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Thought Paper #2 Paige Mcclelland October 1, 2016

The document discusses the relationship between neuroscience and education. It argues that while neuroscience can help teachers understand student processing and learning, the current research provides minimal guidance for teachers. More effort is needed to clearly communicate neuroscience findings and their significance. Neuroscience is also just one type of research that can inform teaching. True empowerment of teachers may occur when they can recognize how neural research applies to educational settings, considering student development and other factors.

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Paige McClelland
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48 views3 pages

Thought Paper #2 Paige Mcclelland October 1, 2016

The document discusses the relationship between neuroscience and education. It argues that while neuroscience can help teachers understand student processing and learning, the current research provides minimal guidance for teachers. More effort is needed to clearly communicate neuroscience findings and their significance. Neuroscience is also just one type of research that can inform teaching. True empowerment of teachers may occur when they can recognize how neural research applies to educational settings, considering student development and other factors.

Uploaded by

Paige McClelland
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Thought Paper #2

Paige McClelland

October 1, 2016
Although MBE has made concerted efforts to marry neuroscience, psychology,

and education, “very few findings from neuroscience are directly applicable in a broad

educational context” (Coch & Ansari, 2009, p. 546). I agree that neural understanding

can enable teachers to provide more support for students’ processing, memory, and

application of knowledge. However, if a goal of MBE is to provide clearer information

about the possible outcomes of interactions between neuroscience and education, there

needs to be more effort to provide appropriate diction and clarity for the significance of

the research. Furthermore, neuroscience is only one form of scientific research that can

inform teachers’ evidence-based practice. A role of the teacher is to use grounded

theories as well as experience to inform their practice and pedagogy. Although MBE

aims to empower educators with neuroscience findings, the current research provides

educators with minimal authority. In terms of official authority, I would argue that

current neural understanding should not influence educational policy because the field of

MBE is not yet well established. Many educators have preconceived notions of brain

research and its implications to the education field, so I think that pre-service programs

could help educators make more informed decisions about their application of neural

findings to pedagogy. Perhaps a goal of MBE is not to provide tools and set methods for

educators to put into practice, but to provide education on how to understand cognitive

research, recognize neuromyth, and make informed, meaningful decisions using credible

cognitive research. True empowerment may happen when educators can see the

consistent implications of neural research in education settings, with careful

consideration of developmental readiness, classroom dynamics, and consideration of

other learning theories.


References

Coch, D., & Ansari, D. (2009). Thinking about mechanisms is crucial to connecting

neuroscience and education, Elsevier, (45), 546-547.

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