| Brain-based learning (BBL) is a possible educational model that may be able to meet the instructional needs of educators in the United States. However, there is uncertainty if BBL techniques should be applied in the inclusive classroom. Therefore, the focus of this qualitative study was to explore the beliefs and the lived instructional experiences of middle school educators on the clarity and value of BBL instructional techniques. In this study, data were gathered from six general education teachers, one special education teacher, and two school district supervisors through nine interviews and two teacher observations from two suburban and two rural middle schools. Data from the qualitative study provided four summative categories: instructional techniques and BBL value, mnemonics and environment, past professional development of BBL, and future professional development of BBL to answer the four research questions. The data proposed that there was not clarity on what BBL encompassed; however, once the participants made connections with personal instructional strategies then a high value was placed on the implementation of BBL with students with disabilities in an inclusive middle school setting. The data suggested that mnemonics and classroom environment still play a role with instruction and are considered BBL techniques. From the data, no school district provided BBL professional development; however, six of the educators sought on their own BBL training. Data suggested that educators are willing to take future professional development courses and seminars to gain clarity on BBL to help meet the academic needs of students with disabilities within a diverse middle school inclusive classroom. Four recommendations were made concerning BBL: Educators should be given time to reflect on how bridges can be built between their personal instructional strategies and BBL, educators should give attention to the describing of what the educational data is saying rather than the prescribing from the data straight into the classroom, educators should attempt to build a connection between brain research and education in making BBL applicable for teachers in the classroom, and educators should continue to build bridges of understanding of how BBL may be applied to the educational classroom setting through future research. |
