Learning Theories: Brain, Memory, Styles, and Intelligences

Posted on Mar 11, 2025 in Early Childhood Education

New Learning Theories

New theories must be integrated because every class is different, and so every child is different:

  1. Everyone has an extraordinary learning potential. Our brain learns quickly and naturally.
  2. The best atmosphere is multi-sensorial, stress-free, non-input, and varied.
  3. Our paraconscious is activated through suggestion.
  4. Listening and comprehension are introduced before oral production.
  5. Movement is essential to learning.
  6. Good teachers are born, not made.

The Brain

Neocortex: Cognitive thought. Two hemispheres. “The thinking brain.”

Limbic Brain: Emotions, beliefs, and values. Long-term memories. “The feeling brain.”

Reptilian or Primitive Brain: The oldest part. Instinct survival. “The survival brain.”

Hemispheres

Analytic Hemisphere: Language, logic, numbers, science, maths.

Holistic Hemisphere: Intuition, imagination, creativity, arts, music.

Memory and the Brain

Brief suggestions for more memorable teaching:

  1. Students are more likely to remember things at the beginning or end of the lesson.
  2. We should create or adapt activities to stimulate both hemispheres.
  3. Emotions can involve memory.
  4. Relevant activities lead to significant learning.
  5. Multi-sensorial planning (they should use all their senses).
  6. General review.

Learning Styles (VAKOG)

Visual Learners:

  • Reading and writing.
  • Observant, organized student.
  • Images.
  • Pictures and outlines.
  • Key words.
  • Decorate walls.
  • Flashcards, posters, colors, and shapes.
  • Pictures and drawings.

Aural Learners:

  • Reading aloud.
  • Debates and discussions.
  • Listening to people, CD player.
  • Hear.
  • Role plays, dialogues, drills.
  • Oral production.
  • Songs, chants…

Kinesthetic Learners:

  • Body.
  • Touching and walking outside.
  • Feelings and emotions.
  • Movement.
  • For use in class: Real objects.
  • Memory and gestures.
  • Feelings and emotions.
  • Practical activities.

Olfactory and Gustatory:

Every class has three learning styles (VAK).

Olfactory and gustative senses are useful during the first few months of someone’s life. Survival instinct. Less important for our cognitive development.

Multiple Intelligences

It’s a specific way of understanding our brain:

  • Flexible.
  • Dynamic.
  • Eight types.
  • Independent and interrelated.

Definition: Biological and physiological ability to understand, process, communicate, and represent information so that we can solve problems and create products with important parts in a specific community, society, or specific background for some people.

Characteristics:

  • We all have intelligences, but differently.
  • Not fixed, not all is the same. We can have many intelligences of one type but not of another type.
  • No limit. There is a connection with our intelligence and our background.
  • Improved, developed, and spread.
  • There are 8 specific intelligences.

Rather than thinking of people as intelligent or unintelligent, we should recognize that we have a number of intelligences and that different people function more or less efficiently in these different spheres.

Goals of Education

Guide our students to their maximum development point, stimulate the way our students think.

Associative analysis to introduce a topic:

  1. Space: Where? How is it?
  2. Time: When? How much/many?
  3. Reason: Why?
  4. Utility: What for? Consequences? Who does it? What with?
  5. Origin: What with? From where? From when?
  6. Social and moral ethics: How? Which rules? What do you think about? What would happen?