HOW would you feel if you discovered that your child鈥檚 doctor was unaware of recent findings in neuroscience? It鈥檚 likely you鈥檇 be worried. What if it was your child鈥檚 teacher? You might be less concerned, though teachers have an effect on children鈥檚 brains too.
But while the route from research to medical practice is well established, the same cannot be said for education. Teachers are highly knowledgeable in the domain of the classroom, but it is understandably difficult for them to keep abreast of cutting-edge psychology and neuroscience. This is borne out by a recent review by Paul Howard-Jones at the University of Bristol, UK, showing that (see 鈥淭ime to banish the neuromyths in education?鈥�).
One pervasive 鈥渘euromyth鈥�, even among experienced teachers, is the idea of 鈥渕ultiple intelligences鈥�, a theory developed in the 1980s by Howard Gardner of Harvard University. This proposes that individuals have a dominant type of intelligence, such as movement-based or logical and mathematical, which will affect how they learn. While the idea seems intuitive, embracing the abilities of all and liberating teaching from the baleful influence of IQ ratings, it has been misapplied. Other notions, such as 鈥渂rain training鈥�, are .
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That鈥檚 why it is welcome that calls are growing for greater links between education and neuroscience research. At an international meeting in Berlin last week, delegates demonstrated that there is much that brain science can do to inform teaching practice. It should be made as easy as possible for teachers to access evidence-based information. Take the example of Germany鈥檚 Transfer Centre for Neurobiology and Learning in Ulm. Rather than have researchers telling teachers how to do their jobs, it offers them training about the brain through regular seminars, and encourages them to conduct scientific evaluation of practical approaches.
鈥淥ne centre offers teachers training about the brain and encourages evaluation of practical approaches鈥�
Of course, a biological perspective alone cannot tell us how best to teach children. Images of active brain regions appear to offer reassuring certainty, but it is important that teachers, and policy-makers, realise the limitations. For a start, most fMRI studies are carried out on adults. And there鈥檚 concern that the link between brain areas and particular behaviours is less clear-cut than some researchers think.
Neuroscience is no panacea and teachers鈥� expertise will always be invaluable. Still, knowing how the brain works should be a crucial string to an educator鈥檚 bow. While learning will never be as easy as downloading information, more evidence-based practice will take teaching another step in the right direction.