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.