MBE SIG Webinar: Evolution of the Learning Brain

How does learning transform us biologically? What learning processes do we share with bacteria, jellyfish and monkeys? Is technology impacting on our evolution and what might the future hold for the learning brain? These are just some of the questions Prof. Paul Howard-Jones explores on a fascinating journey through 3.5 billion years of brain evolution, and discovers what it all means for how we learn today.

Paul Howard-Jones is Professor of Neuroscience and Education at the School of Education, University of Bristol (UK), with degrees in Engineering, Psychology, and a PhD in Medical Physics. He was a school teacher of Technology before becoming a trainer of primary and secondary school teachers and inspector of schools. Since arriving at the University of Bristol in 2003, his work has entirely focused on issues at the interface of cognitive neuroscience and educational theory, practice and policy. He applies diverse research methods from computational brain imaging studies to classroom observations in order to understand learning processes and their potential relevance to educational learning. He is particularly interested in addressing neuromyths, and the neural processes by which games and learning games engage their players and can support learning.

Professor Howard-Jones was a  member of the UK's Royal Society working group on Neuroscience and Education(2011), before authoring numerous reviews and one of the first text books (Routledge, 2010) and popular books (2018) in this area. He has participated in many international academic and public debates regarding the interrelation of these two diverse subject areas. He has been actively implementing neuroscience into Initial Teacher Education at the University of Bristol and disseminating this work further across the UK (supported by the Wellcome Trust). As a senior fellow at IBE-UNESCO (Geneva), he has been developing an international course and materials for introducing neuroscience into global educational contexts. He is more widely known as a presenter on the globally-franchised and BAFTA-nominated TV series “Secret Life of Four Year Olds” and other broadcasts.