Educator perceptions of the role of neuroscience in education: evidence from Spain

INTRODUCTION. Practice in the educational field has been characterized by the constant concern of its professionals about the best ways to teach and learn. in recent years, this concern has been reflected in a growing interest among teachers to provide a neuroscientific basis for their educational practices. The purpose of this study was to find out in-service Spanish educators' views on the role of neuroscience in education. METHOD. A questionnaire was designed based on the previous studies by Pickering and Howard-Jones (2007) and Serpati and Loughan (2012), and data was incidentally collected during eight academic years, using only fully completed surveys. The final sample consisted of 612 education professionals (69.6% females; age: M = 41.33, SD = 9.75, experience: M = 15.17, SD = 10.20). RESULTS. The results reveal that (1) teachers consider that it is very important to know how the brain works for the performance of their teaching tasks, especially in relation to support provision for students with special educational needs or early detection of learning problems; 2) this view is independent on the respondents' years of experience, but not on the educational stage in which they carry out their teaching activity, with secondary education teachers the one that tends to grant less importance to this knowledge, and 3) a positive evolution is observed regarding the importance given to understanding the brain for most aspects of educational practice considered. DISCUSSION. These findings support the evidence found in previous research and expand it by analysing the ratings given by teachers based on the educational stage and teaching experience, as well as by studying the evolution of these ratings throughout eight academic years. These results are discussed emphasizing the role of initial and continuous teacher training plans on the effective use of available neuroscientific knowledge in the educational practice.