Relationships Between Environmental Education and Neuroeducation
In this post, we analyze the relationship between environmental education and neuroeducation. Environmental education and neuroeducation are closely linked, as both are presented as proven alternatives to the traditional learning strategies that have accompanied us throughout history. There are developmental stages in which environmental education is fundamental for the development of a child's brain, as discussed in the book «Neuroeducation for success» by the Brazilian sociologist Waldemar de Gregori.
On the one hand, environmental education is a methodology through which people become familiar with their surroundings and acquire learning, skills, values, experiences, and passion, enabling them to act individually and collectively to address current and future environmental problems. It is the study of the relationships and interactions between natural and human systems. In short, environmental education is provided so that people can have a better understanding of the world around them and know how to care for it properly so that the world can be a better place.
On the other hand, neuroeducation is the science that studies how the brain learns and how information is processed in the central nervous system. Through neuroeducation, it is possible to identify the elements that facilitate or hinder knowledge acquisition in the brain. The human brain contains neural connections, which are structures capable of capturing information through environmental stimuli. The role of neuroeducation in the classroom is to help educators rethink how to teach and how each child receives and processes these environmental stimuli.
With this in mind, we could ask ourselves: What relationships exist between environmental education and neuroeducation?
Environmental Education Awakens Emotions Related to Neuroeducation
We know that one of the essential characteristics of environmental education Contact with the environment awakens students' imagination and enthusiasm; this is where neuroeducation comes in, as its studies also focus on the development of emotions and skills. This is directed towards the
Both base their pillars on research.
Research helps us find connections between environmental education and neuroeducation. While neuroeducation seeks to determine how the brain interprets information and how we can apply this to education, environmental education, on the other hand, focuses its learning strategies on the self-directed and self-sufficient concept.
If we think about it for a moment, there's a very specific thread running through this process. Neuroeducation investigates more effective learning strategies, with a particular focus on the emotions and skills that arise from studying. These strategies are applied in environmental education, as its dynamic nature tends to generate these specific effects during the development of activities.
Neuroeducation Seeks to Externalize Learning Strategies
This is clearly evident in both fields. Neuroeducation concludes that ideally, classroom education should also be combined with activities outside the classroom, as these have a determining psychological factor in the pragmatic influence of learning. Environmental education aims to foster interaction with the environment, as it has been shown that these activities spark greater interest in students and, in turn, facilitate interaction with peers and living beings.
Nature is crucial for the brain.
Genetic makeup alone does not determine a person's learning capacity; genetic predisposition interacts with environmental influences at all levels. For example, genes can be switched on and off by environmental factors such as diet, exposure to toxins, and social interactions. Neuroeducation has the potential to help us understand how these genetic predispositions manifest in each individual's brain, and how these predispositions (nature) can be shaped through education and nurture.
Social and Emotional Intelligence
Over the past decade, there has been an explosion of interest in the role of emotional skills and characteristics in contributing to success in all aspects of life. In particular, the concept of Emotional Intelligence has gained widespread recognition. Prefrontal cortex damage in children affects social behavior and causes insensitivity to social acceptance, approval, or rejection. These brain areas process social emotions such as shame, compassion, and envy. Furthermore, such damage affects both cognitive and social decision-making in real-world contexts. Environmental education emerges as a highly effective tool for facilitating a person's social and emotional development.
Attention is Promoted
Attention is a vital mechanism through which a student can actively select particular aspects of their environment to continue learning. Executive functions include the ability to inhibit unwanted information or responses, plan a sequence of steps or mental actions in advance, and retain relevant and changing task information for short periods (working memory). Like attention, executive function skills provide a critical platform for acquiring domain-specific knowledge and skills in an educational context. This is precisely the aspect promoted by neuroeducation, but it is almost always a recurring problem in classrooms, since children need to be motivated to learn. Environmental education, through its wide range of teaching strategies, more easily awakens this motivation in them.
Finally, the implications between these two branches are quite interesting and closely related. Without realizing it, environmental education bases much of its ideals on the structure of neuroeducation. This underscores the importance of designing instructional strategies that give experience a fundamental role in education and lend greater meaning to the development of skills in the classroom.
Having engaged students is the goal, and the proper application of these two approaches offers exceptional results, especially in today's rapidly advancing technological world. The benefits of both are quite clear: developing art-based activities and exposing students to the environment generate positive changes in the brain, awakening creativity and the willingness to take the initiative and explore.
In upcoming posts, we will continue exploring the relationship between environmental education and neuroeducation. We believe that understanding brain development and cognitive skills should help us identify the most effective activities for promoting learning.
