EDUCATIONAL NEUROSCIENCE AND TEACHER NEURO-LITERACY: A TRANSLATIONAL AND ACTION FRAMEWORK FOR TEACHER TRAINING

Educational Neuroscience (EN) is an emerging field that is currently facing the challenge of defining itself as an independent domain with its own key research questions, theoretical paradigms and methodologies, embracing a transdisciplinary perspective. For the successful achievement of these purposes, it is necessary to overcome the idea that EN merely involves the transfer of knowledge from experimental settings or individual disciplines (e.g., cognitive neuroscience) to learning environments such as classrooms. As in other fields, interdisciplinary and preliminary efforts to translate key knowledge into authentic educational contexts and to design relevant training programs for educators are needed. In addition, general neuroscience literacy actions were suggested, given the prevalence among teachers of overgeneralizations and simplifications about the functioning of the brain. To improve “neuro-literacy” in education, it is necessary for teachers to acquire specific knowledge about the cognitive, social and affective processes underlying learning and to develop complex competencies and critical-reflective thinking. Based on these premises, this paper presents a framework for teacher training in EN, termed “TRAIN” (Translating Research into Active INstruction). This framework integrates translational research model with action research activities to support: 1) the development of teachers’ neuro- literacy, which is defined as a comprehensive set of knowledge and competences related to the application of interdisciplinary evidence on learning processes in real educational settings; and 2) the implementation of action research in authentic contexts, which is a crucial step in translating neuroscientific knowledge into educational practices and a primary objective of this emerging transdisciplinary field. The framework provides a basis for planning future multi-centered research projects involving institutions that foster collaboration between researchers and educators.