The Role of Neuroscience in Public Education:
“Field Research Paper”
“Live and learn” is an idiom that best describes the human condition. After all, how does one continue to exist, to live, without learning? Learning is not only essential to survival it is also fundamental to living a full life, yet the process of learning is often overlooked. Analysis of modern public education, particularly in the U.S., has uncovered that learning is not the primary goal, rather its focal point is to teach students how to perform for standardized tests (Grinell and Rabin 748-750). This is not to say that standardized testing is detrimental to learning, in fact, it is a necessary tool for educators to gauge the class. However, a byproduct of teaching the …show more content…
Neuroscientists understand the inner-workings of the brain during the learning process, they can provide guidance for education akin to what physicists do for engineering (Willingham 544). Although humans have always been fascinated by the brain, the field of Neuroscience, which studies the nervous system where the brain resides, has not had significant progress until recent decades. This progress can be attributed to the rise of technology with tools such as Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) which essentially detect brain activity in a noninvasive manner. Due to the availability of these tools, neuroscientists have discovered beneficial information to the process of learning. One of the discoveries is giving students the opportunity to learn multiple languages at an early age. Research has shown that early language learning is crucial for “later language learning, improved reading skill, achievement, general cognition, and brain health. Yet most students in the [U.S.] are not exposed to a foreign language until high school…” (Zadina 73). It is no wonder why illiteracy, a byproduct of insufficient language learning, is rampant in the U.S. when its education curriculum is contrary to our current understanding of early language learning. Undoubtedly, there are other …show more content…
Bruer, the former president of the James S. McDonnell Foundation, who think that the bridging of neuroscience and education is misguided. Bruer proposes that other sciences like cognitive psychology would better inform education (15). Reinforcing Bruer’s claim is Daniel T. Willingham, a current Professor of Psychology at the University of Virginia. Willingham states that there are “three problems that significantly reduce the likely frequency and depth of the contributions that neuroscience can make to education” (544). Both Bruer and Willingham suggest that though neuroscience plays a role in education, it should not be the sole driving
“Field Research Paper”
“Live and learn” is an idiom that best describes the human condition. After all, how does one continue to exist, to live, without learning? Learning is not only essential to survival it is also fundamental to living a full life, yet the process of learning is often overlooked. Analysis of modern public education, particularly in the U.S., has uncovered that learning is not the primary goal, rather its focal point is to teach students how to perform for standardized tests (Grinell and Rabin 748-750). This is not to say that standardized testing is detrimental to learning, in fact, it is a necessary tool for educators to gauge the class. However, a byproduct of teaching the …show more content…
Neuroscientists understand the inner-workings of the brain during the learning process, they can provide guidance for education akin to what physicists do for engineering (Willingham 544). Although humans have always been fascinated by the brain, the field of Neuroscience, which studies the nervous system where the brain resides, has not had significant progress until recent decades. This progress can be attributed to the rise of technology with tools such as Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) which essentially detect brain activity in a noninvasive manner. Due to the availability of these tools, neuroscientists have discovered beneficial information to the process of learning. One of the discoveries is giving students the opportunity to learn multiple languages at an early age. Research has shown that early language learning is crucial for “later language learning, improved reading skill, achievement, general cognition, and brain health. Yet most students in the [U.S.] are not exposed to a foreign language until high school…” (Zadina 73). It is no wonder why illiteracy, a byproduct of insufficient language learning, is rampant in the U.S. when its education curriculum is contrary to our current understanding of early language learning. Undoubtedly, there are other …show more content…
Bruer, the former president of the James S. McDonnell Foundation, who think that the bridging of neuroscience and education is misguided. Bruer proposes that other sciences like cognitive psychology would better inform education (15). Reinforcing Bruer’s claim is Daniel T. Willingham, a current Professor of Psychology at the University of Virginia. Willingham states that there are “three problems that significantly reduce the likely frequency and depth of the contributions that neuroscience can make to education” (544). Both Bruer and Willingham suggest that though neuroscience plays a role in education, it should not be the sole driving