Bored kids, kids with dyslexia, dyscalculia or attention deficit?Students’ educational needs are immense, but the response they usually get in educational institutions is as limited as it is homogeneous, leading the way to a new stage is a priority. Neuroeducation can help develop this new approach and psychological context if necessary in the cases mentioned above.
No study is needed to understand the following aspect. The term “neuro” has appeared most often in almost all contexts. Neuromarketing, neurofelecity, neurocreativity and neuroeducation itself put us in an interesting new scenario. The time has come to get to know the human being in greater depth. This is the perfect time, to understand how we think, how we learn, how we feel, and how we make decisions.
“The soul is in the brain. ” -Eduard Punset-
This knowledge transcends many of the patterns we face today, it is about delving into the synaptic structure, coordinated by a series of brain processes, to understand, for example, that not all children learn at the same rate. structures that can mature later. As a result, many students have difficulty assimilating reading and writing skills.
We can’t pressure a child to learn something if he’s still not able to do it. This pressure creates frustration, fear and withdrawal. Exactly the opposite of what learning itself should be: a process based on joy, curiosity and motivation.
Science is discovering exceptional aspects of learning and memory that have not yet been integrated into school curriculums. There is a clear disparity between what neuroscience thinks about the brain development of infants and young people and what can be observed in everyday life in the classroom.
We remain committed to allowing children also in the field of certain skills, not avoiding traditional methodologies, highlighting error, attracting the attention of the distracted student, the student who cannot, who is not good at math, who does not change the letters when you try to understand a text?
Not all human skills, including learning itself, respond to our impulses, it is not a question of attitude. It is the result of our brain activity, so if we could understand how our brain works, we would be more competent to organize a class, prepare materials, plan an educational project.
Traditional education has many limitations. We have good teachers and excellent teachers, but something’s wrong. Education needs a better scientific basis to fully understand the key elements of cognitive development. The aim of neuroeducation is therefore to establish a real scientific basis for teaching and learning.
It is a question of integrating into our educational models the recent discoveries of neuroscience, psychology and cognitive sciences, only in this way we can shape a more sensitive, inclusive and meaningful education, but for this we must set aside some myths. He said we only use 10% of our brain capacity or that we have an artistic and mathematical hemisphere.
While it is true that much remains to be discovered in the field of neuroeducation, we can say that some progress can already be observed, education policies change and will change even more over time.
The advancement of special education is also gradually emerging, and all this presents us with a beautiful horizon, however, we still need greater participation of social workers and, in particular, of education policies.
Therefore, below we will see how neuroeducation should be applied in the classroom.
Children with learning difficulties, dyslexic students, with high intellectual abilities?Early identification will allow us to apply more appropriate strategies to optimize student learning.
Learning must be positive and take place in a fun and stimulating environment, something like this forces us to be able to create new environments, with teachers involved and competent in challenging students without losing academic rigor.
Children are better able to remember information when working in small groups, these teams of different students make learning more dynamic and discoveries become meaningful information, in this way cooperation, respect, etc. are also encouraged.
Students should also understand how they learn. In addition, neurologists say there is nothing more positive than teaching small “executive functions. “That is, to offer them tips so that they know, for example, how care works, how to recognize their emotions, how to identify when they are angry. , tired sad?
At the same time, it would be ideal for them to learn how to regulate these emotions to learn how to control themselves and better connect with tasks.
This aspect is undoubtedly one of the most complicated to implement, we would need teachers trained in this field, people who can understand, for example, which learning path best suits each child: kinesthetic, auditory, visual, etc.
At the same time, it is also a priority to know how the student evolves in terms of attention, information inference, problem solving, motivation, creativity, etc. , only then can we develop more appropriate strategies so that each child can reach their full potential. .
According to neuroeducation, it would be essential to change the school schedule, studies have been conducted showing, for example, that it would be more appropriate for the recesses to be shorter, the school was supposed to work all year round, but establishing frequent breaks (for example, every three weeks, we would have a week off).
At the same time, it would be necessary to change the schedule of primary and secondary classes, ideally classes should start between 10:30 am and 11:00 am According to neuroscience, teens need to sleep more hours and their brain is not yet receptive to the early hours of the morning.
In conclusion, as our understanding of the brain and learning evolves, it is essential that all these advances are applied in the field of teaching, so we have to follow evolution. We cannot be confined to outdated mechanisms that generate unmotivated students, frustrated children and increasingly concerned parents.
We must dare to innovate and above all be in tune with children’s brain development, only in this way will we allow them to do their best, only then will students really be involved in their own learning process.