Existing literature reflects a consensus regarding the traditional educational system, stating that it has become outdated in relation to the needs of contemporary society. Various drawbacks, from the scarcity of qualified educators, poor curricular proposals, inefficient pedagogical practices, to the lack of an emotionally positive environment, have been pointed out. Special emphasis is placed on how, from traditional institutional criteria, the practice of teaching is favored over the very act of learning: content is considered learned merely because it has been taught. There is a growing concern about the relevance of current educational theories and didactic methods in view of the discoveries of cognitive neurosciences.
The big question is what path lies ahead to bring about change in this system that is falling into disuse: How to introduce a reform? It is still difficult to know exactly where to look to germinate change; the results of scientific reason cannot be absent from the path that must be traveled. The emergence of neuroeducation is allowing the construction of interdisciplinary bridges, examining the emerging implications of the articulation between neuroscience, cognitive psychology, and education, providing strong reasons for educators to understand how neuroscientific knowledge could be applied to the teaching-learning process, leading to the necessary reformulations so that the current educational system is in line with the scientific advances of recent decades.
The role of neuroeducation
Human development in its entirety, and the teaching-learning process in particular, involve specific and essential characteristics that need attention; neuroeducation comes to address them, generating new intervention techniques and applied knowledge, capable of improving them. With the objective of enriching critical dialogue and the genuine joint production of various proposals on how to amalgamate neuroscientific knowledge and teaching practice, the figure of the neuroeducator appears necessary as a mediator between disciplines. Not only must neuroscientists approach educators, but the latter must obtain relevant training that allows them to be part of the questions that can be answered by neurosciences.
Neuroeducation as a discipline must intervene at different levels, overcoming present obstacles; for example, developing new learning methods that take into account the neuropsychology of the developing brain in relation to critical times of greater brain plasticity guided by the appearance of cognitive windows. Simultaneously, bridges must be built to advance the study of the mind, the brain, and its possible implications for education; for example, through the training of educators in neurosciences to contribute to cooperation between both areas and the formulation of pertinent questions, or the training of neuroscientists in relation to educational practice to achieve a better adjustment between experimental contexts and classroom classes, keeping in mind possible critical divergences.
These would be some possible paths to follow, with an objective that must not be lost sight of: the reformulation of the teaching-learning process and the traditional educational system in general, namely, the new findings achieved by neurosciences in the last 30 years, which continue to be produced uninterruptedly. The possible implications of these are tenaciously pointed out by various authors, and with increasing frequency, duration, and effort, various programs and interventions are being put into practice in schools, in the development of curricular designs, and in teacher training to reduce the gaps between contemporary neuroscientific knowledge that has placed the traditional educational system in a past position, as well as the teaching-learning process itself that concerns the training of all students.
Neuroeducation, a universe of knowledge to discover
The role of Neurosciences applied to Education is, as commented in the article, a path with enormous possibilities and in full development. To delve deeper into the knowledge and application of Neuroeducation, ISEP offers the Master in Neuroeducation and Capacity Optimization. Request information without obligation!