Neuroscience Knowledge and Endorsement of Neuromyths among Educators: What Is the Scenario in Brazil?

Abstract

The field of neuroscience has seen significant growth and interest in recent decades. While neuroscience knowledge can benefit laypeople as well as professionals in many different areas, it may be particularly relevant for educators. With the right information, educators can apply neuroscience-based teaching strategies as well as protect themselves and their students against pseudoscientific ideas and products based on them. Despite rapidly growing sources of available information and courses, studies show that educators in many countries have poor knowledge of brain science and tend to endorse education-related neuromyths. Poor English skills and fewer resources (personal, institutional and governmental) may be additional limitations in Latin America. In order to better understand the scenario in Latin America's largest country, we created an anonymous online survey which was answered by 1634 individuals working in education from all five regions of Brazil. Respondents stated whether they agreed with each statement and reported their level of confidence for each answer. Significant differences in performance were observed across regions, between educators living in capital cities versus the outskirts, between those teaching in private versus public schools, and among educators teaching different levels (pre-school up to college/university). We also observed high endorsement of some key neuromyths, even among groups who performed better overall. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to conduct a detailed analysis of the profile of a large group of educators in Brazil. We discuss our findings in terms of efforts to better understand regional and global limitations and develop methods of addressing these most efficiently.

Keywords: fake news; neuroeducation; neuromyths; pseudoscience; science education; science literacy.

Figure 1

Distribution of respondents (n = 1634) according to age group. Mult.: Multiple. LGBTTT: lesbian, gay, bisexual, transvestite, transexual and transgender. NGO: non-governmental organization.

Figure 2

Effects of age, gender and geographical region on performance.

Figure 3

Institutional variables affecting respondents’ performance. Mult.: Multiple.