Division Staff Wellness of Health and Wellness, in liaison with the Department of Education - Xhariep Inclusive and Special Needs Education, hosted this full day workshop presented by Ms Vasintha Pather. 180 teachers, UFS staff members and members of the community attended.

Outcomes:

• Understanding and using the power of imagery to communicate effectively
• Learning how to draw fun, simple images in order to creatively enrich facilitation, presenting and teaching

Benefits:

• Using imagery and metaphor to stimulate different parts of the brain in problem solving, creativity and thinking about ideas and concepts whilst teaching
• Engaging multiple senses enhances the learning process
• Engages the visual together with the touch/feel senses
• More people learn visually than those employing other senses
• Graphics improve memory so that students have a higher chance of recalling what they have been taught
• Graphics stimulate emotional responses, thereby further enhancing long term memory
• Reconnecting with our innate joy of drawing

Background:

Research shows that around 60% of people in the developed world are dominant in left hemisphere style thinking. Thinking with the left side of your brain is excellent for fact gathering and analysis; it’s also great for organising information and situations, keeping records and developing plans. In short, our left brain loves order and details.

The trouble with zooming in on the details is that you can miss out on the bigger picture. That’s the realm of your right brain and it facilitates abilities such as flexibility of thinking, intuitive problem solving, and creative planning, considering values and spotting new possibilities.

Graphic Facilitation is a style of group facilitation that uses visuals as a sophisticated communication and thinking tool to help people brainstorm, explore and clarify ideas, make connections, analyse detail and deepen dialogue. It engages both left and right-hemisphere thinking and uses imagery and metaphor as a way of drawing out group thinking, thus helping people literally to “see what they mean”. The approach therefore stimulates whole-brain engagement which is necessary for optimal learning, creativity and communication.