On 23 September, high-level officials and leading neuroscientists will come together in Daegu to address a pressing issue on the global agenda: the future of education and learning.

They will do so in a vibrant atmosphere, enabled by the 10th World Congress of the International Brain Research Organization (IBRO), held in Daegu (21-25 September 2019), and co-organized with Korea Brain Research Institute and the Korean Society for Brain and Neuroscience, with support from the Korean Ministry of Science and ICT.

Organized in the spirit of the Congress, this global Forum, co-hosted by UNESCO’s International Bureau of Education (IBE-UNESCO) and IBRO, will feature interdisciplinary, direct interaction among participants on four key areas: a) cutting-edge neuroscience findings with implications for education policy, teaching, and learning; b) promising practices in applying credible neuroscientific research findings to improve education policy and classroom practices for teachers and learners; c) what teachers need to know in order to improve their effectiveness in facilitating learning; and d) a Ministerial dialogue on possible initiatives towards applying neuroscientific knowledge to strengthen teaching and learning, and to improve learning outcomes.

The Forum seeks to contribute to closing the gap between scientific knowledge on learning and its application in education policies and practice. It is driven by the conviction that a robust analytic and scientific knowledge base and a deeper understanding of learning from the sciences of learning, as well as the application of that understanding can strengthen the facilitation of learning and improve learning outcomes, to address the current global learning crisis and the future of education and learning. To effectively envision and guide critical improvements and reforms, ministers of education and their senior experts need to be fully cognizant of the momentous dialogue between education and the sciences of learning.

The results of a four-year IBE/IBRO joint initiative towards this end will be shared and the IBE Portal on the Science of Learning will be launched within the Forum.

The Forum is one of the only two events featured in the Congress program as Presidential Highlighted sessions. The other Presidential Highlighted session is also co-organized by the IBE, with the Korea Center for Women in Science, Engineering, and Technology (WISET). IBE Director Mmantsetsa Marope will deliver the keynote speech of this special session, on the Global Gender Equality Imperative in STEM Education.

For more information, please contact: Simona Popa, s.popa@unesco.org

Please note that, in order to attend the Forum, you need to be registered for the IBRO Congress.

High-level Forum on Neuroscience and the Future of Education and Learning

Monday, 23 September 2019, Daegu, Korea

Program

08:30-09:00 Registration

09:00-9:30 Opening and welcome remarks; Launch of IBE Portal on the Sciences of Learning

• Mmantsetsa Marope, Director, UNESCO International Bureau of Education (IBEUNESCO)
• Pierre Magistretti, President, International Brain Research Organization (IBRO)

09:30-10:15 The future of education and learning: Why neuroscience matters

This session argues for a necessary and urgent dialogue on how the sciences of learning, especially the neuroscience, can optimally contribute to global efforts to address the current global learning crisis and the future of learning.

The neuroscience of learning and the global learning crisis

• Mmantsetsa Marope, Director, IBE-UNESCO

How literacy changes the brain, and why it matters for children, parents, and teachers

• Stanislas Dehaene, Professor of Experimental Cognitive Psychology, Collège de France

Addressing the global learning crisis: Basic numeracy, from neuroscience to the classroom

• Brian Butterworth, Emeritus Professor of Cognitive Neuropsychology, University College London

Moderator:

• Andrew Meltzoff, Job and Gertrud Tamaki Endowed Chair and Co-Director, University of Washington Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences

10:15-11:30 Cutting-edge neuroscience findings with implications for education policy, teaching, learning, and assessment

This session will provide an overview of key research findings in the field of neuroscience and education, with a focus on new dimensions that have not traditionally or explicitly been linked to classroom learning, such as emotion, and underlying environmental, evolutionary, and biological variables.

Early child education and development: Connecting neuroscience, education, and psychology

• Andrew Meltzoff, Job and Gertrud Tamaki Endowed Chair and Co-Director, University of Washington Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences

Lifelong brain plasticity and its implications for adult literacy programs

• Michael Thomas, Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience, Birkbeck, University of London

How socio-economic status and home learning environment affect the numerical brain

• Jérôme Prado, CNRS Principal Investigator, Lyon Neuroscience Research Center

Moderator:

• Brian Butterworth, Emeritus Professor of Cognitive Neuropsychology, University College London

11:30-12:00 Group photo

12:00-13:15 Lunch break

13:15-14:30 Promising principles/practices in applying credible neuroscientific research findings to improve education and classroom practices for teachers and learners

This session will highlight promising applications of credible neuroscientific research findings to improve education policy and practice.

Implementing neuroscience findings to improve education and learning: A proposal from the South

• Vivian Reigosa-Crespo, Professor and Program Director, National Institute of Learning Evaluation, Montevideo, Uruguay

Promising neuroscientific findings to facilitate students' complex cognition: Issues for teachers and learners

• Helen Abadzi, Visiting Professor of Cognitive Psychology, University of Texas at Arlington

Incorporating cognitive neuroscience in the (initial) teacher education curriculum

• Paul Howard-Jones, Professor of Neuroscience and Education, University of Bristol

Moderator:

• Daniel Ansari, Professor and Canada Research Chair in Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Western Ontario

14:30-15:45 What teachers need to know to improve their effectiveness in facilitating learning

This session will address ways in which understanding the “learning brain” can provide an additional tool for educators to improve their effectiveness in facilitating students’ learning and development.

Building knowledge: Students and teachers’ long-term semantic memory systems

• Donna Coch, Professor of Education, Dartmouth College

Building blocks of mathematical competence: Evidence from brain and behavior

• Daniel Ansari, Professor and Canada Research Chair in Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Western Ontario

Understanding and empowering the developing brain: The new frontier of teacher professional development

• Dong Qi, President, Beijing Normal University

The impact of cognitive neuroscience on in-service teachers’ beliefs about learning

• Paul Howard-Jones, Professor of Neuroscience and Education, University of Bristol

Moderator:

• Michael Thomas, Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience, Birkbeck, University of London

15:45-16:00 Coffee break

16:00-17:15 Ministerial roundtable

This session is dedicated to the ministerial dialogue, highlighting possible initiatives towards applying neuroscientific knowledge to strengthen teaching and learning, and to improve learning outcomes. The dialogue will also tackle key challenges in using neuroscience knowledge to guide teaching, learning, and assessment, as well as possible responses to such challenges.

• Chair:Mmantsetsa Marope, Director, IBE-UNESCO

17:15-17:45 Key messages to take forward and possible interventions

Recalling key messages from global and regional perspectives, from Forum panel recommendations, and Ministerial Roundtable.

Moderator:

• Michael Thomas, Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience, Birkbeck, University of London

17:45-18:00 Closing remarks

• Mmantsetsa Marope, Director, IBE-UNESCO
• Pierre Magistretti, President, IBRO

18:00 Cocktail reception