For the past year or so I’ve been lucky enough to work closely with some of the leading scientists in the field of ‘neuroeducation’. These are the neuroscientists, educators, researchers and media developers who are advancing our understanding of how the brain works and what it means for the future of childhood development.

As we head towards the Brain Power Conference in Toronto, I wanted to share some of what I’ve learned.

Because to be honest, if you’re a parent or teacher you’re probably reacting a lot like I did when I first learned about this field: talking about neuroscience in the same breath as “preschool” sounds a lot like science fiction.

Or if you imagine a day when how we teach is influenced by what we know about the brain it can seem kind of scary.

If I’m a parent, will I be hooking my kid up to a scanning machine so I can track their brain waves? Will great teaching disappear in the face of ‘neurologically programmed curricula’?

But what I’ve learned over the past year is that we truly are heading towards a revolution in teaching, parenting and childhood development.

It’s a revolution informed by our ability to understand the brain in ways we couldn’t before; by technologies that can make education more fun, engaging, and child-centred; and by a validation that holistic approaches matter – and that the science proves it.

So, What IS Neuroeducation?
I don’t know about you, but when I hear the term “brain training” it conjures up images of flip cards or computer games. I imagine being drilled with a bunch of math questions or trying to solve a Rubix-cube (and if you’re anything like me, you have a Rubix cube in a drawer somewhere which is the only real solution you could come up with!)

But there’s another term the scientists use: “neuroeducation”.

Maybe it’s ‘brain training’ under a different name, but it maybe gets us a bit closer to what the scientists are really talking about.

And the reason is this: ‘training’ implies that you’re getting a workout, you’re exercising, or you’re sharpening up skills that already exist. But that’s not what the neuroscientists think is possible based on their growing understanding of how the brain works.

The Capacity to Learn May Be As Important As What is Taught
Rather, neuroscience has shown us that it’s possible to change the way the brain itself works. It has shown we can directly impact a child’s capacity to learn – you can “educate the brain”, and by changing the brain you can make a child smarter, more attentive, and more receptive to what they learn.

A neuroscientist gave me the example of a mother who was concerned about their child’s slow acquisition of math skills. It turned out that the child’s brain had not yet established all of the neural connections that allow for focus and attention. It wasn’t that the child couldn’t understand the math, the problem was that the child’s cognitive processes didn’t yet allow the child to pay attention long enough to fully ‘receive’ the math concepts.

Neuroeducation would say that by focusing on developing that part of the brain which facilitates focus and attention, the capacity to learn math (or language or music or art) can be improved.

But Is It Practical?
At the Brain Power Conference we’ve invited some pretty amazing speakers to talk about the brain, childhood development and education. And I won’t steal their thunder – but what’s become clear to me over the past year or so is that ‘neuroeducation’ isn’t just something that scientists dreamed up in a lab – it will have practical, real-world implications.

And what’s also become clear is that ‘neuroeducation’ isn’t in conflict with great parenting or great teaching – in most cases, the science of the brain validates good old-fashioned common sense. It demonstrates that a holistic approach to a child’s development still matters, and things like nutrition or exercise or play don’t suddenly take a back seat to The Brain.

But in other cases, neuroeducation might be upsetting conventional wisdom: how teachers give exams, how a child studies, or how a child is rewarded for achievement are all areas that deserve a second look as we come to understand the mechanisms of a child’s brain.

It may never be possible to change a child’s mind (as far as I know, there’s no magic bullet to suddenly make spinach yummy!) – but as we learn about how we can influence the development of their brain, we might be giving them a head start on a life of learning.

As always, I invite you to the Brain Power Conference, May 3-4 in Toronto. We’ve arranged two-days of keynote presentations, small group workshops, hands-on demonstrations and lots of insight into these and other topics – and I hope you’ll join us for this landmark event.