Personalised Learning

This has been called the ‘grain of the brain’. A well-honed plane applied to a piece of wood will only produce a good result if it is used with the grain. If it is used against the grain it could spoil a fine piece of wood! When a child or adult is taught with the grain of his or her brain true learning takes place.

1. Sensory Pathways

Information is taken into the brain via sensory pathways:

  • Hearing & Listening (Auditory)
  • Seeing (Visual)
  • Touching (Tactile)
  • Movement (Kinaesthetic)

Even these ways of receiving information have variations. For instance, someone who learns by hearing may learn more from discussion than just listening to a lecture. Similarly, someone who learns through seeing may learn more from pictures and diagrams than in seeing only words.

2. Memory

Without memory we could never learn anything. We each have varying strengths in the five key memories:

  • Words & Sounds - Phonological
  • Images & Pictures - Visual
  • Movements & Procedures - Procedural
  • Linking Information to Events - Episodic
  • Understanding Information - Semantic

3. Right & Left Brain Dominance

The two hemispheres of the brain are identical in structure but different in how they process incoming information. Most of us tend to have one hemisphere that is dominant in processing information and this gives a specific ‘grain’ to our brains.

  • Right Hemisphere - creative, intuitive, impulsive and holistic in processing information
  • Left Hemisphere - sequential, structured, procedural and detailed in processing information.

4. Emotions

No child or adult leaves their emotions outside the classroom in order to be taught. Emotions have a huge influence on our ability to learn. Individuals differ in how emotion affects their learning and this also contributes to the ‘grain’ of the brain.

5. Intelligence

What is intelligence and how is it measured? We have come to view it in academic or ‘intellectual’ terms. For example the answer to the question ‘How smart am I?’ is determined by aptitude in traditional subjects such as maths, language, science, history. Brain research on learning has uncovered new fields of intelligence to us. Thus the question each person should be asking is ‘How am I smart?’ The sphere of aptitude should be expanded to include ‘smartness’ in a wider range of skills such as art, dance, sport and music. At least eight different kinds of intelligence or ‘smartness’ have been identified. Individuals have a combination of these intelligences and this individual combination will make up the ‘grain’ of a person’s brain.

  • Number Smart - Numerical
  • Word Smart - Verbal
  • Musically Smart - Musical
  • Seeing Smart - Spatial
  • Body/Movement Smart - Kinaesthetic
  • Nature Smart - Naturalistic
  • People Smart - Interpersonal
  • Me Smart - Intrapersonal

Working Styles

There are four basic styles of working and the combination of these styles makes up the grain of a person’s brain:

  • Works in a systematic way preferring clear instructions and needs to know exactly what is expected
  • Reads and researches to complete work to one’s own satisfaction and prefers not to be rushed
  • Needs to keep things moving whilst working, gets easily bored and needs a reason for what one does
  • Relational, and sensitive to emotional atmospheres i.e. what others are feeling and how others feel about them.

All these factors are related to the brain and its ability to learn. Schools tend to cater for only a few of these variations. This is called the ‘one size fits all’ approach. However if it does not fit you or your child, learning will not take place as it could.

You might be shocked to know that, less than 60 years ago, a child who wrote with the left hand could be smacked on it to force it to use the right hand. The ‘one size’ was right-handed writing only! Left-handed children could make the adjustment with difficulty, but it was against the grain. Today this would be considered abuse. Yet in other ways the one size fits all approach in school still creates similar pressures for many children that can be carried into adult life. So, are individuals trapped in an education system that does not recognise the differences in brain processing and learning? Educational authorities have recognised this (e.g. Unit 19 on Pedagogy by the former DfES). But how are their recommendations to be brought about? Is it idealistic or can it become reality? Fingerprint Learning exists to make the ideal a practical reality for students, teachers and trainers.