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12 Brain/Mind Learning Principles in Action
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12 Brain/Mind Learning Principles in Action
Teach for the Development of Higher-Order Thinking and Executive Function

Third Edition

Foreword by Arthur L. Costa



August 2015 | 320 pages | Corwin

Raise the bar with the best of what is known about how the brain/mind learns

Higher-order skills such as critical thinking, planning, decision-making and persistence are the key to success for today’s students. With its novel approach to teaching and learning, 12 Brain/Mind Learning Principles in Action has been the go-to resource for thousands of teachers in leading their students to greater confidence and achievement.

Now in an expanded third edition, Caine et al. offer three practical approaches to instruction—direct, problem or project-based learning, and the guided experience approach—while providing common-sense strategies to turn theory into effective classroom teaching. Features of the new edition include

  • More strategies to deeply engage students and build foundational learning skills
  • Guidance on peer-based professional development through Process Learning Circles
  • Reflective questions and checklists for assessing progress 
  • Updated, real-life examples that illustrate brain-compatible learning in action

Bridge research to practice through these innovative strategies to create a school environment where students and faculty learn and thrive.

 “12 Brain/Mind Learning Principles in Action is a treasure trove of thoughtful, heartfelt, and effective ideas that will empower brains to grow, minds to expand, and classrooms to thrive. In our present system good teaching is often a subversive act – use this as a manual for guerilla warfare.”  
Louis Cozolino, Professor of Psychology
Pepperdine University


“This book provides compelling evidence that the traditional paradigm of education, which emphasizes “factual” learning, is profoundly narrow and limiting. The volume, depth, and relevance of research the authors bring to the fore about effective and lasting models of teaching, learning, and leadership is impressive. May its brilliant and enlightening message once and for all replace the limited and limiting habits of mind that have legitimated educational policy and practice for centuries in the Western World." 
William Spady, Director
The 5th Paradigm



 
Foreword to the Third Edition
 
Preface
 
Acknowledgments
 
About the Authors
 
1. Getting Started
 
PART I: The First Foundational Element--Relaxed Alertness
 
2. Why Relaxed Alertness Provides the Optimum Emotional Climate for Learning
 
3. Brain/Mind Learning Principle—Complex Learning Is Enhanced by Challenge and Inhibited by Threat, Helplessness, and Fatigue
 
4. Brain/Mind Learning Principle--The Brain/Mind Is Social
 
5. Brain/Mind Learning Principle--The Search for Meaning Is Innate
 
6. Brain/Mind Learning Principle--Emotions Are Critical to Patterning
 
PART II: The Second Foundational Element--Orchestrated Immersion in Complex Experience
 
7. Creating the Richest Learning Environments Using Orchestrated Immersion in Complex Experience
 
8. Brain/Mind Learning Principle--The Brain/Mind Processes Parts and Wholes Simultaneously
 
9. Brain/Mind Learning Principle--All Learning Engages the Physiology
 
10. Brain/Mind Learning Principle--The Search for Meaning Occurs Through Patterning
 
11. Brain/Mind Learning Principle--Learning Is Developmental
 
PART III: The Third Foundational Element--Active Processing of Experience
 
12. Helping Learners Digest and Consolidate Learning
 
13. Brain/Mind Learning Principle--Each Brain Is Uniquely Organized
 
14. Brain/Mind Learning Principle--There Are at Least Two Ways to Approach Memory
 
15. Brain/Mind Learning Principle--Learning Engages Both Focused Attention and Peripheral Perception
 
16. Brain/Mind Learning Principle--Learning Is Both Conscious and Unconscious
 
17. Teaching with Body/Mind Interconnectedness in Mind
 
Resource A: The Brain/Mind Capacities Wheel
 
Resource B: The Brain/Mind Principles Wheel
 
Resource C: How to Develop Process Learning Circles
 
Resource D: Guided Experiences Cycle
 
Resource E: Guidelines for the Guided Experiences Model
 
Resource F: Global Experiences Design Wheel
 
Resource G: Sensory Poem
 
References
 
Index

“In today’s education world of standardization and prescriptive narrow testing outcomes, this book reminds us as educators and leaders what it means to be human. The research and examples paint a clear picture of how we learn and provide a path towards student-centered-learning that reflects our intelligence and connectedness. Administrators and educators looking for innovative solutions and a means to meet students where they are, and then advance beyond, would be wise to adopt this third edition of 12 Brain/Mind Learning Principles in Action. I encourage schools to include this book in their professional development and learning community.”

Angela Engel, Author of Seeds of Tomorrow: Solutions for Improving Our Children's Education
Denver, CO

 “12 Brain/Mind Learning Principles in Action is a treasure trove of thoughtful, heartfelt, and effective ideas that will empower brains to grow, minds to expand, and classrooms to thrive. In our present system good teaching is often a subversive act – use this as a manual for guerilla warfare.”  

Louis Cozolino, Professor of Psychology
Pepperdine University

“Building a bridge between brain/mind research and the traditional education system has been problematic for decades. This book provides that bridge, both to empower the minds of students and to enable teachers to free themselves from age-old practices. The research cited creates one bridge and the “guided experience” style of the book creates another bridge to utilization of the concepts. The authors understand how the brain works and have developed methods to create meaningful learning communities.”

Ronald J Newell, EdD
Learning Program and Assessment Director, EdVisions Schools, Retired

“This book focuses on the fundamentals—how to use dialogue to help learners create, interpret, and apply knowledge; explore relationships; make critical decisions; think on their feet; and communicate more effectively.”

Marion Brady, Teacher, Administrator, Author, Consultant
Cocoa, FL

"It is my fondest hope that this book receives the attention it deserves from every segment of the educational community: teachers, administrators, teacher trainers, curriculum experts, learning psychologists, policy makers, politicians, parents, and prospective educators. It provides compelling evidence that the traditional paradigm of education, which emphasizes “factual” learning, above all is profoundly narrow and limiting. It brilliantly creates a linkage to the contemporary obsession with “standards” of various kinds where one exists to its occasional emphases on higher-order thinking and active learning. The volume, depth, and relevance of research the authors bring to the fore about effective and lasting models of teaching, learning, and leadership is impressive. May its brilliant and enlightening message once and for all replace the limited and limiting habits of mind that have legitimated educational policy and practice for centuries in the Western World." 

 

William Spady, Director
The 5th Paradigm, Denver, Co
Key features
  • Clarifies newest brain research for teachers
  • Provides practical classroom how-to from the authors of the groundbreaking Making Connections
  • Points out clear implications for teaching and learning 
  • Provides new ways to deeply engage students  
  • Offers tips for bridging research to practice
  • Includes reflective questions and checklists for assessing progress
  • Links to national teaching standards 
  • Shows steps for building foundational learning skills
  • Shows educators how to improve climate, instruction and student processing to raise student and teacher performance and satisfaction 
    • Sample Materials & Chapters

      Chapter 1

      Preface

      Resource A


      For instructors

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