Minute Masterclass Episode 64

Welcome to your one-minute masterclass. I’m Andrea Trench, founder of DiscoverDance. Today we are discussing the brain-based principle: Alternate Teacher-Directed and Student-Centered Activities. Anne Green Gilbert writes in her Brain-Compatible Dance Education book, “Direct instruction of new content requires the focused attention of the students. However, the brain needs time for processing and resting after learning.” I like to think of teacher-directed as teacher focused and student-centered as student focused. Teacher focused means the students are looking at me for information, whereas during student focused activities, I am looking at the students for information. 

This balance allows the brain to focus on the objective (that is teacher focused, where I am sharing information) then the brain processes the information (which is student focused, because they take the information I gave them and process it in their own unique and beautiful way). For more information, visit DiscoverDance.com.