Completing the series on the brain begun in this issue of Futuribles, this article by Jean-Luc Berthier shows concretely how the neurosciences can help to bring about advances in educational methods. Drawing on a number of experiments undertaken in France, particularly within the context of so-called cogni’classes, Berthier demonstrates how research in the neurosciences, by enabling us better to understand brain functionalities, offers teachers and their pupils new paths for learning.
For example, Berthier presents a whole series of new educational methods aimed at facilitating memorization, gaining pupils’ attention, and differentiating practices to meet the profile of the learner etc. He also describes the main steps that must be undertaken to construct a teaching project based on the cognitive sciences, as well as the pedagogical pathways that are most employed to this end. Lastly, he details the possibilities offered by the use of artificial intelligence in educational practices, while reminding us that the aim is to facilitate learning and the work of teachers, not to substitute for them. The new educational pathways opened up by the entry of the neurosciences into the classroom are encouraging, but require the training of specialist teams and the involvement of all the actors in the system (teachers, pupils, management) – which is asking a great deal in France!
