Neuromyths for educational research and the educational field

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Communicating Toward Personhood

Marshalling a mind-numbing array of data, Harvard political scientist Robert D. Putnam, in his book Bowling Alone, shows that on virtually every conceivable measure, civic participation, or what he refers to as “social capital,” is plummeting to levels not seen for almost 100 years. And we should care, Putnam argues, because connectivity is directly related to both individual and social wellbeing on a wide variety of measures. On the other hand, social capital of the “bonding kind” brings with it the ugly side effect of animosity toward outsiders. Given the increasing heterogeneity of our world, the goal therefore must be to enhance connectivity of the “bridging sort,” i.e., connecting across differences. This, in turn, requires that we first clarify what bridging communicative styles looks like. Examining communication as it might transpire in Kant’s kingdom of ends, through the perspective of Habermas’ “communicative action,” and within the scientific community, offers a compelling suggestion that there is a way of communicating such that, if adopted, one would come to view others as if they were persons, i.e., that a bridging communicative style facilitates a kind of bonding that sees through differences toward the commonality of personhood. This paper will briefly explore how communicating toward personhood might be promoted

Symbiotics of history and social psychology understanding social representations of history in Europe

COST Action IS1205 aims at advancing knowledge and promoting networking among historians and social psychologists to analyse the role played by social representations of history in Europe. Social representations of history are central to the identity of groups that may or may not form the majority in any given country. In Europe, these representations are at best diverse, at worst fragmented, among various national and ethnic groups, either in the same country or across the continent. If left unexplored and unexplained, these social (mis)representations can incite adverse emotions, in turn influencing group behaviours and possibly leading to intergroup rivalry. Bridging the two disciplines through representatives from 28 countries, Action IS1205 addresses this issue by coordinating research on the role of: social cognitive processes in shaping lay representations of history; lay representation of history through the concepts of nationhood and identities; social-psychological studies of the narrative transmission of history through textbooks and the media; lay representation of history and group-based emotions in shaping attitudes, intergroup confict and reconciliation processes.peer-reviewe

Social Capital: A review from an ethics perspective

In this paper we extend previous reviews of the social capital literature to encompass an ethics perspective. First, we update previous reviews of social capital. Social capital continues to gain currency in both academic and practical circles, despite relatively little critical reflection on the implications of promoting this popular concept. Our work goes some way to rectifying this paucity in understanding what has been termed the ‘dark side’ of social capital. In particular, we review the social capital concept from the perspective of three theories of business ethics: utilitarianism, justice and ethic of care. While the utilitarian perspective closely parallels accounts of social capital’s rationale, the concept’s operation is mirrored very closely by the assumptions underpinning the ethic of care, while the dark side of social capital is commonly given voice in justice-based critiques. We conclude by considering the implications of our analysis

Affect: knowledge, communication, creativity and emotion

Concerns about emotional well-being have recently become the focus of social policy, particularly in education settings. This is a sudden and unique development in placing new ideas about emotion and creativity and communication in curriculum content, pedagogy and assessment, but also in redefining fundamentally what it is to ‘know’. Our report charts the creation of what we call an ‘emotional epistemology’ that may undermine all previous ideas about epistemology, draws out implications for educational aspirations and purposes and evaluates potential implications for these aspirations and purposes if trends we identify here continue into the future.This document has been commissioned as part of the UK Department for Children, Schools and Families’ Beyond Current Horizons project, led by Futurelab. The views expressed do not represent the policy of any Government or organisation

Probabilistic biases meet the Bayesian brain

Bayesian cognitive science sees the mind as a spectacular probabilistic inference machine. But Judgment and Decision Making research has spent half a century uncovering how dramatically and systematically people depart from rational norms. This paper outlines recent research that opens up the possibility of an unexpected reconciliation. The key hypothesis is that the brain neither represents nor calculates with probabilities; but approximates probabilistic calculations through drawing samples from memory or mental simulation. Sampling models diverge from perfect probabilistic calculations in ways that capture many classic JDM findings, and offers the hope of an integrated explanation of classic heuristics and biases, including availability, representativeness, and anchoring and adjustment

Social capital and deceased organ donation

This chapter examines the link between deceased organ donation and social capital from a theoretical standpoint.In this chapter, the theoretical links between deceased organ donation and social capital theory are examined and evaluated

The economic benefits of career guidance

This research paper sets out the evidence on the economic benefits of career guidance. It argues that although career guidance is primarily concerned with the individual it also offers major social and economic benefits. It is these benefits that justify public investment in the area.The evidence base provides insights into the effective delivery of career guidance and highlights the three main policy areas that it can support: (1) the effective functioning of the labour market and through this the economy, (2) the effective functioning of the education system; and (3) social equity. This paper focuses on the first of these in the context of current UK (with a focus on England) policy aims around fiscal restraint and deficit reduction. Career guidance contributes to a range of individual outcomes which influence a number of primary and secondary outcomes which in turn lead to macro-economic benefits. The evidence shows that career guidance can have substantial benefits for the economy by supporting individuals to enhance their capacities in ways that contribute to enhanced jobs, skills and growth. This suggests that the government should re-examine current career guidance policy and consider how it can best maximise the aforementioned economic benefits. This may include widening access in general, considering how best to target provision and rethinking what departments might be involved in funding and influencing the development of a lifelong career guidance system in the UK

Howard Gardner: the myth of multiple intelligences

This evening I want to examine Howard Gardner’s idea that there are multiple intelligences (MI theory). MI theory identifies some eight or nine types of intelligence: not only the logico-mathematical and linguistic kinds measured by IQ