EDUCATION

The Brain Targeted teaching model for 21st century schools

The Brain Targeted teaching model for 21st century schools

Pedagogical Framework: Brain Targeted Teaching Model

Mariale Hardiman's premise behind the development of this model is the fact that she wanted to develop steps that are practical, enlightens about instructions and simultaneously teach skills that are apt and viable in the 21st century ensuring that the educators are kept in mind. Teachers who have said to adopt the BTT model has also found it useful in terms of not only planning but also delivering all sorts of instructions and this in turn has enhanced the teaching practices as well as experiences. This model cannot be termed as a market product and neither a curriculum. The model was developed keeping Bloom's Taxonomy, Multiple Intelligences as well as the dimensions of learning via thinking framework. This framework is also said to focus on the conceptualization of activities that promotes creative thinking as well as high level of imagination by emphasizing on the problem solving aspect as well as the application of the learned content in the practical world. It is this framework that tends to heighten the engagement of the students and at the same time it also aids in the retention of the learned content for a longer period of time (Hardiman, 2012, pp. 6).

Six Elements

The six components of the model of Brain Targeted Teaching Model are:

(1) The emotional climate: Neuroscientists have identified that there are intricate interactions amidst the cognitive brain system and the emotions. The limbic system of the brain ehich is at the brain's base triggers emotions and responses. The responses are firstprocessed in the emotional center and then the cognitive center (located in the frontal lobe). It has also been identified that the process of information is short circuited at the emotion center and hence resulting in deep learning and long-term memory. Therefore, threat and stress are bound to have severe implications for the educators.

(2) Physcial Environemnt: Our eyes are said to register 36,000 images in an hour via the 90 percent of input of the brain being involved from visual stimuli. Researchers emphasize that the visual aspect is strongly influenced by the environment hence sound, scent and lighting can have an impact on learning. Soft music can aid the students in unwinding and relaxing cognitively. Studies have also said to compared the impact of environments that are unchanging ...