How much does the emotional state of a child influence their learning process? What affective skills should an educator have to effectively share his knowledge of mathematics, history or languages with his students? Is memory in academic use remains relevant?
These questions were part of the discussion that raised this weekend in the NEUROEDU 2025a congress focused on the intersection of neuroscience, education and technology, organized by the Institute of Cognitive Neurosciencein it Music Conservatory.
“Previously, pedagogy understood that the ‘core’ (nucleus) of its trade was the construction of content, the cognitive, and that the affective-emotional was like a tree adorn. Today, we understand that it is exactly the other way around, that the ‘core’ of childhood, the ‘core’ of pedagogy is the emotional-emotional apparatus, not the other. If any child or student is leaving for life very badly from the cognitive, from the contents, but very good from the affective-emotional, that can be (correct). But, vice versa, if your child or student leaves for life very well from the cognitive, brilliant, but frightening from the affective-emotional, you do not know the hell that awaits him and you, ”said the doctor Jorge Eslava Cobosdirector of the Colombian Institute of Neurosciences and expert in neurodevelopment and learning.
In front of a audience of teachers, therapists and professionals of the Mental healththe Neuropediatrician talk stressed that elements such as the uniformity of entry criteria to educational institutions reflect the persistence of mentalities that still do not internalize the importance of more individualized approaches to learning and academic processes.
These approaches, in turn, demand a high degree of “emotional competence” from teachers and teachers.
“The true substance is affective and emotional. And that depends on you, and when we are talking about school, that link refers to the emotional training of educational environments, which, in turn, depends on the emotional competition of the teacher. It is not an invitation to a witch hunt, to walk what teacher is emotionally incompetent; It is vice versa, so that we question ourselves if we work or if we ourselves, as teachers, are emotionally competent, ”said Eslava Cobos, referring to the concept of” neuroeducation “, as the ability to understand and guide children is known.
From that perspective, he emphasized that little hours are worth designing curricula or academic projects without also thinking about the rest of the factors that supplement the educational experience. “No one pays attention to recess, experience, exit, ‘pijamada’, birthday,” he warned.
Eslava Cobos pointed out, on the other hand, that, in response to criticism about pedagogical styles based on memorization, a “rejection of memory” has been generalized.
“The issue is that they ended up internalizing it as memory has nothing to do with learning, and that of course not (it is correct). Memory has everything to do with learning; not the one they asked before, but of course it matters, ”the former president of the Latin American Society of Neuropsychology.
The presentation of Eslava Cobos, on Friday, was followed by a panel of experts who abounded on recent studies carried out around topics such as the attractiveness of teaching in different countries, interactions with tools from artificial intelligencethe effect of video games about the cognitive capacity and the importance of the role of grandparents about the development of children.
“When they looked at the dang of parents and children, they identified that there were connections between stronger grandfather and grandson than those between parents and children. Then, in the triad (relationship between grandparents, parents and children), they identified that, when the father was present in the connection of the grandfather and the child, he moderated that connection (between grandparents and grandchildren) and made it stronger. We have heard of the ‘2-GEN’ interventions (two generations), and this study says that the ‘3-GEN’ are of greater impact at the neurocognitive and neurodevelopment level, ”he said Anayra Túa Lópezmain executive officer of the Birth projecta Christian base organization that attends families of adolescent fathers and mothers.