There is a great deal of evidence that suggests that gaining a complte understanding of the brain would contruidute a geat deal to psychology, but because the brain is so complex and there is a great deal of reserach that needs to be done, it is difficult to come to deffinite conclusions. Many scientists are quick to generalize their results prematurely. I think that is where a lot of gray area is being created because data is causing conclusions to be drawn before it can be adequately supported. It is interesting to learn of different studies that promote brain development and stimulate learning, but overall, i thnk more neuro research needs to be done so the basis of many of the claims being made can be understood.
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The Case for Chutes and Ladders
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I say "suggest" and "might" in relating neuroscience findings to education, but that's the point. As this stage in educational neuroscience—just as in the early days of, say, studies relating genes and disease—basic research must generate hypotheses, which must then be tested just like any discovery that hopes to enter real-world use. Hirsh-Pasek concedes that "we don't want to shut down these promising roads," but there is a real danger of that. The attacks "are demoralizing to those of us trying to relate neuroscience to education," says Kurt Fischer, director of the Harvard Mind, Brain, and Education program.
The protestations against daring to do so remind me of biologists who wax lyrical over the insights into the miracles of life that they glean, but if you ask how their work might do something as mundane as help sick people, they look at you as if you had asked them to design bioweapons. It would be a shame if hostility toward using basic science to solve real-world challenges carried over into something as important as teaching our children.
© 2007
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