessness in the matter, whole sections of the brain that deal with higher-order thinking and long- and short-term memory may be negatively affected.  Under these conditions, the overburdened person must find ways to re-program their traumatized neural pathways and consciously lay down new ones in order to effectively learn again.  The good news is that with emotional healing, we can also heal - or grow, or change - the brain! (Barton, 2007; Smilkstein, 2003; Jensen & Dabney, 2000).  "We can help children heal their brains." (Barton, 2007)

 

Social and Emotional Learning has become de rigeur in many school districts across the country, although in my experience it is usually referred to as evidence-based curriculum.  Online learning has fully adopted many of the tenets of SEL in its emphasis on sharing (Bonk, 2011), collaboration, and Netiquette (standards for respectful online communication), I have yet to see in my educational travels modes of emotional learning, per se.  The blended online student-empowering curriculum at The Home School includes feedback, feedback, feedback, as well as techniques of problem-solving real-world challenges, creating projects, developing and strengthening students' voices, encouraging student choice in assignments, and respecting the diversity of all people and all modes of learning.  We like to take advantage of the magical quality of online learning which adds a level of creativity to projects which was unimaginable before (Puentadura, 2014).  

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REFERENCES

 

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Barton, R. V.  Class Assessment Rubric.  Created 3/29/15.  Licensed under a Creative Commons attribution, Share Alike Non-Commercial 3.0 License. 

 

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