Cut back in time by 30 years (or so) – there I was sat in school, swinging my legs under the desk, fidgeting with my colouring pencils. Distracted by noises of other children having fun, I’d watch them play on the field out through the window. Why was I so bored? Was I in detention? No I was just in maths.  Back then, my teacher stood in class, reading out what we were to learn, and then we’d be expected to work through the exercises in silence. In fact most of my lessons were taught in exactly the same way. 

Was I a bad delinquent kid fidgeting around? NO, I WAS BORED AND DISENGAGED!!!! A recent gallup poll found that 61% of staff on on training days are not engaged in their learning.  What’s worse is that 20% are actively NOT engaged!

With brains, it’s a case of use it or lose it. Traditional learning activities of learning by rote are uninspiring, rigid and suit a very small percentage of learners out there. So how can we engage learners? To answer this, let’s go back and consider what I was doing whilst bored in maths:-

swinging my legs under the desk, fidgeting with my colouring pencils. Distracted by noises of other children having fun, I’d watch them play on the field out through the window.

I wanted to have fun, move, use my body, be creative, interact, listen to different sounds and enjoy different environments. Brain Friendly Learning techniques allow learners to engage in their own learning.

So what’s wrong with this picture? and what’s more why are we still all fidgety when we go on staff training days? Simple – our brains are not engaged, and we haven’t learnt how to learn effectively whilst having fun. I first learnt about learning theory in 2000, and have suprised myself over and over at how much easier it is to learn when you’re in the right frame of mind. Brain Friendly Learning (BFL) is just one of the many techniques, enelpea use to keep learners engaged in learning and creating their own meaning. not only does it cause learners to learn faster, but studies have shown that BFL techniques enhance memory recall too.

So now you understand the base principles of BFL, let’s now have a look at how it works. Click on the presentation below and follow at your own pace. Alternatively you can click on the PDF attachment.