In a recent mini survey undertaken by the American-based Association for Supervision and Curriculum
Development, a third of those surveyed believed that teachers should be encouraged to take creative approaches to the curriculum. One area where this is particularly beneficial is when such a creative approach involves movement in the learning process.
Preparing the brain for learning
From neurobiologists comes the importance of cardiovascular exercise and its impact on the alertness of the brain. Exercise increases the blood supply to both the body and the brain. This blood supplies glucose, thus providing energy. This blood stimulates protein which is needed for not only neuron creation but also neuron survival and neural connection. This blood soaks up the toxic electron waste left over from the shredding of the glucose atoms.
The net result of all this for teaching and learning is that the students will concentrate better for longer periods of time, and will have less anxiety-stress effecting concentration and engagement. Such anxiety-stress takes resources from the information-processing and reasoning areas of the students brains—the areas required to figure out the learning in front of them – because, the amygdala, responsible for processing negative emotions, becomes hyperactive and hogs the resources.
Also, sitting still can deteriorate into tedium and a listless dream world with a total lack of engagement. A research study by Csikszentmihalyi illustrates this. The researchers equipped the students with beepers that when the students heard them they were to write down whatever was in their minds at the time. The lesson was about Genghis Khan’s invasion of China in the 12th Century. When the beepers went only two students were thinking about China. One was thinking about what he had had at a Chinese restaurant two weeks before, while the other was wondering why Chinese men in the 12th century wore pony tails. Essentially no one was thinking about the lesson.
The amount of exercise required is not much. A few minutes as part of the normal class ritual at the start of the day is sufficient. The more fun and enjoyment it is, the better.
There are many options of what to do. Rhythm and movement exercises to music which encourage the integration of the right and left sides of the brain are ideal.
The video clip at https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=E65StVJTzVU is an example of what can be done with stretching exercises, in just two minutes at the start of a class, or even during a class. However, with regard to the fun and enjoyment factor, I would add suitable music or a rap that can be chanted, or even both.
Traditional activities such as Ti Rakau (demonstrated at this link https://www. youtube.com/watch?v=GJD52j_N5ng ), have many useful spin offs apart from just exercise. Not only are they are fun, they are authentically New Zealand and they provide a forum for practicing life skills such as collaboration and striving for accuracy. Kapa Haka practice before school rather than at lunch time or after school would also provide more than sufficient exercise.
Helping with the teaching and learning in class
Using physical movement in teaching and learning is not new. When I was appointed to establish a remedial programme in reading and writing at Wanganui Collegiate School in 1962 I taught spelling according to the practical ideas of the now forgotten Grace Fernald. The practice was simply to have a little jar of water on the desk into which the index finger was dipped and then used to write out the word to be learned on the desk top. This technique worked well in enabling the students to spell successfully.
At the other end of the scale, a girl who I had taught in Year 7 and 8 to use and understand the Dunn and Dunn Learning Styles mode, found that movement enabled her to learn physics while studying at Cambridge University in England. She writes, “Many of the things that were once definite ‘learning styles’ have now just become an integral part of my studying habits. I think the most beneficial thing for me has simply been my awareness of the most effective ways of learning. I found out that I was a primarily kinesthetic and visual learner and I use this whenever I study. For example when working on a physics problem I tend to draw it out with my hands in the air, an action which has become second nature, or for example when I am required to learn a speech, whether it be for Speech and Drama or a French oral I tend to walk and move as this seems to help me learn more effectively.”
So movement works for both the academically elite and the academically challenged.
Spelling can be learned by placing lettering on the floor and then stepping on each letter in the word, as a modest form of Twister. More complex forms of Twister are also a good option here.
At a more complicated level, polynomials can be taught by the teacher preparing each part of the equation on card and then having the students place each card in place on the floor. If the student’s style is more tactile (hands rather than whole body) smaller cards can be used on the top of their desk.
Musical chairs are an easy game to set up and play. Collaboration guru, Andrea Honigsfeld uses this game in the following way to highlight social aspects of collaborating.
Round one is the game as it would normally be played, with one less chair each time for the number of players which means that when the music stops one player is forced out. While this is being done the rest of the group/class observe both how the participants reacted especially their facial and physical actions. A refinement of this could be to have those watching in three groups: one watching facial expressions, one watching body language, and one watching the one who is forced out.
Round two is the same except that this time although a chair is removed each time all must be seated. Again those not in the players group observes as above.
The finale is a class or small group discussion leading to some realisation of the part emotion plays in both competitive and co-operative activities and how this affects the brain. Depending on the curriculum aims, this could be a simple comparison, or a starter activity to motivate students about the use of collaborative group work, or to illustrate aspects of emotional intelligence, or more, thus killing more than one bird with the same stone.
Role play is another worthwhile way to include movement (see my article in Teachers Matter Issue 26).
Activities requiring movement are only limited by each teacher’s innovative and creative imagination.
To conclude, we always need to be careful of the judgements we make about students who apparently can’t sit still. One of my students was diagnosed as having ADHD and placed on the requisite medicine which made, at best, a marginal difference. However, he was also an above average cricketer for his age and therefore there were times when he had to field for up to two hours at a time without a break. During that time he never lost concentration and gained the reputation as an outstanding fielder. He is now a Shakespearian actor in London with the Ritalin long discarded. Then there is Sir Ken Robinson’s dancer described as only Sir Ken can in his video at http://www. youtube.com/watch?v=9NIUg2GdBNY. To use his words, “There are people who have to move to think.”