Unleashing the Power of Perceptual Change

While I am slightly amused by the negative reviewer's clever (if vapid) flare in creating new words to criticize the book and the author's self-congratulatory defense (giving herself five stars, of course), I have to say this book is a rare blessing--the authors have combined a deeply felt passion (not only about education but about society in general) with a rigorous study of educational systems and emerging research in neuroscience. In truth, I can't fault them for congratulating themselves because I too wish to congratulate them for their efforts. As a teacher who often feels frustrated and even demoralized by a seemingly absurd educational system, I am inspired by their elegant diagnosis and prescription for change. It has helped me to radically expand my notion of what education is and what it can do.

Our book reports on reseach conducted with teachers, administrators and university students and faculty. What we suggest is that beliefs about good teaching run along a continuum. At one end is the belief in traditional teaching that must include teacher delivery of facts and skills to be memorized. It asserts that most learners must be coerced into learning. At the other end of the continuum we have the whole language, constructivist view which believes that the learner must be meaningfully engaged in learning. We conclude that these individuals at opposite ends of the continuum inevitably can not communicate with each other. The reviews represented here prove our point perfectly.

Through examining and categorizing teaching techniques as presented in a diversity of teacher interviews,the Caines continue their pursuit of understanding and maximizing the potential of brain-based learning. They draw distintions between the all too prevalent practices which lead to downshifting, a kind of brain function regression, in contrast to the conditions a teacher can provide which honor the student as a human being on a quest for life's personal meaning, the teacher and the student on a mutual search for self-efficacy. Teachers seeking new perspectives will find themselves drawn into the realm of education on the edge of possibility and faced with some serious soul-searching as they examine and question their own teaching. At least I did.