Bringing Education into the 21st Century

by Tim Brunson, PhD

As it is applied in the United States, educational theory is severely in need of a major overhaul. Over the past four decades neuroscientists have made startling discoveries regarding how the brain perceives, interprets, and encodes. Additionally, research has continually revealed differences in such learning processes as a person transitions between infancy, early childhood, teenage years, and finally into full adulthood. Thus the currently emphasized two-phase approach should be questioned. It focuses on teaching process skills up to and through the 3rd grade then shifting to content acquisition. However, it fails to recognize the need for long-term process skill improvement and that as the brain continues to develop, there is a need to alter learning techniques so as to take advantage of increased neurological capabilities.

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