IJERS/ BIMONTHLY/MS. KALPANA M. MORE & ASHOK R.

RANE (671-677)

BRAIN BASED LEARNING: HOLISTIC APPROACH TO TEACHING AND

LEARNING
Ms. Kalpana M. More1 & Ashok R. Rane2
1

Dnyanganga College of Education, Hingane-khurd, Sinhgad Road, Pune - 411051.

2

KCES College of Education, Jalgaon 425001.

Abstract
The Brain Based Learning (BBL) is a comprehensive approach to instruction based on the structure
and function of the brain. Renate Caine and Geoffry Caine have postulated twelve principles of BBL
theory, which are further condensed into three instructional elements namely, relaxed alertness,
orchestrated immersion, and active processing. Relax alertness is an optimal state of mind,
comprising of low threat and high challenge, emphasizing that the learners should feel secure so that
they can take a risk. The orchestrated immersion provides the learners with rich, complex experiences
that include options and sense of wholeness. Active processing refers to theoretical organization and
internalization of meaningful and conceptually coherent information by the learner. In this article we
present in depth discussion on these three elements of BBL, highlighting their importance and
implication.
Keywords: Brain Based Learning (BBL), Relaxed alertness, Orchestrated immersion, Active
processing

Teaching is the art of changing brain.

- James Zull
Introduction:
The objective of education is holistic development of student and to achieve this objective,
different theories were developed by educationalists and psychologists. Amongst the different
theories, the recently developed Brain Based Learning (BBL) theory is recognized as the
most promising theory to achieve the aforesaid objective of education. The BBL is
comprehensive approach to instruction based on how our brain learns naturally, and based on
the structure and function of the brain. According to the BBL, unless the brain is prohibited
from fulfilling its normal processes, learning will occur. Jensen (1995/2000) defines BBL as
learning in accordance with the way the brain is naturally designed to learn The importance
of brain in learning process has been realized by various educationalists. For example, Frank
Smith (1986) in his book Insult to Intelligence quotes Learning is the brain's function, its
constant concern, and we become restless and frustrated if there is no learning to be done.
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Similarly, in the book Human Brain and Human Learning Leslie Hart (1983), argues that
teaching without an awareness of how the brain learns is like designing a glove with no sense
of what a hand looks like, its shape, how it moves. The organ of learning, the brain, must be
understood and accommodate.
Renate Caine and Jeoffry Caine (1991), from the result of a cross-disciplinary search,
have postulated twelve principles of BBL theory, as stated below.
1. The brain is a parallel processor, implying that the brain performs many tasks
simultaneously, including thinking and feeling.
2. Learning engages the entire physiology, implying that the brain and the body are
engaged in learning.
3. The search for meaning is innate implying that the brains or minds search for
meaning is very personal.
4. The search for meaning occurs through patterning, implying that the brain is
designed to perceive and generate patterns and it resists having meaningless patterns
imposed on it.
5. Emotions are critical to patterning implying that our emotions are brain based and
they play an important role in making decisions.
6. The brain processes parts and wholes simultaneously implying that the left and the
right hemisphere have different functions, but they are designed to work together.
7. Learning involves both focused attention and peripheral perception implying that the
brain response to the entire sensory context in which teaching or communication
occurs.
8. Learning always involves conscious and unconscious processes implying that there is
interplay between our conscious and our unconscious.
9. We have at least two different types of memory implying that spatial
(autobiographical) and rote learning (taxon memory) implying that the taxon or rote
memory systems consist of facts and skills that are stored by practice and rehearsal.
The spatial or autobiographical, memory builds relationships among facts, events, and
experiences.
10. Learning is developmental implying that children, and their brains, benefit from
enriched home and school environments.
11. Learning is enhanced by challenge and inhibited by threat implying that students
optimally benefit when their assignments are challenging and the classroom
environment feels safe and supportive.
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12. Each brain is unique implying that when teaching, we need to consider how each
student learns most effectively; each student has his or her own unique set of brain
strengths and weaknesses.
The brain-based education involves two components (a) designing and orchestrating
lifelike, enriching, and appropriate experiences for learners, and (b) ensuring that students
process experience in such a way as to increase the extraction of meaning. Moreover, Renate
Caine and Jeoffry Caine conclude that optimizing the use of the human brain means using the
brains infinite capacity to make connections, and understanding what conditions maximize
this process. For complex learning to occur, the authors have identified three interactive and
mutually supportive elements.
In recent times, the BBL approach has attracted a great deal of attention of
researchers, teachers, and educationalist. This approach has been widely used in developed
countries and its implication in Indian context is limited. In order to enhance the awareness of
the BBL approach and attract more and more teachers to adopt it in day to day teaching
process, it is desirable to explain the various facets of BBL approach to the Indian
community. This paper is a sort of action in this regard. Herein, we discuss the three
elements/phases of the BBL approach in detail.
Three elements of the BBL:
The three elements of BBL are relaxed alertness, orchestrated immersion, and
active processing. These three elements are not separated from each other with clear lines
of demarcation and revive components of each other.
1. Relaxed Alertness:
Relax alertness is an optimal state of mind, comprising of low threat and high
challenge, emphasizing that the learners should feel secure so that they can take a risk.
Relaxed alertness also includes a personal sense of wellbeing and safety that allows students
to explore new thoughts and connections with an expanded capacity to tolerate ambiguity,
uncertainty, and delay of fulfillment. The optimal state of mind has two indispensable
characteristics (Renate Caine and Geoffry Caine, 1991).
i.

A relaxed nervous system and sense of safety and security that operates at mental,
emotional and physical level.

ii.

Student self motivation, which is critical to the expansion of knowledge at more

than surface levels.
According to the BBL principles 05 and 11, emotions play an important role in

learning. It is well known that the emotions and thoughts interpenetrate and shape each
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others. The learner identifies the low threat environment via emotions. Thus, emotions play
an important role in relaxed alertness. In order to maximize learning, it is necessary to
establish an environment that allows the learner for self risk taking. The self risk taking
environment is created by eliminating pervasive or continuous threat. Finally, the sense of
safety allowing or welcoming appropriate risk in one part is referred to as relaxation.
While providing the low threat and high challenging environment in classroom, one
has to be very careful, as the self risk taking capability varies from student to student. As the
emotions and thoughts of a student are closely related to his/her socio-economic status, home,
neighborhood, and society environment, his or her sense of safety differs from others.
1.1 Elements of instructions incorporating relaxed alertness:
i.

Importance of Teacher prestige:

The teacher prestige deals with, how well a teacher masters the subject and share

subject matter (expertise), his/her degree of congruence or empathy, and external behaviour
(body language).
Types of conditions and sub-states:

ii.

There are two specific sub-states namely, childlike state and pseudo-passiveness
(passive learner). The childlike state means creative playfulness, usually displayed by
children. This state includes willingness to experiment and openness to unexpected
consequence, a sense of positive anticipation. Passive learning is a condition similar to state
of mind of the audience of a good musical concert. In this state, the learner is relaxed and
attentive, but open to experience.
1.2 Relaxation Techniques:
For the sake of attracting students, one can define full form of R E L A X as Relax,
Enjoy, Learn, Appreciate, X-pand. From numerous research studies, it has been observed that
relaxation training has positive influence enhancing the students self-management skills,
achievement, self-concept, social interaction skills and decreased state anxiety. Some of the
relaxation techniques that have been used in class room environment are as listed below.
i.

Progressive Muscle Relaxation: Begin with the face, instruct the students to scrunch
up their faces for 3-10 seconds, inhale deeply and then slowly relax their face and
breathe deeply for 20 seconds. Then repeat with the shoulders, the arms and hands,
and the legs. Then the students can end with a minute or two of deep breathing.
Students should try to keep their eyes closed throughout the relaxation session.

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ii.

Proprioceptive Activities: Stair climbing, crawling on all fours, pulling/pushing

items in the classroom, silly animal walks/ alternate walking, skipping, walking in
slow motion, running on the spot, body stretching, etc.

iii.

Listening music

iv.

Visual Imagery

v.

Peer Sharing (Co-listening)

vi.

Meditation

2.

Orchestrated Immersion:
The power of orchestrated immersion is to take the information off the page and/or

blackboard and bring it to life in the minds of students. This phase involves rational
combination of two terms, immersion and orchestration. Immersion focuses on how the
students are exposed to the content. When wholeness and interconnectedness cannot be
avoided, students are obliged to employ their local memory system in the exploration of the
content. In such cases, there are two objectives. The first objective is to immerse the students
in (compelling experiences). The second goal is to identify and appreciate the various
elements of such experience and need to know how to bring them together effectively. That
bringing together through practical skill and artistry is what we call orchestration (Renate
Caine and Geoffry Caine, 1991).
In orchestrated immersion, the teacher plays a role of an orchestrator/architect,
designing experiences that will lead the students to make meaningful connections. The focal
point of orchestrated immersion is to make the essence of the subject meaningful and bright
in the minds of students. If a student grasps the gist of subject via various sense organs, the
retention level of the new input is increased. This phase helps the students to establish
patterns and associations in their brains, providing them with rich and complex experiences,
so as to make learning more permanent.
2.1 Elements of instructions incorporating orchestrated immersion:
i.

The Teacher as a Designer of experience: Orchestration involves the development of a

teaching approach that combines planning with opportunity for spontaneity, by both the
teacher and students. The spontaneous creativity is result of inner confidence of the
teacher as a communicator and focus on making sense. The teachers should have
mastery of planning and design, if they are to effectively orchestrate experiences for
learners. A person, who can orchestrate experience very well possess artistry.

ii.

Dynamic Gestalts-Creating Sense of living Wholeness: Knowledge becomes natural

when it is sufficiently connected with what else is already known. These patterns of

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interconnectedness are known as maps. So a lot many opportunities, for making

connections, should be provided to the students, from which they can extract meaningful
patterns. With the sense of wholeness, the teachers should simultaneously be able to
invoke creativity, permitting flexibility, change and excitement.
A long as we have grasp of greater purpose and sense of continuity and
connectedness, day to day events make a sense. The myths, plots, belief-systems,
agreements are dynamic gestalts, because they provide overall pattern that make a sense.
These dynamic gestalts can be used as given below.
i.

Establishing curricular themes.

ii.

Encouraging complex, real projects of personal interests to students.

iii.

Providing multisensory representation.

iv.

Telling stories and exploring myths.

v.

Using metaphors.

vi.

Considering the entire physical context.

vii.

Providing social relationships and sense of community.

3. Active Processing:
Active processing deals with theoretical organization and internalization of
meaningful and conceptually coherent information by the learner. It is regarded as a path to
understanding (meaningful learning) rather than simple memorization. Active processing is
the only way for students to make sense of experience. It provides opportunities for students
to learn not only about the subject but also about themselves about people. In active
processing, the students consistently examine what is important to them, and often find
surprising new issues of importance. It necessarily engages emotions, concept and values,
when meaningfulness is of prime concern. Active processing is not just a stage in lesson
occurring in one specific time, it is a matter of constantly working and manipulating the
ongoing experiences that the student have (Renate Caine and Geoffry Caine, 1991).
Since active processing refers to a way to understanding (meaningful learning), its
role and/or effect can be estimated via evaluation of the learner. Naturally, reflection is one
of the important techniques of evaluation, particularly when someone is interested in
estimating role or effect of active processing. In the experimental nature of the entire
learning, it becomes more and more important for all students to reflect on their experiences
for the purpose of adequately grasping the implications. At the moment, the closest that many
schools come to reflection is with "wait time." This refers to a deliberate delay between a
teacher's question and a student's answer, but wait time has as much to do with reflection as
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standing in line has to do with shopping. The power of reflection is cumulative. It is expected
that the students to not only expand their natural knowledge,

but also to desire that

expansion. Reflection is powerful in part because it creates what Dewey called a "learning
loop" (Fellows and Zimpher 1988).
Reflection in learning is not a simple process and divided into three main types
namely, Reflection on feedback from others, Reflection without assistance, and Personal
awareness of deep meanings.
3.1 Active Processing in action:
Participation of the elementary and secondary school students in social events. The
students and teachers need to explore in more depth the power of the arts. For example, the
school/social programmes, in which students are given the opportunity to develop their
singing, dancing, and other artistic talents and where their participation is directly linked to
the content of their school curriculum in history or science. The students need to experience
the joy of participating and to have the opportunity to be creative. They will receive more
than enough feedback to give them a sense of what the community values. They must also
have the freedom to experiment.
References:
Fellows., K and N.I. Zimpher (1988) Reflectivity and instructional process: A definitional
comparison between theory and practice in Images of Reflection in Teacher Education
edited by H.C. Waxman and et.al., Association of Teacher Educators.
Hart.,L (1983), Human Brain, Human Learning. New York. Longman.
Jensen (1995/2000), (revised) Brain-based Learning: The New Science of Teaching and Training
Revised edition, Thousand oaks, California, Corwin Press
Renate Caine and Geoffry Caine, (1991) Making connections: Teaching And The Human Brain:
Addison Wiley. Innovative Learning Publications.

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