Training Teachers in Neuroscience for Adolescent Education: Outcomes of a Continuing Education Program

ABSTRACT Understanding neuroscience can provide a more effective educational approach based on neuroscientific discoveries. In this paper, we present the results of a continuing professional development course for schoolteachers on neuroscience applied to education, focusing on adolescent learning. One of the key outcomes of the course was improving teachers' understanding of crucial neuroscience concepts, including executive functions, brain neuroplasticity, and memory, and their application in educational settings. This result allows us to infer that the training effectively addresses knowledge that can influence teachers' pedagogical practices, considering neuroscientific knowledge, based on a final sample of 26 teachers who completed the course. In addition, we observed a deeper understanding of the neural bases of emotional responses, which can benefit the creation of emotionally safe learning environments. The results also point to teachers' consolidated understanding of the relationship between neuroscience and pedagogical innovation and a more adequate understanding of emotional and biopsychosocial development aspects in adolescence. Therefore, the provision of a professional development course in neuroscience applied to education for schoolteachers promotes improvements in teachers' knowledge of the theme, which has the potential to influence the implementation of innovative pedagogical practices that are sensitive to the complexities of the nervous and biopsychosocial development of adolescent students and contribute to the creation of effective learning environments.