#mustread: So much talk about ‘the brain’ in education is meaningless

Ok, this article in The Conversation about brain and education by Jared Cooney Horvath and Gregory Donoghue is one to be spread among as much educators as possible. But please, don’t make the mistake thinking neuro-education is a road to nowhere. What the authors show is that all too often a brain explanation isn’t needed.

Do read the whole article, but this little piece of advice is the ultimate takeaway to check if brain is really needed in what you are reading:

  • Can I replace the word “brain” with the word “student” without losing any meaning? If so, there is no need to defer to neuroscience.
  • Is this finding new? Or has it been a part of successful teaching practice for years? If the latter, there is no need to defer to neuroscience.
  • What type of research is being used to prove the point? If the answer is psychological, educational or otherwise behavioural, there is no need to defer to neuroscience.
  • Does the proposed outcome represent a truly meaningful and measurable value? If the answer is no, there is no need to defer to neuroscience.

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