How Many Senses Do We Have and How Do They Enhance Learning?
As teachers, we know that our students learn best when they are engaged and motivated. Regular visitors to this site will know my favourite way to achieve this is to create a multisensory learning environment. Learning for children with SEN can be enhanced when we stimulate different senses to create an immersive learning experience. So how many senses do we actually have, and how do they relate to learning and sensorial opportunities? What is the importance of the 5 senses in learning?
The Five Senses?
Most of us are familiar with the five basic senses: sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch. These are the senses that we use to perceive the external world and interact with it. However, three other important senses are often overlooked: proprioception, interoception and vestibular. These are the senses that help us to perceive our own body and its position and movement in space.
There are loads of other senses such as the sense of time etc but I don’t know enough about how they relate to learning. I do find Chronoception, The sense of time and duration intriguing. It helps us to perceive the passing of time, whether it is seconds, minutes, hours, days, or years. It also helps us to plan, organize, and remember events. The chronoceptive system is not located in a specific organ but rather involves various brain regions, such as the hippocampus, the prefrontal cortex, and the cerebellum. The chronoceptive system is influenced by external cues, such as light, sound, and temperature, as well as internal cues, such as sleep, hunger, and mood. We have written a post about using timers with autistic pupils so there may well be further work to be done on how this sense impacts learning.
What are Proprioception and Vestibular Senses?
Proprioception is the sense that tells us where our body parts are and how much force we are using. For example, proprioception allows us to know how to hold a pencil, balance on a bike, or catch a ball. Vestibular is the sense that tells us how our head and body are moving, whether we are still or in motion, and whether we are upright or tilted. For example, the vestibular sense allows us to maintain our posture, coordinate our eye movements, or enjoy a roller coaster ride.
Together, these eight senses form the basis of sensory processing, which is the ability to receive, organise, and respond to sensory information from the environment and our own body. Sensory processing is crucial for motor, speech, cognitive, social, attention, and behavioural development.
What is Interoception?
Interoception: The sense of internal bodily sensations and emotions. It helps us to feel what is going on inside our body, such as hunger, thirst, pain, temperature, heartbeat, bladder, and digestion. It also helps us to feel and identify our emotions, such as fear, anger, joy, or sadness. The interoceptive system is located in the organs and skin and consists of receptors that sense chemicals, hormones, and nerve signals
How can we use the eight senses to enhance learning and sensorial opportunities for our students?
Hang on, the post is called “The 5 Senses and How They Influence Learning”! I know but lets add 3 more.
- Sight: Use visual aids such as pictures, anchor charts, diagrams, models, videos, or colour coding to illustrate concepts and information. Encourage students to visualize what they are learning and to create mental images. Provide adequate lighting and contrast in the classroom and reduce visual clutter and distractions.
- Hearing: Use auditory aids such as music, songs, rhymes, stories, podcasts, or sound effects to reinforce concepts and information. Encourage students to listen actively and to repeat what they hear. Provide a quiet and calm environment and reduce noise and distractions.
- Smell: Use olfactory aids such as scented candles, oils, flowers, herbs, spices, or foods to stimulate memory and emotion. Encourage students to associate smells with what they are learning and to describe what they smell. Provide a fresh and pleasant environment and avoid strong or unpleasant odours.
- Taste: Use gustatory aids such as fruits, vegetables, snacks, drinks, to motivate, or introduce new topics (especially MFL and different cultures). Encourage students to taste different flavours and textures and to describe what they taste. Provide a clean and safe environment and respect students’ preferences and allergies.
- Touch: Use tactile aids such as manipulatives, objects, materials, textures, or temperature to engage students in hands-on learning. Encourage students to touch, feel, and explore what they are learning and to describe what they feel. Provide a comfortable and cosy environment and respect students’ personal space and boundaries.
- Proprioception: Use proprioceptive aids such as movement, exercise, pressure, or resistance to activate students’ muscles and joints. Encourage students to move, stretch, push, pull, or squeeze what they are learning and to describe how much force they use. Provide a spacious and flexible environment and allow students to change their position and posture.
- Vestibular: Use vestibular aids such as balance, rotation, or acceleration to stimulate students’ inner ear and sense of motion. Encourage students to balance, spin, or swing what they are learning and to describe how they move. Provide a stable and secure environment and monitor students’ reactions and tolerance.
- Interoception: We can help children optimise engagement with their education by reducing common distractions and disruptions that arise from unmet biological needs like hunger, thirst or toileting. Interoception is critical for well-being and preparedness to learn. It can impact on the child’s ability to regulate their emotional state.
Conclusion
We now know what the importance of the 5 senses is on learning. By incorporating the seven senses into our teaching, we can create a multisensory learning environment that caters to different learning styles, preferences, and needs. We can also enhance students’ sensory development, which is important for their overall health and well-being. By stimulating their senses, we can help them to learn better, remember more, and enjoy more.