“Progress in education begins not with answers, but with better questions, grounded in evidence, guided by science, and driven by responsibility to the future.”
The fundamental questions shaping how we think about learning, schools, and the future of education.
BIG QUESTION 1
What would schools look like if they were designed around how the brain actually learns?
Most school structures pre-date modern neuroscience. Timetables, curricula, assessment models, and classroom norms were not designed with cognitive development in mind. If learning is a biological process, schooling should reflect that reality.
BIG QUESTION 2
How can neuroscience be embedded into school systems without requiring full-scale reinvention?
Systemic change must be realistic. Few schools can dismantle existing structures. The challenge is identifying where neuroscience can meaningfully reshape decisions within current constraints — and where deeper redesign is necessary.
BIG QUESTION 3
What does “evidence-based education” actually mean at a leadership level?
Evidence is often applied at the classroom level, while leadership decisions remain tradition-driven. If school leaders shape culture, policy, and priorities, then evidence must inform leadership thinking — not just pedagogy.
BIG QUESTION 4
What knowledge about the brain should learners themselves understand?
Learners are rarely taught how learning works. Understanding attention, memory, emotion, and motivation could transform agency, metacognition, and resilience — but this remains underexplored in mainstream schooling.
BIG QUESTION 5
How should curriculum design change in light of what we know about cognition, memory, and transfer?
Curricula often prioritise coverage over coherence. Cognitive science challenges assumptions about sequencing, assessment, depth, and long-term retention — raising fundamental questions about what and how we teach.
BIG QUESTION 6
How do we prepare learners for a future defined by uncertainty, complexity, and rapid change?
Future readiness is often reduced to skills lists. Neuroscience invites deeper questions about adaptability, cognitive flexibility, emotional regulation, and identity — capacities developed over time, not taught in isolation.
BIG QUESTION 7
How can schools support diverse brains without lowering expectations?
Neurodiversity is frequently framed as accommodation rather than design. A brain-based approach asks whether schools can be structured to support variability while maintaining intellectual rigour for all learners.
BIG QUESTION 8
What should change first in a school system if neuroscience were taken seriously?
Not all reforms are equal. Identifying high-leverage points — leadership decisions, assessment practices, curriculum structures — is essential for meaningful, sustainable change.“Progress in education begins not with answers, but with better questions — grounded in evidence, guided by science, and driven by responsibility to the future.”
