What Does Research on the
Brain Tell Us About Workshop Design?
A supportive climate and
feelings of personal
autonomy facilitate learning.
Cognitive
science and recent brain research indicate that if the learner feels 'in
control' of the learning situation, perceives it as being meaningful, and
experiences a positive emotional tone, learning is more likely to occur
(Caine and Caine 1991), (Marzano 1992). Caine and Caine (1991) suggest that when the
learner feels relaxed and in control, the brain's cortex (the center for complex thought) is fully functional. Deci and Ryan (1987) have found that
creativity is facilitated by "autonomy, greater interest, less pressure
and tension, positive emotional tone, higher self-esteem, more trust, and better
physical and psychological health" (p. 1024).
Conversely,
studies indicate that "human subjects experiencing anxiety, were also
unable to perform complex intellectual problem solving, achievement, and
teaming activities." (Caine and Caine 1991, p. 70). When individuals feel anxious or out of
control, they often base their actions on habits, instincts, or already learned
behavior and become dependent on extrinsic sources of motivation to learn. This
translates into behavior in which individuals focus on goals
constructed by others rather than looking for connections that are personally
meaningful or intrinsically driven.
What
implications do these findings have for designing professional development
workshops for adults? Creativity and maximum learning occur in an environment
characterized by high challenge and low threat. The following practices help
build this environment from the very beginning of a workshop.
1. Invite participants to select
their own seats. If you want to mix
participants or break up cliques, design activities that can be integrated
throughout the training to accomplish this, but allow participants to return,
after an activity, to their preferred seats. For example, a trainer might
request that at specific times during a session, participants meet with
another participant located at a different table to summarize what has been
learned thus far. This dialogue might also include personal connections that
individuals have made with the content of the session.
2. Provide time for participants to review
the agenda and outcomes as well as browse through the training materials. Once
you have done this, allocate time for participants to reflect on their
expectations for the workshop and discuss their thoughts, questions, and desires
with colleagues. You can then debrief these expectations and record them on
chart paper. Refer to these posted expectations periodically, throughout the
session, and revisit them at the conclusion of the training.
3. Create
opportunities for participants to influence
or control the pace of a workshop. You
can do this by preparing a tent card folded from 8.5" x 11" paper on
which "ready" is written on one half and “working" is written on
the other. Each group uses their tent card to signal the presenter when they
have completed an assigned group activity by turning it to the “ready” side.
When a group desires additional work time, they keep the card with the
"working" side facing outward. This practice minimizes dead time, it
does not allow activities to go on for longer than necessary, and invites
participants to share responsibility for pacing,
4. Extend an
invitation to bracket distracting thoughts. Have you ever read to the bottom of
a page and realized that you had no idea what it was about because you were
thinking about other things? Bracketing invites learners to jot down the
thoughts on their minds so they can be revisited later if necessary, thus enhancing the participants’ ability to
focus. Some workshop leaders provide 3” x 5”index cards for bracketing, as well
as envelopes in which participants can place bracketed thoughts.
5. Build in reflection time. Reflection time allows learners an
opportunity, to assimilate new material, relate it to their prior knowledge,
and create personal connections with new learnings. Options for reflection
include: silent writing, mind maps, and word webs.
6. Design
activities so that participants have the option of choosing how they wish to
respond. Prepare several options, based on the theory of multiple intelligences
(Gardner 1993). For example, participants might be invited to create a story;
explore patterns, categories, or relationships; reflect silently; draw, chart,
or diagram; participate in a group activity; develop a model; or create a song,
rap, or poem as a way of reflecting their understanding of the content
7. Use language that is non-coercive. For example, 'I'd like to
invite you to reflect, and then do a quick write to summarize your
thoughts.” While these strategies are
relatively simple, they show respect for the learner and create a positive,
welcoming, accepting tone in the workshop room. It has been said that “in small
ways we can make big differences.” If participants in workshops experience
specific strategies to create an inviting learning environment, and if we make
our use of these strategies explicit, then the probability that participants
will return to their classrooms and model these same behaviors for students is
greatly increase.
Adapted by: Corda Ladd & Kathryn Markovchick –
mesupport_network @manchester.u42.k12.me.us