Diversity and Cognitive Styles: Implications for Organizing, Teaching and Learning

1. Diversity and Cognitive Styles: Implications for Organizing, Teaching and Learning

2. Thomas J. Craney, Ed.D. School Psychologist, Frederick Co. Public Schools Nationally Certified School Psychologist Psycho-Educational Consultant Field Associate, Nova Southeastern University Adjunct Faculty, Nova Southeastern University Adjunct Faculty, Hood College 103 Prospect St. PO Box 555 Middletown, MD 21769 240-236-1250 Thomas.Craney@fcps.org

3. ASSUMPTIONS • We all develop personal paradigms/mental models for understanding these differences • All paradigms have strengths and limitations • Self-understanding BEFORE other-understanding • The cognitive styles paradigm may be used as a tool for understanding motives and behavior • This tool may be used systematically to expand your communication skills

4. The BRAIN-BEHAVIOR CONNECTION • Neuro-psychological connections and historical perspectives • Functional localization • Split-brain research • Hemispheric dominance • Current brain- investigating technologies

5. CORPUS CALLOSUM The nerve structure which bridges the two hemispheres, fostering the collaborative efforts of both hemispheres in their specialized information processing and problem solving functioning.

6. Motor Cortex Broca’s Area Sensory Cortex Parietal Lobe Frontal Lobe Occipital Lobe Visual Cortex Temporal Lobe Wernicke’s Area

7. PREFERENCES & DOMINANCE • Physical Symmetry vs. Functional Asymmetry • Why preferences and/or dominance? • Brain-preferences/dominance • Habits of the mind • No RIGHT or WRONG, but • Situational appropriateness & consequences • Preferences, style, competence and potential

8. The HERRMANN BRAINDOMINANCE MODEL:A Brain-Based Metaphorical Model • The brain’s physiology and architecture • The quadrant (A-B-C-D) organizing principle • The metaphorical cognitive styles model • The assessment instrument • The application

9. Brain Physiology Cerebral Cortex Left Hemisphere Right Hemisphere Limbic System

10. Brain Architecture as the Organizing Principle A D Cerebral Left Cerebral Right Limbic Right Limbic Left B C

11. The Metaphor for the Cognitive Styles Model A D B C

12. U P P E R / C E R E B R A L L E F T U P P E R / C E R E B R A L R I G H T A D Logical Creative Rational Innovative 100 100 90 90 80 80 Critical Artistic 70 Analytical 70 Conceptual 60 60 50 50 40 40 30 30 20 20 AVOIDANCE COMFORT A D AVOIDANCE COMFORT PREFERENCE PREFERENCE B C 20 20 30 30 40 40 50 50 60 60 Planful Friendly Organized Expressive 70 70 80 80 90 90 100 100 Detailed Emotional C B Conservative Interpersonal LOWER/LIMBIC LEFT LOWER/LIMBIC RIGHT The MINDS’ I Visual Profile Application A D B C

13. Upper or Cerebral Left Upper or Cerebral Right A LOGICAL FACTUAL CRITICAL RATIONAL ANALYTICAL ARTISTIC CREATIVE INNOVATIVE INTEGRATIVE CONCEPTUAL D ADMINISTRATIVE CONSERVATIVE ORGANIZED DETAILED PLANFUL INTERPERSONAL EMOTIONAL EXPRESSIVE FRIENDLY TEACHER B C Lower or Limbic Right Lower or Limbic Left

14. I’ve got Good News & Bad News Your strength is an asset! However, your strength may also be a liability!

15. U P P E R / C E R E B R A L L E F T U P P E R / C E R E B R A L R I G H T A D Logical Creative Rational Innovative 100 100 90 90 80 80 Critical Artistic 70 Analytical 70 Conceptual 60 60 50 50 40 40 30 30 20 20 AVOIDANCE COMFORT A D AVOIDANCE COMFORT PREFERENCE PREFERENCE B C 20 20 30 30 40 40 50 50 60 60 Planful Friendly Organized Expressive 70 70 80 80 90 90 100 100 Detailed Emotional B C Conservative Interpersonal LOWER/LIMBIC LEFT LOWER/LIMBIC RIGHT Men A D B C Women

16. EDUCATIONAL andORGANIZATIONAL IMPLICATIONS • “Traditional” approaches • The left-brain emphasis in our institutions • Cognitive style-centrism • Personal vs. professional orientations • Teaching and communicating the way you learn and communicate • “Expectcentrism”

17. Why a Styles Approach? PERSPECTIVES ON PREFERENCES IN EDUCATION • The majority of public and private schools in the “West” teach through linguistic and logical-mathematical approaches • “Traditional” classrooms limit what the brain can do due to the reliance on the sequential instructional approach • Low achieving students are predominantly global, tactile, and kinesthetic learners • Edmonds stated we often teach in ways that keep our children from learning almost anything • Students spend most of their class time either doing seat work or listening to teachers lecture, and not from experiential or peer interaction • Students who demonstrate poor verbal and/or logical skills often fail in school despite their talents in other areas • The curriculum is accommodated by systematically sorting students • Students are not systematically exposed to instructional methodologies that accommodate or are responsive to individual and/or collective learning/cognitive styles

18. Why a Styles Approach? PERSPECTIVES ON TEACHER PREPARATION AND EDUCATIONAL PRACTICES • Pre-service teacher preparation programs continue to be content/subject focused often at the expense of a focus on instructional and learning processes • Until recently very few teach preparation programs offered applied neuro-educational research courses • Lacking conceptual knowledge, the accommodations and adjustments made in the instructional processes tend to be non-systematic • Teachers tend to teach the way they learn • School systems often lack a systematic means of incorporating teaching technology into their staff development programs

19. Why a Styles Approach? PERSPECTIVES ON INSTRUCTION PRACTICES AND LEARNING OUTCOMES • Good teachers have always been aware of their need to adjust their methods of instruction in order to accommodate individual learner characteristics, and the learning/cognitive styles model has provided a conceptual foundation from which to operate systematically • When a variety of teaching approaches are employed, and students are given adequate time, educational tasks are mastered • An awareness on one’s own learning/cognitive style is a necessary prerequisite to understanding the style of others • Teachers who are aware of their own learning style show improved understanding of the style of others, which leads to more systematic adjustments in the teaching/learning process • Teachers who systematically demonstrate a wide range of teaching styles are potentially more capable instructionally than repertoire-limited teachers • Educationally disabled students are often best treated with appropriate instruction • Forcing students to learn through their style weaknesses can produce failure, boredom and loss of self-esteem • Despite preferences, an effort should be made by teachers and students to broaden their competencies, and allow teaching/learning approaches to be determined situationally • A learning/cognitive styles approach can help lead to: • Professional discretion NOT standardized teaching • Educational standards NOT standardized testing • Curriculum reform NOT teacher-proof curriculum

20. A Quadrant Upper/Cerebral Left LEARNERS RESPOND TO: WHY QUESTIONS DATA-BASED CONTENT FORMALIZED LECTURE PROGRAMMED LEARNING TECHNICAL CASE DISCUSSIONS TEXTBOOKS AND BIBLIOGRAPHIES

21. A Quadrant Upper/Cerebral Left LEARNERS LEARN BY: BUILDING CASES FORMING THEORIES THINKING THROUGH IDEAS APPLYING ANALYSIS AND LOGIC ACQUIRING AND QUANTIFYING FACTS

22. LEARNERS RESPOND TO: ORGANIZATIONAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE CASE DISCUSSIONS BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION PROGRAMMED LEARNING THROUGH PLANNING SEQUENTIAL ORDER STRUCTURE LECTURE B Quadrant Lower/Limbic Left

23. LEARNERS LEARN BY: ORGANIZING AND STRUCTURING CONTENT ACQUIRING SKILLS THROUGH PRACTICE EVALUATION AND TESTING THEORIES IMPLEMENTING COURSE CONTENT SEQUENCING CONTENT B Quadrant Lower/Limbic Left

24. LEARNERS RESPOND TO: PEOPLE ORIENTED CASE DISCUSSIONS EXPERIENTIAL OPPORTUNITIES SENSORY MOVEMENT GROUP INTERACTION MUSIC C Quadrant Lower/Limbic Right

25. LEARNERS LEARN BY: INTEGRATING EXPERIENCES WITH SELF HARMONIZING WITH THE CONTENT LISTENING AND SHARING IDEAS EMOTIONAL INVOLVEMENT MOVING AND FEELING C Quadrant Lower/Limbic Right

26. D Quadrant Upper/Cerebral Right LEARNERS LEARN BY: TAKING INITIATIVE RELYING ON INTUITION SYNTHESIZING CONTENT CONSTRUCTING CONCEPTS EXPLORING HIDDEN POSSIBILITIES

27. D Quadrant Upper/Cerebral Right LEARNERS RESPOND TO: AESTHETICS PLAYFULNESS SPONTANEITY INDIVIDUALITY BEING INVOLVED VISUAL DISPLAYS EXPERIMENTATION EXPERIENTIAL OPPORTUNITIES FUTURE ORIENTED CASE DISCUSSIONS

28. A Developmental Perspective on Cognitive Styles and Education Secondary & Post Secondary ??? D A B C Preschool Elementary

29. Wholebrain Leadership and Management: The “BOW-TIE” Method D A B C

30. COMMUNICATION BETWEEN PEOPLE WITHIN A QUADRANT “FREE FLOW” “ON THE SAME WAVE LENGTH” “SEE EYE TO EYE” D A B C

31. COMMUNICATION BETWEEN PEOPLE FROM COMPATIBLE QUADRANTS “SUPPORTIVE” “IN THE SAME BALL PARK” “REINFORCING” D A B C

32. COMMUNICATION BETWEEN PEOPLE FROM CONTRASTING, COMPLEMENTARY QUADRANTS “ADDITIVE” “SYNERGISTIC” “COMING FROM A DIFFERENT ANGLE” D A B C

33. COMMUNICATION BETWEEN PEOPLE FROM OPPOSING, COMPLEMENTARY QUADRANTS “ABRASIVE” “CONFRONTATIONAL” “SPEAKING A DIFFERENT LANGUAGE” D A B C

34. ExcellenceCAN BE ATTAINED IF YOU ... • Care more than others think is wise • Risk more than others think is safe • Dream more than others think is practical • Expect more than others think is possible

35. Thoughts to Consider • Begin to appreciate your own mental uniqueness • Begin to better understand the mental uniqueness of those around you • Honor those differences as real, valid and potentially synergistic • Accept these brain dominance differences as a natural aspect of the human condition • Understand the difference between preferences and competencies

36. Thoughts to Consider (cont.) • Recognize that what you say and do and how you interpret what you hear and see is greatly influenced by your cognitive style, and that this is also true of others as well • Seek out experiences, activities, and learning opportunities in areas of the mental spectrum that you are not now fully accessing and/or using • Commit yourself to your own self-development action plan and carry it out