Introduction
Planning curriculum is a very important task. It determines the effectiveness of the curriculum in learning process. It is therefore important for curriculum developers to learn about the brain first and the process of leaning in human beings. In this way they will be able to understand the impact of brain on the learning process. Planning curriculum with the brain in mind ensures that education provided is not detrimental to the learner. It addresses the learner’s needs hence making learning comfortable to both the learners and the teachers. In addition planning ensures that other parties contributing to the learning process are considered. These include teachers, administrators and the corporate world (Lovat and Smith, 2003).
Planning Curriculum with the Brain in Mind
According to Bereiter (2000) planning curriculum with brain in mind influences the educators to come up with teaching methods that are effective considering the learner’s memory system. The learners should greatly influence the way curriculum should look like. This can be referred to as “organic” type of learning and not the traditional “factory analogies” type of learning in which the learning content is designed without putting the learner in mind.
Planning such curriculum entails interrogating the students pertaining to what they want to learn. In this way the curriculum developers will have incorporated the learner into the learning culture. Moreover they get into the global arena as a result of increasing their learning horizons.
The concept also entails considering the knowledge in context as well as in the practical context. Brain-centered curriculum looks knowledge in various perspectives. It answers a crucial question such as why adopt certain learning culture.
Many schools today are re-evaluating their values in relation to the brain centered curriculum. They retain the important parts and incorporate new values that are brain-oriented. This is in order to reduce the gap between the theory and practical.
Such curriculum encourages the teachers to influence the learner’s brain so as to be personal, powerful and productive. In other words, brain centered curriculum allows students to learn from personal experience. The learning environment excites the brain hence linking the sensory and cognitive experience. The learning content is framed into meaningful concepts that are easily recognized by the learner’s brain. (Lovat and Smith, 2003).
Planning curriculum with brain in mind ensures that the content to be learnt is arranged into chunks that can be learnt easily alongside the learning method and intelligence of the learner. It is designed in such a way to promote diversity and creativity in learning process. It recognizes the role played by the language in the process of learning. The language adopted therefore and especially the vocabulary is that which promote the cognitive connections.
Brain centered curriculum emphasizes on developing and memory encoding time. This is because it focuses on how brain works. For instance in this case the brain can only learn in bits and not all at once. This enhances learning because it provides time for reflection.
Conclusion
Designing curriculum with brain in mind makes learning easier. Students as well as their teachers enjoy learning and hence excelling. This can only be achieved by considering how the students can learn best. In addition it focuses on employing brain’s natural learning techniques. The brain centered curriculum although is designed to serve a wide range of learners; it should address individual learner’s needs.
References
Bereiter, C. (2000). Keeping the Brain in Mind. Australian Journal of Education, 44 (3): 226-238.
Lovat, T. & Smith, D. (2003).Towards Critical Reflection in Curriculum Work Curriculum: Action on Reflection. Social Science Press: Sydney.