Free neuroscience course for teachers open for nominations
“I believe that learning to become a teacher is incomplete without some understanding of what’s happening in the teenage brain,” says course founder
A new course will show teachers how to harness psychology and neuroscience to enrich education, covering topics such as memory, decision-making and wellbeing.
Neuroscience for Teachers is the brainchild of Julia Harrington, head of Queen Anne’s School, Caversham, and founder of BrainCanDo.
Up to 30 qualified teachers, from state and independent secondary schools – who have been teaching for between three and five years – will be recruited over the spring and summer of 2020 to take part in the pilot from September 2020 to June 2021.
The course will take place at Queen Anne’s School and will be free of charge, with training costs sponsored by BrainCanDo.
Participants will require the support of their school’s head and will be expected to commit to six interactive days of workshops across the next academic year.
At Queen Anne’s we have pioneered the application of educational neuroscience and cognitive psychology across the school for several years and seen the results in improved emotional wellbeing and improved academic performance
Harrington said: “I founded BrainCanDo to carry out research into how the brain learns, especially during adolescence, and how those findings could – or should – be applied in the classroom.
“We used to think that the brain stopped developing at age 11 but we now know that it continues to adapt well into adolescence. It’s obvious to me that both classroom teaching and pastoral care need to reflect this aspect of children’s growth.
“At Queen Anne’s we have pioneered the application of educational neuroscience and cognitive psychology across the school for several years and seen the results in improved emotional wellbeing and improved academic performance.
“I believe that learning to become a teacher is incomplete without some understanding of what’s happening in the teenage brain. So I asked Professor Patricia Riddell to design a completely new course to fill that gap in conventional teacher training.”
Professor Riddell is contributing to the project as an independent consultant in the field of applied neuroscience.
The aim is for a continuous neuroscience programme with up to 30 teachers from a wide variety of schools joining every year.
Headteachers can nominate a teacher to take part in the pilot by contacting info@braincando.com
