Learning Pioneers in Accelerated Learning Techniques, Research and Child Development

Find out about the great right brain left brain accelerated learning pioneers of our time and their learning methods. The depth of research on the subject of accelerated learning and right brain left brain research and education is growing by leaps and bounds. The following list of people are recognized for their ground-breaking research and discoveries in this field. Please note: This is by no means a complete list.

Dr. Roger Sperry

In 1968 Dr. Sperry published his ground-breaking discovery of two separately functioning hemispheres of the brain: The left brain learns in a conscious, logical, methodical way, the right brain learns is a subconscious, creative intuitive way. This means that to support the whole-brain function, logic and intuition are equally important.

Howard Gardner

He is a great learning pioneer because of his development of the theory of "Multiple Intelligences" which forms a part of the accelerated learning practices used today. He notes, "It's not how smart you are that matters, what really counts is how you are smart."
Go to his site.

Colin Rose

Educator, lecturer and author of several books, Colin Rose has been at the forefront of accelerated learning principles and techniques. He has popular FUNamentals and CHAMPS accelerated learning courses available.
Go to his Learning Fundamentals book on our site.

Nancy L. Matte, Ph.D

Dr. Matte is an author and educator. Among her teachings on brain development, she advises teachers to, "...use instruction techniques that connect with both sides of the brain."

Leslie Hart

In her book, Leslie says, "Recent research has confirmed that the brain prefers learning at a fast pace over a slow one.... The brain simultaneously operates on many levels, processing all at once the world of color, movement, emotion, shape, intensity, sound, taste, weight and more. It assembles patterns, composes meaning and sorts daily life experiences from an extraordinary number of clues."

Dr. Maria Montessori

Maria Montessori was an author of over a dozen books and gave thousands of lectures on child development. One of the greatest learning pioneers, she was also the first woman physician and surgeon in Italy. She is best known for founding one of the most successful and comprehensive systems of education in the world: The Montessori Method. Her ideas of education are vastly different from the common conception. She defined education as "external support for the soul in progress of its evolution. There are numerous genuine Montessori schools throughout the United States and the world.

Learning Innovators Renta Nummela and Geoffrey Caine

Authors and educators, they write, "The brain is always processing on any paths, many modalities, different levels of consciousness, and so on. It is designed to process many inputs all at once. In fact, it actually prefers it so much that a slower linear pace reduces understanding."

Dr. Makato Shichida

Probably the great right brain learning pioneers, Professor Shichida is a pioneer in the development and success of right brain accelerated learning methods. He founded over 400 Child Academies in Japan and written more than 100 books on the subject of right brain child education.

Dr. Paul E. Dennison and Gail E. Dennison

Through their extensive research in areas that include education, brain function, psychology, and applied kinesiology, the Dennisons' visionary insight into the learning process led them to develop the unique approaches to education now known as Edu-K and Brain Gym^® - tools used to integrate the mind and body through movement.

Go to our selection of Brain Gym^® and Edu-K books.

Go to their site.

Anita N. Kitchens

Ms. Kitchens is the author of Left Brain/Right Brain Theory: Implications for Developmental Math Instruction. Here's a quote from her work: "The different functions of the right and left hemispheres of the brain require different approaches to education. Due to their emphasis on language and verbal processing, schools have failed to give adequate stimulation to the right side of the brain and thus tend to discriminate against right brain dominant students. Many students show a preferred right brain (intuitive) thinking style and consequently have struggled in school because their thinking style did not conform to typical left brain or logic-based [education]."

Robert Ornstein, Ph.D.

Dr. Robert Ornstein is an internationally renowned psychologist and author who has written more than 20 books on the brain, mind and health. He notes that the emphasis on language and logical thinking in Western societies has ensured that the left hemisphere is well exercised and that the functions of the right hemisphere are a neglected part of human abilities.

Shinichi Suzuki

The of the greatest right brain music learning innovators, Mr. Suzuki developed the right brain-based music teaching method called the Suzuki Method. In his book, How to Teach Suzuki Piano, he says, "Because music is something that we appreciate aurally, it is important to teach it as an aural medium. When using one’s eyes, the ears are less attentive. If you play in the dark, you become more aware of different musical inflections and nuances. The habit of practicing while reading music lowers students’ aural sensitivity and they tend to not listen to their own playing, [similar to] the manner of a typist."

Glenn Doman

Glenn Doman is one of the learning innovators responsible for his pioneering research in the field of brain injury. He started the Institutes for the Achievement of Human Potential in Philadelphia in 1955 and is an author of numerous ground-breaking books on the subject accelerated learning techniques used to heal the brain and multiply the intelligence of children far beyond expectations.

Dr. Joseph E. Bogen

Author and educator, Dr. Bogen is one of the learning innovators responsible for developing what he calls "appositional (right brain) thinking" in school. He says society has overemphasized propositionality (left brain thinking) at the expense of right brain functions. Intelligence tests, for example, are aimed at propositional left hemisphere abilities. Bogen argued that such measures do not take into account artistic creativity and other right hemisphere skills that are not easily quantifiable.

Betty Edwards

Professor & Director, Center for Educational Applications of Brain Hemisphere Research California State University, Long Beach, CA. Author of Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. She teaches that under ordinary conditions, the right hemisphere of the brain has the ability to draw. When left alone, the right hemisphere will produce very respectable drawings, even in untrained adults. The catch is that for most of us, the right brain is not given the opportunity to display its talents. The verbal, analytic, left hemisphere (lacking in artistic ability) becomes involved and interferes.

Don Campbell

Mr. Campbell is respected internationally for his work as a teacher and researcher in the fields of music, sound, health, and learning. In his book, Rhythms of Learning, he says, "While short-term memories can be stored as images, they are often stored by sound, especially in the recall of words and letters. In general, short-term memory has the ability to hold about seven bits of information. When related groups of information are bonded together, they may be remembered as one bit of information, and the volume that can be stored increases."