Using Brain-Based Instruction to Optimize Early Childhood English Language Education

Definition of Brain-Based Instruction

Education initiatives that link current practice with promising new research in neurological and cognitive science offer real possibilities for improving teaching and learning, especially for students with diverse learning needs (Hardiman, 2001). Brain-Based Learning (BBL) involves acknowledging the brain's rules for meaningful learning and organizing teaching with those rules in mind (Caine & Caine, 1991). BBL, Cercone (2006) states, is a comprehensive approach to education which supports the notion that individual differences need to be considered in any educational setting. Jensen (2008, p. 410) defines brain-based education as the “engagement of strategies based on principles derived from an understanding of the brain.”

Brain-based education refers to learning in accordance with the way the brain is biologically designed to learn. Brain-based teaching encourages educators to consider the nature of the brain in their decision-making in an effort to reach more learners (Morris, 2010). Brain-based teaching, referred to as brain-compatible or brain-friendly, is evolving to use knowledge about the brain in order to design and implement developmentally appropriate practices in the classroom. The idea of brain-based teaching is to encourage optimal gains in the classroom by stimulating various parts of the brain (Luppe, 2007). Thus, brain-compatible education introduces an orientation for ensuring that no child is left behind that is focused specifically on sustained achievement for all students (Ronis, 2007).