Neurociencia y Educación: ¿podemos ir de la investigación básica a su aplicación? Un posible marco de referencia desde la investigación en dislexia

Abstract

Neuroscience has the potential to transform education because it provides novel methods for understanding human learning and cognitive development. It therefore offers deeper understanding of causal mechanisms in learning and an empirical approach to evaluating the efficacy of different pedagogies. However, this will be a long-term enterprise and there will be few immediate pay-offs. Here I set out one possible framework for linking basic research in neuroscience to pedagogical questions in education. I suggest that the developing field of educational neuroscience must first study how sensory systems build cognitive systems over developmental time. I focus on one cognitive system, language, the efficient functioning of which is critical for reading acquisition. Small initial differences in sensory function, for example auditory function, have the potential to cause large differences in linguistic performance over the learning trajectory. The tools offered by neuroscience can enable better understanding of the causal developmental mechanisms linking audition, phonological development and literacy development, in fine-grained detail. Following this basic research, neuroscience can then inform education and pedagogy by exploring the effects on these neural mechanisms of different learning contexts and pedagogies.