NeuroMyths
Do you think you are numbers person? Or maybe you fancy yourself a creative?
Perhaps you have heard this puts you in a category of right brained or left brained.
​
This is neuromyth and there are many of them. We will explore a few educational neuromyths below; but first, what is a neuromyth? "The first use of the term neuromyth has been attributed to the neurosurgeon Alan Crockard, who coined it in the 1980s when he referred to unscientific ideas about the brain in medical culture" (Howard-Jones, 2014)
Where do these myths originate?
You might think it's confined to language barriers and is country specific, but neuromyths in education seem to have a global presence.(Howard-Jones,2014). Why do these myths exist? Neuromyths have many root sources but overall tend to reflect a misinterpretation of real neuroscience. Like folklore and mythology in literature, there is a very buried kernel of truth to the myth.
Relevant information until 7 minutes
I'm a paragraph. Click here to add your own text and edit me. It's easy.
Working definition of "Myth"
" "A myth is a story,but a special kind of story that has two characteristics: Significance & Staying power. " Where Significance means the subject matter has something import to how the world works, or how something came to be; Staying power means stories have survived and have deep meaning or functional importance to those that hear them. (Crash Course video above)
The Formation of a Neuromyth
Current Educational Neuromyths
Table from Neuroscience and education: myths and messages see full article here.
Emerging research closer to home
Neuroeducational myths are such a hot topic that ongoing research is even happening closer to home.. In the ESERA conference it was announced that the perpetuation of the above findings will be researched and compared with educators in Quebec.
Check out some "Learning Resources" for Neuroeducational Myths
Discussion
"...at the Cambridge conference, prominent neuroscientists working in areas such as literacy, numeracy, IQ, learning, social cognition and ADHD spoke directly to teachers about the scientific evidence being gathered inscientists’ laboratories. The teachers were amazed by how little was known. Although there was enthusiasm for and appreciation of getting first-hand information, this was coupled with frustration at hearing that many of the brain-based programmes currently in schools had no scientific basis. The frustration arose because the neuroscientists were not telling the teachers ‘what works instead’ " (Goswami, 2006) Full article here
​
References
Blanchette Sarrasin, J., Riopel, M., & Mason, S. (2017, August 25). NEUROMYTHS AND THEIR ORIGIN AMONG TEACHERS IN QUEBEC. Retrieved October 21, 2018, from https://keynote.conference-services.net/resources/444/5233/pdf/ESERA2017_0605_paper.pdf
​
Dekker, S., Lee, N. C., Howard-Jones, P., & Jolles, J. (2012). Neuromyths in Education: Prevalence and Predictors of Misconceptions among Teachers. Frontiers in Psychology, 3. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00429
​
Goswami, U. (2006). Neuroscience and education: From research to practice? Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 7(5), 406-413. doi:10.1038/nrn1907
Howard-Jones, P. A. (2014). Neuroscience and education: Myths and messages. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 15(12), 817-824. doi:10.1038/nrn3817
Kounios, J. (2015). Review of "An Evaluation of the Left-Brain vs. Right-Brain Hypothesis with Resting State Functional Connectivity Magnetic Resonance Imaging". Publons Reviews and Discussion. doi:10.14322/publons.r4473
​
Shmerling, R. (2017, July 28). Right brain/left brain, right? Retrieved October 21, 2018, from https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/right-brainleft-brain-right-2017082512222