Developed by:

• Elizabeth Wetzig – dancer, choreographer, author, and movement researcher, Moves 4 Greatness;   Article on patternscoaching
• Patricia Pinciotti, Ed. D. – educator, author, researcher on the arts, ways of knowing and learning, East Stroudsburg University ~ ECE/ELED Department

FULL POTENTIONAL LEARNING & PATTERNS OF COORDINATION

Full Potential Learning explains and elaborates the impact of movement on learning and creativity, by making movement a window to the mind’s work.  This model is based on an understanding of the body’s four essential neuromuscular patterns, the psychomotor components of each pattern and the mind/body connections that cause and facilitate learning and creativity.  An understanding of the Coordination Patterns enables teachers to physically see the mind’s work by observing movement and its consequences.  Even a basic understanding of the Patterns and their functions will make it possible for a teacher to engage more fully each student’s whole body and whole brain in the learning experience.

This learning style model builds on the neurological tension patterns and scale research and is consistent with other personality, learning style and brain-based studies.  Full Potential Learning contributes the missing link — physical movement — to the learning style picture by identifying the four Coordination Patterns and the corresponding mental actions.  Each Coordination Pattern is a psychomotor connection between moving and thinking which simultaneously includes a quality and type of movement and a quality and type of mental processing involving both cognitive and affective behaviors.  The Pattern or Patterns we are “moving in” function as a focusing mechanism and determine the aspects of reality we perceive, think and understand.  These become the movement Patterns of our “attention” whose characteristics are evidenced both physically and mentally.  Such characteristics include types of: awareness and reasoning, perception mode, affective and social behaviors, personality, organizational approach, task orientation, rhythmic structure and balance of design.

KEY IDEAS:

• Your brain and body are connected through the central nervous system
• Movement is a window into understanding an individual’s mental processing
• There are four primary ways of moving and thinking called Coordination Patterns: Thrust, Shape, Swing, and Hang
• Each Coordination Pattern is a connection between moving and thinking which includes a quality and type of movement and quality and type of mental processing
• We each have a Home Pattern and a Pattern Hierarchy
• Style is a combination of two Patterns – our Home Pattern + another Pattern

BENEFITS INCLUDE:

• Discovering important insights into individual ways of thinking, learning, and working
• Assessing your own personal learning style and how it connects and interacts with others
• Anticipating potential trouble spots, negotiating typical minefields, and laying the groundwork for
• future growth and development
• Accepting and enjoy the uniqueness of individuals and the dynamic nature of relationships
• Making the job of teaching, parenting, relating easier, more predicable and classroom or home  life more harmonious