Science is regularly providing new and interesting insights into the brain. While some of the latest neuroscientific research on how the brain learns supports what we already know about effective teaching and learning, new knowledge about learning, memory and the classroom environment can help teachers to become even more confident and effective in their work with children and learners. In Learning & the Brain Pocketbook, two neuroscientists and a leading education writer unpack material that will enable teachers to help students learn better. Using cartoons, diagrams, bullets, and other visual devices to make the content accessible and memorable, the book begins by identifying and exploding a few 'neuro-myths'. It goes on to provide information about brain structure and how teachers can benefit from this knowledge. The authors explain how the brain learns and they provide a range of practical classroom strategies to support learning. There are sections on memory and brain development and how to capitalise on what we know in these fields in the classroom.
Another section offers tips and techniques to enhance what teachers do with all learners, including those with specific difficulties. Future issues for brain science in the classroom are considered and the authors look at how brain science challenges our thinking and raises some controversial questions. A helpful reflective summary concludes the Pocketbook. Richard Churches is a leading education writer, trainer and speaker; Ellie Dommett an OU lecturer with a background in psychology and neuroscience; and Ian Devonshire a Research Associate at the Institute for the Future of the mind, University of Oxford.