Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jkksz Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-31T19:42:51.191Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

1 - Toward a grounded synthesis of mind, brain, and education for reading disorders: an introduction to the field and this book

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 September 2009

By
Kurt W. Fischer ,
Mary Helen Immordino-Yang  and
Deborah Waber
Edited by
Kurt W. Fischer ,
Jane Holmes Bernstein  and
Mary Helen Immordino-Yang
Kurt W. Fischer
Affiliation:
Charles Warland Bigelow Professor and Director of the Mind, Brain, and Education Program Harvard Graduate School of Education
Mary Helen Immordino-Yang
Affiliation:
Postdoctoral Fellowship Brain and Creativity Institute and the Rossier School of Education, University of Southern California
Deborah Waber
Affiliation:
Director of Research in the Department of Psychiatry Children's Hospital Boston; Associate Professor (Psychology) Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School
Kurt W. Fischer
Affiliation:
Harvard University, Massachusetts
Jane Holmes Bernstein
Affiliation:
The Children's Hospital, Boston
Mary Helen Immordino-Yang
Affiliation:
University of Southern California
Get access

Summary

This is a new era in the fields of education, neuroscience, and cognitive science – a time to bring together mind, brain, and education. The advent of powerful new in vivo brain imaging technologies, the power of the burgeoning discoveries in genetics, and the general excitement in society about biology make possible a new alliance relating biology, cognition, and education (Educational Leadership, 1998). Hidden brain and genetic processes are becoming increasingly visible (Gage, 2003; Lyon & Rumsey, 1996; Thatcher, Lyon, Rumsey, & Krasnegor, 1996), and in a few tantalizing cases, researchers and educators can even begin to observe the functional neuropsychological effects of educational interventions. It is an exciting time! This book is designed to promote the dialogue that is essential to creating the best integration of biology, cognitive science, and education.

The burgeoning new knowledge and the focus of society on biology lead to expectations that sometimes upset the balance between scientific knowledge and meaningful use in practice, raising numerous new ethical and educational issues (Battro, 2000; Bruer, 1997, 1999; Scientific American, 2003). The best research and the best educational practice require a two-way interaction between the scientific research and the knowledge of educators working to help children learn. Research in neuroscience and genetics, for instance, gains new significance and controversy as educators and clinicians work to translate it into practice, dealing with the strengths and weaknesses of real children learning in schools. This translation to practice should, in turn, filter back down to shape new scientific questions.

Type
Chapter
Information
Mind, Brain, and Education in Reading Disorders , pp. 3 - 15
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2007

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bailey, D. B. Jr., Bruer, J. T., Symons, F. J. & Lichtman, J. W. (eds) (2001). Critical thinking about critical periods. Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes Publishing.Google Scholar
Battro, A. (2000). Half a brain is enough: The story of Nico. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Bruer, J. T. (1997). Education and the brain: A bridge too far. Educational Researcher, 26, 4–16.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bruer, J. T. (1999). In search of … brain-based education. Phi Delta Kappan, 180, 649–54.Google Scholar
Educational Leadership (1998). Special Issue: How the brain learns. 56(3: November).
Fischer, K. W., Ayoub, C. C., Noam, G. G., Singh, I., Maraganore, A. & Raya, P. (1997). Psychopathology as adaptive development along distinctive pathways. Development and Psychopathology, 9, 751–81.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gage, F. H. (2003). Brain, repair yourself. Scientific American, 289(3), 47–53.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gardner, H. (1983). Frames of mind: The theory of multiple intelligences. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Geschwind, N. (1965). Disconnection syndrome in animals and man (Parts I, II). Brain, 88, 237–94, 585–644.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huttenlocher, P. R. (2002). Neural plasticity: The effects of environment on the development of the cerebral cortex. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Lyon, G. R. & Rumsey, J. M. (eds) (1996). Neuroimaging: A window to the neurological foundations of learning and behavior in children. Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co.Google Scholar
Neville, H. J. & Bavelier, D. (1998). Neural organization and plasticity of language. Current Opinion in Neurobiology, 8, 245–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Neville, H. J. & Bruer, J. T. (2001). Language processing: How experience affects brain organization. In Bailey, D. B. Jr., Bruer, J. T., Symons, F. J. & Lichtman, J. W. (eds), Critical thinking about critical periods, 151–72. Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes Publishing.Google Scholar
Newman, A. J., Bavelier, D., Corina, D., Jezzard, P. & Neville, H. J. (2001). A critical period for right hemisphere recruitment in American Sign Language processing. Nature Neuroscience, 5, 76–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pennington, B. F. (2002). The development of psychopathology: Nature and nurture. New York: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Scientific American (2003). Special Issue: Better brains: How neuroscience will enhance you. 289(3).
Shaywitz, S. E., Shaywitz, B. A., Fulbright, R. K., Skudlarski, P., Mencl, W. E., Constable, R. T., Pugh, K. R., Holahan, J. M., Marchione, K. E., Fletcher, J. M., Lyon, G. R. & Gore, J. C. (2003). Neural systems for compensation and persistence: Young adult outcome of childhood reading disability. Biological Psychiatry, 54, 25–33.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shonkoff, J. P. & Phillips, D. A. (eds) (2000). From neurons to neighborhoods: The science of early childhood development. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.Google Scholar
Snow, C. E., Burns, M. S. & Griffin, P. (eds) (1998). Preventing reading difficulties in young children. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.Google Scholar
Stuebing, K. K., Fletcher, J. M., LeDoux, J. M., Lyon, G. R., Shaywitz, S. E. & Shaywitz, B. A. (2002). Validity of IQ-discrepancy classifications of reading disabilities: A meta-analysis. American Educational Research Journal, 39(2), 469–518.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sur, M., Angelucci, A. & Sharma, J. (1999). Rewiring cortex: The role of patterned activity in development and plasticity of neocortical circuits. Journal of Neurobiology, 41, 33–43.3.0.CO;2-1>CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Teuber, H.-L. & Rudel, R. G. (1962). Behavior after cerebral lesions in children and adults. Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology, 4, 3–20.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Thatcher, R., Lyon, G. R., Rumsey, J. & Krasnegor, N. (eds) (1996). Developmental neuroimaging: Mapping the development of brain and behavior. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×