Neuro–Pedagogical Alignment: A Theoretical Model for Learning Efficiency

Abstract This paper proposes the Neuro–Pedagogical Alignment Model (NPAM), a meso-level theoretical framework integrating neuroscience and education. Drawing on recent findings in developmental, emotional, and cognitive neuroscience, NPAM explains learning effectiveness as the alignment between neural mechanisms, instructional design, and contextual conditions. The model identifies three core mechanisms—Match, Tuning, and Consolidation—linking prefrontal executive control, emotional regulation, and hippocampal memory processes to task structure, affective safety, and learning rhythm. Through a critical synthesis, the paper challenges the “pseudo-neuralization” of education, the empathic bias of teaching practice, and equity issues arising from neural diversity. NPAM reframes pedagogy from “what works” to “what aligns,” offering biologically feasible, ethically responsible, and practically testable principles for future educational design and research.