Blog 2 – Impact of Neuromyths on Education

I found this week’s readings concerning the topic of neuromyths intriguing and slightly concerning as I and I’m sure others have heard of at least one of the OECD’s six listed neuromyths and accepted it as fact before being told otherwise at a later date. After doing some research I found that a possible reason why these neuromyths are so widespread is that there are socioeconomic forces that push an agenda of selling educational products sporting a tagline of something similar to “Unlock the full potential of your brain using …..”. A term coined by Judy Willis (2015) that aptly fits this description is “edu-cash-in” whereby people are attempting to capitalize on the general public’s lack of understanding regarding neuroscience by using outdated research which has no scientific validity behind it.

The impact of perpetuating these neuromyths lies in the targeted audience of these “edu-cash-in” products which is primarily teachers who, with the best intentions, buy into these ‘cure-all learning theories’ which in reality may have little to no impact on how a student retains information/learns. Another by-product of this is that it makes educators wary of actual valid neuroscience insights into best-practices for learning as they develop a distrust for neuroscience backed theories, materials, etc.  based off of prior bad experiences with scammers for lack of a better word.  

References

Willis, J. (2015, January 16). The High Cost of Neuromyths in Education. Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/high-costs-neuromyths-in-education-judy-willis

OECD. (n.d.). Dispelling “Neuromyths”. Retrieved from https://read.oecd-ilibrary.org/education/understanding-the-brain-the-birth-of-a-learning-science/dispelling-neuromyths_9789264029132-9-en#page18