We combine the strengths of three institutions – University College London, Birkbeck, and the UCL Institute of Education – to provide the foundation for a national Centre for Educational Neuroscience. Together our objective is to develop this emerging discipline, using our combined strength in neuroscience, child development, psychology, and education research and its applications to education practise. Our goal is to establish a dialogue between researchers and educationalists to further translations of research into practise to improve education and well-being across the lifespan.
| What: Our vision is to integrate three previously distinct disciplines – developmental psychology, neuroscience, and education – to focus on a specific common problem: how to promote better learning. This has meant building a new scientific community and a new discipline, educational neuroscience.
Why: We now understand better how learning organises and reorganises the brain, but basic understanding from cognitive neuroscience has had limited impact on educational delivery. To achieve this, we require a body of researchers who are expert in education, psychology, and neuroscience, and to create these transdisciplinary researchers is a primary aim of the project. How: Our pathway has been to build on existing research collaborations and to create new initial training, post-graduate research, and continuing professional development opportunities for becoming expert in educational neuroscience. Impact: Bringing education, psychology and neuroscience together can help in designing better learning environments through the lifespan, and this will lead to more fulfilled and more effective learners, and ultimately to increased human flourishing. |