Is It Appropriate for Learning to Read? Essay

Dr. Carla Hannaford, an educator and neuroscientist, presented a revolutionary research that helped people have a better understanding of the things they know and those that they do. Dr. Hannaford’s book entitled Smart Moves: Why Learning Is Not All In Your Head, has been praised for the insightful link made between the body and learning. Joseph Clinton Pierce even considered it as a research work that is greatly significant in understanding education and child development. Aside from that book, she also authored the book, The Dominance Factor: How Knowing Your Dominant Eye, Ear, Brain, Hand, & Foot Can Improve Your Learning. In this book, she looked at the link between the part of a human’s body favored for â€Å"seeing, hearing, touching, and moving† and a person’s way of thinking, working, reading, playing, and interacting with others (Hannaford, 1997). Basically, the research study conducted by Dr. Hannaford scientifically elaborated and explained the connection of one’s mind and body movement and its implication in his/her learning and thinking abilities. In the Dominance Factor book, Hannaford emphasized on the idea that combining one’s dominant eye, ear, hand, and foot has tremendous effects in the way an individual learn. She also discussed the idea of an individual’s dominance profile. This dominance profile, which can be discovered in a simple and non-invasive muscle-testing, is a key element in molding a person’s way of thinking, acting and communicating with others. According to Hannaford, there are actually 32 different combinations of a person’s â€Å"dominant hemisphere, eye, ear, hand, and foot† (Hannaford, 1997). Each profile also helps a person identify what weaknesses they may encounter under stress. She even asserts that understanding one’s profile will help parents and even their children learn together in the best method suitable for them and that which will help the children perform at their highest capability (Hannaford, 1997). The concept presented by Dr. Hannaford could be tested and used in the different learning skills of people. Applying the dominance theory to an individual’s reading abilities is interesting but poses both a positive and a negative manifestation. Hannaford gave two major profile combinations that are easy to assess. She assumes that a person with a dominant â€Å"logic hemisphere, right eye, right ear, right hand, and right foot† understands better in a structured learning method and an orderly and chronological information presentation (Hughes & Vass, 2001). On the other hand, a person with a dominant â€Å"gestalt hemisphere, left eye, left ear, left hand, and left foot† learns faster through a perception of the bigger picture and understands the main idea yet has difficulty in looking at the details or the step-by-step procedures (Hughes & Vass, 2001). Being aware of this assessment, parents who will be able to easily identify the dominant profiles of their children will find it easier to teach their children how to read and read well considering that they will be able to apply the method that will be best applicable for their children. For the children, since their parents already know how they could read better, they will be able to find the learning process more enjoyable and to their advantage especially given that their parents applied the technique where their child may respond well. However, utilizing the dominance theory also poses negative consequences. Parents who are able to identify the dominant profiles of their children, whether it is as easy as the left and right combinations or more complex like an overlapping combination of the two, will only give focus on that dominant profile. In doing so, they are disregarding the development and enhancement of the other profiles of their children which is not that dominant but may well be applicable to their children. It somewhat constrains the parents to single-out the dominant profiles and set aside those which are not dominant at the moment. In all these, it is observable that any theory poses both positive and negative consequences. Although the ideas presented regarding the dominant profiles and reading skills is interesting, the parents should still consider the holistic growth of their children wherein the young ones develop all their skills as much as possible to their full potential and capabilities. References Hannaford, C. (1997). The Dominance Factor: How Knowing Your Dominant Eye, Ear, Brain, Hand and Foot can improve your Learning. UT: Great River Books. Hughes, M. , & Vass, A. (2001). Strategies for Closing the Lea