Unleashing the Power of Perceptual Change: The Potential of Brain Based Learning

Renate and Geoffrey Caine believe that education today is like Dr. Dolittle's "Push me-Pull you" creature, with a head at each end, making it face two directions. One piece is moving forward, another wants to go back, and the middle feels the tension. That tension is what creates opportunities for new possibilities. In the new ASCD book Education on the Edge of Possibility, the Caines begin to explore those possibilities by detailing how they strived to bring their theory of learning to life in two schools. Their theory is based on a wholistic interpretation of brain research in which brain, mind, and body work together to form a dynamic unity.

Unleashing the Power of Perceptual Change continues their exploration by unveiling what the authors call perceptual orientations, differing views of reality that frame the ways people think about education and teaching. The Caines believe that unleashing genuine student potential requires educators with a particular outlook on reality. That outlook includes an appreciation for the interconnectedness of everything.

In the authors' view, the key to successfully transforming education so that students guide their own learning lies in educators' ability to transform themselves, to change their perceptual orientation. This book documents the voyage of exploration as the Caines watched teachers change from individuals who use traditional teaching and beliefs about learning to those who are at home with messy, rich, complex environments where possibility and opportunity rule. Their approach provides a glimpse of the many options open to educators.