Neuroscience Education: The Good and the Bad

Educational neuroscience is an emerging multidisciplinary field wherein the aim is to link basic research in neuroscience, psychology and cognitive science, with educational technology. Broadly speaking, it explores the relationship between education and ‘Brain Sciences’, the latter encompassing neurosciences, child psychology and cognitive science

The emergence of educational neuroscience has been born out of the need for a new discipline that makes scientific research practically applicable in an educational context. By contrast, Education, and especially modern Formal Education, focuses on descriptions and explanations of the world that learners cannot be expected to acquire by themselves. In this way, learning in the scientific sense, and learning in the educational sense can be seen as complementary concepts.

There is a growing concern globally and especially in India that our school education system needs radical changes to meet the challenges of the 21st century.

In an interview with Mr. Rohan Roberts, Innovation Leader, GEMS Education- Dubai, spoke about the innovative Techniques of Learning and the presence of Neuroscience Education.

What sort of innovation in Education can be brought globally when we talk about India and also how can India learn from other countries like UAE.

What’s heartening in the UAE is that the Knowledge and Human Development Authority has made Innovation its key areas of focus when they go to inspect schools. So, that is a huge great spur for schools to be Innovative in their practices. And it’s not just innovation in pedagogy, its innovation in all aspects of Teaching and Learning. This has been a great source of encouragement for teachers to take up risks and so things differently.

There is also another thing that Knowledge and Human Development Authority is undertaking to promote Innovation in Education is to focus on Stem Education. So we are looking at how to integrate strategies from the arts in the teaching of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) subjects. And the reason we are doing this is, in the last 10 years, we have learnt more about the human than in the previous centuries combined and everything we are learning from Neuroscience is telling us if we want to create innovative entrepreneurial creative students, then we have to use strategies from STEM in the classrooms.

We are learning massive amount of things about how the brain work, and most importantly, it’s impact on the field of Education. That is where Neuroeducation strikes in conflation of 4 fields namely Neuroscience, Pedagogy, Technology, and Psychology. The impact is visible in the process of making Education a Science

Being here in the Education Congress has been an enlightening experience for me and I have got the opportunity to have conversations with some of the educationists. It feels me with hope and I have a desire to do things differently. I am also watching the space and I am very eager to see how Education enfolds in India.

Enlighten us with some tips that people can follow to become Innovation leaders.

I would say that one of the important things is to have an open mind and learn to collaborate. In the old days, it was okay for an organisation to own everything, but in today’s world, it is important to collaborate especially with small EdTech companies that are more adaptable, that can adapt to changes far quicker than bigger organization. The next thing would be to up skill your educators. The teachers need the proper training, the support, and the budget for Infrastructural Training because following the old methods simply won’t work with the 21st century Education system.

Perhaps, the best way to promote Innovation is to have conversations and exchanging ideas and it is considered to be the best way to promote Innovation and create innovative leaders. That is why you have platforms like the Indian Education Congress, where you meet people from different parts of the world, sharing ideas and taking back the ideas to create an Innovative sphere at where they work.