Right Way - Wrong Way

Is there a right way versus a wrong way to teach?

Teachers who understand how learning occurs will teach better and can better serve all the children God gave them to teach.

Ellen White counseled this:

"True education is not the forcing of instruction on an unready and unreceptive mind. The mental powers must be awakened, the interest aroused. For this, God's method of teaching provided. He who created the mind and ordained its laws, provided for its development in accordance with them."2

The Human Brain: In all of creation, is there a greater wonder? A single egg is fertilized. Within nine months it develops into a human being whose mind (unless impaired) has a mental capacity for carrying past achievements and future dreams to generations that follow.

The genius and power of creation are demonstrated in the nervous system’s complexity. An adult human brain consists of at least 100 billion neurons (nerve cells) and about 10 times as many neuroglial (functional support) cells. Together, these elements make up a three-pound mass of protoplasm—the most complex and inscrutable object in all of creation. Neuroscience research discovers more of its secrets—daily.

Once thought to be relatively unchangeable, scientists now know that the brain can change and even be stimulated for positive effect. Almost a century ago God gave us, through Ellen White, an early alert to the importance of this amazing organ. She referred to the brain's developmental process and enormous range of factors (both internal and external) which mold the final product in this quote: "The greatest care should be taken in the education of our youth to so vary the manner of instruction as to call forth the high and noble powers of the mind. There are very few who realize the most essential wants of the mind and how to direct the developing intellect, the growing thoughts and feelings of youth."1 The God of creation desires that we seek His counsel to understand how to provide instruction that is compatible with the human brain. Neuroscience research confirms both Scripture and Spirit of Prophecy wisdom.

Teachers who understand how learning occurs will teach better and can better serve all the children God gave them to teach. The 4MAT Framework, adopted by the Adventist EDGE initiative, has significantly influenced our thinking about instructional design. It presents learning as a natural cycle which capitalizes on the strengths of four major learning styles identified by researchers from many fields. This cycle entails the use of right and left brain strategies within four distinct phases of the learning cycle—experiencing, conceptualizing, applying, and creating.

By following the natural learning cycle (illustrated in the 4MAT model), the teacher becomes a learning facilitator, rather than the information provider―and learning comes from the inside out. Instead of starting a lesson by presenting the facts, 4MAT proposes that teachers begin by engaging learners in a practical, concrete, and authentic experience with the content. In that way, educators create a “big picture” to help learners grasp the whole concept of what they’re learning. At the same time teachers also cement in the students’ minds a positive experience with the content, which helps each student understand what the concept feels like, looks like, and sounds like in practice.

4MAT incorporates brain compatible instructional techniques into each of the four steps of the cycle, resulting in an eight-step cycle of instruction.

Real learning does not take place in a vacuum. Instead, it involves making connections with prior knowledge. In other words, the life experiences and learning that has happened before provides the groundwork for what will happen next. This real-life connection prepares the student for the next step—learning something new. This is the place for “traditional teaching,” where teachers define what the experts call the “acknowledged body of information” the learner needs to know.

4MAT offers specfic guidance for teachers on how to design and deliver instruction around this cycle, appealing to diverse learners.

In the third step, learners use the new content through practice. The question, “How will this information work in real life?” is asked and answered. Here the teacher becomes the “coach,” as learners take over the learning for themselves.

Finally, students complete the learning process with a personally designed application task, where learners transfer what they have learned into their lives. Here, students demonstrate first-hand information about the value and impact of the new learning. In this final step, students move from the classroom into real life.

• Start with “what I know”
• Next, discover “what they know and want me to know,”
• Then, “let me try it,”
• And, finally, “let me find out if what I know has new possibilities.”

In practical terms, the natural cycle of learning works this way: True learning starts with one’s self and ends with a return to the self.

James Zull, Professor of Biology at Case Western Reserve University, says, “Without biology the learning cycle is theoretical. With biology, we see that the brain is actually constructed this way. Teaching is the art of changing the brain.”3 [Italics mine.] The learning cycle fits perfectly with the brain’s physiological structure. The 4MAT Framework, pure and simple, presents an organized way to make sure that a teacher engages all areas of her or his students’ brains for balanced learning. In 2002 James Zull wrote, “Our structure for learning should have a well-proportioned foundation. There should be balance between receiving knowledge and using knowledge.”4 Once again Ellen White had already given this information to the church. In 1905 she wrote: "Let the youth advance as fast and as far as they can in the acquisition of knowledge…And as they learn, let them impart their knowledge. It is thus that their minds will acquire discipline and power."5

By combining current brain research with Divine inspiration, the Adventist EDGE brings Adventist education full circle in the spirit of the Kellogg’s Corn Flakes commercial, “Try it again for the first time.” Adventist education started with the Creator providing the method of teaching for the mind’s development in exact harmony with its natural laws. Clearly, the Adventist EDGE perpetuates the original philosophy behind Adventist education by employing methods of teaching that are scientifically, philosophically, and spiritually sound.

Adventist education offers a “cutting edge” dynamic that is more than a luxury: it is an essential that the Seventh-day Adventist Church owes its children.
Yes there is a right way to teach.

Written by W. Eugene Brewer, EdD

References:

1 Ellen G. White, Testimonies For The Church (California: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1948), III, p. 131.

2 Education (California: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1903), p. 41.
3 James E, Zull, The Art of Changing the Brain (Stylus Publishing LLC, 2002), p. 27.
4 James E, Zull, The Art of Changing the Brain (Stylus Publishing LLC, 2002), p. 45.
5 Ellen G. White, Ministry of Healing (California: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1905), p. 402.
McCarthy, Bernice. About Learning. Wauconda, Illinois: Excel, Inc., 2000

The 4MAT System: Teaching to Learning Styles with Right/Left Mode Techniques. Barrington, Illinois: Excel, Inc., 1981, 1987.