Can neuroscience help teachers become more adaptable in the classroom?
With an incomplete or inaccurate knowledge base, adaptive expertise becomes more challenging. It benefits teachers to have a more complete conceptual framework for making research-informed judgments about why, when, and how to apply specific strategies, responses, and tools…
Using neuroscience to inform adaptive teaching
Neuroscience can enhance teachers’ adaptive expertise, helping them navigate complex classroom dynamics and improve student outcomes.
In a recent journal by the University of Connecticut, Neuroscience Concepts Supporting Teachers’ Adaptive Expertise (Simmers & Massey, 2024, pg 7)
Adaptive (teaching) expertise allows teachers to flexibly respond to unexpected challenges, using deep knowledge to solve new problems. Neuroscience, particularly the concepts of neuroplasticity and the link between emotion and cognition, can help teachers refine their adaptive expertise by understanding how the brain learns and responds to experiences.
The Mind, Brain, and Education (MBE) framework – understanding cognitive and neural mechanisms for effective instructional decisions – merges neuroscience, cognitive psychology, and education to provide a holistic approach to teaching.
Understanding neuroplasticity
Understanding how students’ brains change in response to learning (neuroplasticity) and how emotions are tied to cognitive processes can significantly impact how teachers plan and adapt lessons.
Knowing that the brain is flexible and can continue to develop while recognising how emotions shape learning can help teachers tailor their strategies to foster engagement and retention. Teachers who grasp these concepts can provide more effective instruction, respond to students’ needs with precision, and improve both academic and emotional outcomes.
Refining curriculum approaches
Teachers can apply neuroscience principles by fostering classrooms to support neuroplasticity, such as incorporating repetition and providing engaging learning opportunities.
To address the emotional-cognitive link, teachers can intentionally design lessons that evoke positive emotions, which can boost attention and memory. My advice is to always tell stories!
Teachers who also adapt their teaching to consider students’ emotional states, coupled with spaced retrieval techniques and low-stakes testing, can help reinforce learning. It’s also worth integrating these recommendations into curriculum and lesson planning, which will help teachers make more flexible, research-backed decisions that cater to their students’ cognitive and emotional needs.
Reflection questions for teachers
- How can teachers incorporate neuroplasticity principles into their curriculum plans?
- How can teachers assess the emotional states of students to adapt their teaching?
- How do teachers recognise moments when their adaptive expertise is needed during class?
- How can teachers use emotional engagement to enhance memory retention?
- What strategies can teachers implement to foster resilience in their students?
- How can teachers balance both emotional and cognitive considerations when planning lessons?
- How should teachers use low-stakes testing to reduce anxiety and improve retrieval?
- How do teachers reflect on their adaptive decision-making after a lesson?
- What professional development opportunities are available for learning more about educational neuroscience?
- How can teachers share successful adaptive strategies with colleagues?
The research concludes:
Teachers make a high volume of planned and in-the-moment decisions in response to the varied emotional, social, developmental, and instructional information they gather about their students. Adaptive expertise requires pulling from a broad knowledge foundation as opposed to deep knowledge in one area.
- Download and read the full paper.
- Image: ChatGPT 4o
