Ten Bodybrain-Compatible Elements of the HET Model

NOTE: The following article is republished from an archived version of an article on The Center 4 Learning.

The Highly Effective Teaching (HET) Model provides a way of conceptualizing the orchestration of a Bodybrain-Compatible learning environment by implementing the science of learning (how the brain learns) and its implications within the classroom for schoolwide improvement. Originally developed by Susan J. Kovalik as the ITI (Integrated Thematic Instruction) Model and continually updated, the Highly Effective Teaching Model is currently used in hundreds of school districts across the United States and locations throughout the world. Regardless of the language, culture, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status of the student community, its outcomes are the same: quantum leaps in student achievement and a lifelong love of learning.

The Ten Bodybrain-Compatible Elements of the HET Model are the primary ways of translating the research of neuroscience into action within the classroom. These ten elements are:

Absence of Threat / Nurturing Reflective Thinking

Threat, either real or perceived, significantly restricts (or eliminates) the students’ abilities to engage fully in the learning process. Instructors must orchestrate a safe learning environment free of anxiety, where no threat is present (either real or perceived) and all participants feel safe to share, learn, explore, and exist in a culture of respect. Create an environment filled with meaning to invite thoughtfulness, introspection, and the mental habit of thinking things through.

Sensory-Rich “Being There” Experiences

“Being There” experiences are rich in sensory interaction in real-world locations where all 20 senses and mirror neurons can be activated. “Being There” locations anchor curriculum for students by illustrating how the concepts and skills appear in real life and how those who work at or visit the location interact with the environment and perform tasks with resources that are available to them.

Meaningful Content

Meaningful Content is determined by each learner. It digs deeply into the learner’s pool of intrinsic motivation and provides focus for the ever active brain, harnessing attention and channeling effort. When the content of the material being taught is meaningful to learners, it builds conceptual understanding, and can be experienced – thus providing real-life context and engaging students in the learning process.

Enriched Environment

The learning environment should reflect a healthful, inviting, and comfortable setting providing an immersion area with many resources from which students can learn. Special emphasis should be placed on real places, people, and objects to provide real-life context for that learning. The enriched learning environment is bodybrain-compatible in that it has designated areas for further exploration of material, group work, team projects, reflection, and movement.

Movement to Enhance Learning

Current brain research has revealed that the body and mind are a partnership – one cannot be developed without the other. This has confirmed the importance of movement in a learning environment. Movement is critical to every brain function, including memory, emotion, language, and learning. Therefore, movement activates and focuses the bodybrain systems for optimal learning.

Choices

It is clear that all students do not learn in the same manner, nor do they have the same interests. Parents know this and so do teachers. In HET classrooms, students are given options (Choices) to demonstrate understanding through multiple intelligences, higher level thinking, and personality preferences so that students can master required curriculum, explore potential career interests, and acquire the skills to be lifelong learners.

Adequate Time

It takes time to extract meaningful patterns and it takes time to acquire useful programs. Enough time must be given so each learner can thoroughly explore, understand, and use ideas, information, and skills. One of the greatest gifts a teacher can give the student is adequate time to sort through the information, establish the meaning of it all, develop a mental program for using and remembering what is learned, and apply what is learned to his/her own personal life.

Collaboration

The use of the word “collaboration” (rather than cooperation) is deliberate. Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary states: “the act of working jointly with others or together especially on an intellectual endeavor.” This means working together toward a common goal – mastery. This leads toward career skills in communication and interaction for solving problems, exploring, and creating when learning or performing.

Immediate Feedback

Immediate feedback is a necessary element in the successful learning environment – both for pattern-seeking and for program-building (the two steps of the learning process). Receiving feedback that is immediate and ongoing ensures effective first learning by assembling sensory input into understandable components and allowing the correct use of what is understood as well as orchestrating the situation for students to explain to others what is learned.

Mastery (Application)

The focus must be shifted to what is learned – what the student understands and can do with it – rather than on what was taught or covered by the instructor. A focus on Mastery ensures that students acquire mental programs (step two of the learning process) to use what is learned in the real-life situations and that such programs get stored in long-term memory.

The HET Model information is copyright protected. © Susan Kovalik/The Center for Effective Learning. All rights reserved.