Teacher Perspectives of Whole Brain Teaching in A Suburban Middle School: A Program Evaluation

• Main Author: VanHosen, Wendy
• Format: Others
• Language: English
• Published: W&M ScholarWorks 2017
• Subjects: Educational Leadership
• Online Access: https://scholarworks.wm.edu/etd/1516639487; https://scholarworks.wm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1198&context=etd

The purpose of this program evaluation case study was to seek the perceptions of a group of teachers based on their experience with Whole Brain Teaching strategies at a suburban middle school. Perceptions and factors that lead to teacher use of the strategies were explored with the intention of informing stakeholders of whether teachers view these strategies as viable to their practice and how these beliefs influence implementation. Challenges pertaining to implementation were uncovered as well as the frequency and intended purposes of teacher use of the Whole Brain Teaching strategies. Further, there is limited research available on Whole Brain Teaching and this study along with a review of literature seeks to add to the emerging research base of educational neuroscience. The findings determined that teacher perceptions for the study group were influenced by factors such as the dynamics and characteristics of the group itself and whether the strategies were used in a co-teaching environment. Other key findings were that the teacher’s perceptions evolved over the course of the study to where teachers perceived the strategies to be effective for lower levels of thinking such as remembering but were not effective for promoting their students to think critically. Recommendations offered include the use of a professional learning community focused on the teacher’s experience with the Whole Brain Teaching strategies and continuous evaluation that considers needs, successes, challenges, and necessary improvements.