WikiVet Workshop, LIVE Centre 31st July 2007 Thinking Styles - Herrmann’s Creative Brain Playing the Diversity Game (Cognitive preferences) WikiVet Workshop, LIVE Centre 31st July 2007 Thanks to Julia Atkin for input (www.learning-by-design.com)

Julia Atkin’s work www.learning-by-design.com Educator since 1970s (chemistry) Herrmann (1989) The Creative Brain Interested in: Left brain thinking vs. right brain thinking Deep meaning Constructivist, experiential approach to learning Helping learners to be self-directed, independent, intrinsically motivated, learner-centred, collaborative/cooperative

Herrmann’s Creative Brain model Concerned with “ways of knowing” ‘Left-brainers’ and ‘right-brainers’ “For people whose preferred mode of knowing is visual, what is presented in pictures will get through to them better than a lecture or book with text only” (Herrmann 1989)

The Brain - right versus left Right mode processing Left mode • serial/sequential • focal/convergent • verbal/symbolic • logical/analytical • parallel/simultaneous • diffuse/divergent • image/spatial • intuitive/holistic the wood © Julia Atkin, 2007

MacLean’s Triune Brain The Brain - cerebral versus limbic Neocortex - conceptual, cerebral, reasoning “thinking cap” neocortex limbic system Limbic - emotional, registers rewards & punishments, controls ANS (fight or flight) reptilian Trinune brain – lowest level is instinct, followed by emotion, with conceptual thinking at the top. When we feel threatened control moves down to the limbic system, which is why learning is impeded when learners feel threatened. Need to be challenged but not threatened. Research in the 50s involving severing the two hemispheres in epileptic patients revealed the two sides of brain processing. The right mode is instinctive, total, holistic, we don’t need to think about it, it just happens. Left mode processing is more logical and sequential. In Julia’s terms, like solving an anagram, you go from A to Z without thinking when the RHS is working, whereas for the LHS need to go from A to B to C to D etc. The ‘a-ha’ moment is when the two sides converge. MacLean’s Triune Brain Reptilian - instinctive, most ancient part of the brain

Herrmann’s Creative Brain model Some rules … No cognitive preference is better than another “Every [one] brings critically important contributions to living and working” Not a measure of intelligence “The [model] is a metaphor describing how a person prefers to acquire and process information, not how fast or accurately they do it.” Over 90% of people have >1 preference “Profiles tend to remain constant, but they can and do change.”

The Diversity Game Arrange your five cards in order, starting with the card that best describes yourself, and ending with the one that is least like you … What was your immediate response to the cards that were dealt? Would you be comfortable finishing the game with these cards?

The Diversity Game Move around the other players and trade cards to “improve” your hand ... Were there any noticeable patterns in the kinds of cards other players wanted to keep and those they were willing to trade? What might patterns suggest about the preferences of the group?

The Diversity Game Discard your two least preferred cards … What reaction did you have when you had to give up two cards?

The Diversity Game Examine all the discarded cards and make any exchanges you want to … Were those choices easy or difficult? Were you able to put together a hand that closely represented you?

The Diversity Game Remember a personal story to share with the group that illustrates a time when all three of the qualities in your hand came into play and influenced your behaviour … Does your story reflect the way you are much of the time?

© Ned Herrmann, The Creative Brain, 1989

Limbic modes - thinking stimulated Ned Herrmann’s Whole Brain Processing Model Cerebral modes - abstract thinking Thinks and acts holistically & randomly Thinks and acts step by step Limbic modes - thinking stimulated by emotions and senses © Julia Atkin, 2007

© Julia Atkin, 2007

We speak different languages or dialects. © Ned Herrmann, The Creative Brain, 1989

Communication & Learning Likes & Expectations “If a learner is highly inclined towards one mode of processing … he or she will tend to approach tasks in that mode even when it’s not the more appropriate.” (Atkin 2000) Communication & Learning Likes & Expectations “Learning requires moving outside our comfort zone.” (Atkin 2000) © Julia Atkin, 2007

Discuss … Can we use this model as a basis for collaborative work with WikiVet? To facilitate teamwork? As a model for learners?