Tokuhama-Espinosa - Mind, Brain, and Education Science: A Comprehensive Guide to the New Brain-Based Teaching

The book is a milestone in this emerging discipline. It provides an eye-opener for all involved in education, from preschool to learning later in life. The contributions of the three parent disciplines of education, neuroscience and psychologywhich are equally important for the subjectare described with their unique contributions to the integrated domain. Issues are described which are encountered by teachers every day. Some of them are not given enough consideration in everyday practice, and the book provides relevant background information and also tools with which to participate in this area.

All in all, the book provides an important basis from which to bring mind, brain, and education insights into the classroom and educational practice in a broader sense. I expect that it will also be of interest and support for many parents who are now seeking to expand their insights into their developing child and his or her needs, learning strategies and interests. Scientists, researchers, policy makers, curriculum designers, publishers of school materials, school directors, teacher educators, and teachers have different levels of previous knowledge and look at MBE in different ways. Disagreement among researchers from different disciplines may cause lack of common focus. Yet, Dr. Tokuhama has done a great job in providing a book with a broad view and a both multidimensional and multidisciplinary approach. In this way, it is of relevance for many different professionals in the domain of teaching.

Jelle Jolles, Director, Leonardo Institute for Research in Education, VU University Amsterdam, the Netherlands and director of the National Platform on Brain & Learning in the Netherlands

Recent discoveries in cognitive neuroscience have major consequences for teachers and educators. In this accessible volume, Tracey Tokuhama-Espinosa provides the first in-depth survey of this exciting field of research. Anyone interested in how education works and how it can be attuned to the childs brain should read this important review.

Stanislas Dehaene, PhD, Professor, Collge de France, Chairman of the Experimental Cognitive Psychology Department, Director of the Cognitive Neuroimaging Unit, and author of Reading in the Brain: The Science and Evolution of a Human Invention and The Number Sense: How the Mind Creates Mathematics

This volume casts a wide net to define the interdisciplinary work needed to base new research on basic principles arising from education, neuroscience and psychology. It forms an excellent introduction to this vast and important field.

Dr. Michael Posner, Professor Emeritus, University of Oregon, and author of over 200 books and articles on attention and memory, including Cognitive Neuroscience of Attention

Tokuhama-Espinosa provides a whirlwind tour through the emerging interdisciplinary field of Mind, Brain, and Education. Along the way, she bursts many of the neuromyths that plague the field, and proposes in their place a list of tenets that range from the well-established to the controversial and provocative. The highlight for me was the history of recent (and not so recent) attempts to bridge between psychology, neuroscience, and education, which have coalesced and matured and are beginning to bear fruit.

Dr. Sashank Varma, Assistant Professor of Educational Psychology, University of Minnesota

Tokuhama-Espinosa unravels the conceptual and practical confusions that inevitably arise with the self-formation of a new but composite field of academic endeavor, particularly one which seeks to integrate the natural and social sciences. Such a task, it has often been noted, has rarely if ever been successfully undertaken, but the shortcomings of our modern systems of educationso well-noted but so frustratingly opaque to effective changecry out for such an evidence-based, neuroscience-based, and educator-inclusive reform agenda. I recommend this book to all educators who are interested in taking stock of current thinking about these matters in order to embark on pursuing the revolutionary agenda of basing their educational endeavors on what is known about the workings of their students brains, to the mutual benefit of all involved.

Professor John Geake, Deputy Head of School (Research & Research Training), School of Education, University of New England, Australia

I would like to dedicate this book to several inspirational leaders.

Stanislas Dehaene has been a model and leader in Mind, Brain, and Education (MBE) science, conducting powerful and transformative research in both Math and Reading.

David Daniel, the Managing Editor of the International Mind, Brain and Education Society Journal has perhaps the most extensive knowledge of leaders MBE and is an amazing connector, bringing people and ideas together across disciplines.

Antonio Battro, the former president of the International Mind, Brain and Education Society, medical doctor, psychiatrist and educator, is the epitome of the interdisciplinary expertise that MBE stands for.

Hideaki Koizumi, leading researcher, inventor and founding board member of the International Mind, Brain, and Education Society, who generously mailed me boxes of books on the Japanese contribution towards MBE and who selflessly reviewed not only my doctoral thesis, but the draft for this book is deserving of my deepest gratitude.

These four leaders have selflessly displayed a level of intellectual generosity that only scholarly giants possess. Not only were they a part of the original research project that is the foundation of this book, but over the past years have responded to every query with not only meticulous detail but also with enthusiasm. As mentors they have guided with silk gloves, as friends they have shared a joy for new discoveries, and as scholars and research-practitioners, they have enlightened.

This book is also dedicated to Cristian, Natalie, Gabriel and Mateo, who not only share in the world of ideas, but who are also the pillars of real life.

Appendices

A single person cannot write a book that seeks to define a new academic discipline, there are hundreds of people who have established the foundations of Mind, Brain and Education (MBE).

I am thankful to Kurt Fischer, one of the main initiators of the MBE movement and the Societys first president, for his encouragement. Howard Gardner, Jelle Jolles, Hideaki Koizumi, Michael Posner, and John Bruer are all amazing, internationally renowned professionals who have generously guided my thinking over the years; my sincerest thanks. I am grateful to Sarah-Jayne Blakemore, Daniel Ansari, and Cristina Hinton whose own work has guided my developing viewpoints on MBE. My thanks to Mary Helen Immordino-Yang and Marc Schwartz who are my heroes for working tirelessly to ensure that educators, neuroscientists, and psychologists share visions, vocabulary and viable research projects. They are part of the new generation who will lead MBE into the 21st century with fanfare and strong foundations. Thanks to Judy Willis and once more to David Daniel, Stanislas Dehaene and Antonio Battro who have enthusiastically supported my work. Patricia Wolfe cannot be thanked enough for her inspiration, guidance and challenges to presumptions. Special thanks to all of the members of the Delphi panel who generously contributed to the invaluable bibliography for this text and to many core ideas: Donna Coch, Jane Bernstein, Michael Atherton, John Geake, Usha Goswami, Marian Diamond, Eric Jensen, Renata Caine, and Rita Smilkstein. A warm thanks to Sashank Varma for his careful reading, comments and the joint development of the Glossary found here.