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Educational Neuroscience
 Petitto has had a leading international role in the creation of a new scientific discipline that she and her colleague first termed "Educational Neuroscience" [1, 2]. In 2004, Petitto had the honor of meeting Pope John Paul II who invited a small group for a meeting to introduce the new scientific discipline "Educational Neuroscience" at the Pontifical Academy of Science's Anniversary Celebration of Galileo Galilei's 400th birthday.Educational Neuroscience (also known as Mind, Brain, and Education) is an exciting and timely new discipline. It brings together individuals from diverse backgrounds, including cognitive brain scientists, learning scientists, medical and clinical practitioners, and those in educational policy and teaching. These individuals are joined in their mutual commitment (a) to solve prevailing problems in the lives of developing children, (b) to understand the human learning capabilities over the life span (both in brain and in behavior), and (c) to ground educational change in the highly principled application of research that employs both behavioral as well as a multitude of modern methodologies, including brain imaging. This discipline provides the most relevant level of analysis for resolving today’s core problems in education. Educational Neuroscience draws its empirical strength from its sister discipline, Cognitive Neuroscience, which combines decades of experimental advances from cognitive, perceptual, and developmental psychology with a variety of contemporary brain imaging technologies for exploring the neural basis of human knowledge over the life span. Background As a Research Professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at Dartmouth College and also the Chair of Dartmouth’s former education department (2002-2007), Petitto helped create and found a new “Department of Educational Neuroscience and Human Development.” This Chairmanship position also entailed her involvement in the re-design and re-certification of the department’s State of New Hampshire Teacher Certification Program in which she initiated curriculum changes that incorporated Educational Neuroscience courses and foundational research training for future teachers. Also at Dartmouth, Petitto was the major author, with Kevin Dunbar, of a new National Science Foundation, Science of Learning Center, called the “Center for Cognitive and Educational Neuroscience,” in which she and a core group of scientists led over 50 scientists. Taken together, the major contribution of Petitto’s scientific writings have been to offer both testable hypotheses and theory regarding the neural basis for the brain’s specialization for human language (be is signed or spoken), how it is possible for very young babies to acquire language, and the translational means by which we can take the fruits of this research and apply it to the education and betterment of children’s lives. [1] Petitto, L. A. & Dunbar, K. N. (2001). Dartmouth College, Official Web Page of the Department of Education’s newly created department, structure, vision, and mission. [2] Petitto, L. A., & Dunbar, K. N. New findings from educational neuroscience on bilingual brains, scientific brains, and the educated mind. On-line chapter (only) in K. Fischer & T. Katzir (Eds.), Building Usable Knowledge in Mind, Brain, & Education. Cambridge University Press. |
