Neuroscience in schools research gets funding boost

The Education and Neuroscience Fund has been made available by the Wellcome Trust and the Education Endowment Foundation to fund research into how children’s brains perform.

The charities want teachers and neuroscientists to work in partnership to develop an evidence base of the effectiveness of neuroscience-based educational interventions, such as Brain Gym, on children’s learning and development.

The funding could be used to fund a variety of projects, including those that test the impact of different school start times or the impact of listening to music during lessons.

Dr Hilary Leevers, head of education and learning at the Wellcome Trust, hopes the research will help academics develop a better understanding of how children learn.

She said: “Neuroscience is an exciting field that holds a great deal of promise both for understanding how our brains work and, through application, for improving how we learn and perform.

“Neuroscientists and educators both recognise and wish to explore this potential.”

Sir Peter Lampl, chair of the Education Endowment Foundation, added: “Improving our understanding of how the brain works will deepen our understanding of how pupils learn.

“Knowing the impact of neuroscience in the classroom will also make it easier to spot the plausible sounding fads and fakes, which don’t improve standards.

“This is essential if we are to increase the attainment of pupils, particularly those from low-income families.”

The fund was launched after a survey by the Wellcome Trust found that many teachers were optimistic about the ability of neuroscience to improve pupils’ learning.