Transdisciplinary epistemological foundations of education and neuroscience

Abstract

The emergence process of the new area of knowledge, product of the convergence between the fields of neuroscience and education, is still in its consolidation stage. At this point of disciplinary evolution, it is essential to define a multidimensional framework for creation of knowledge, in order to support the consilience between the academic fields involved. In this paper, a critical review of the literature associated with the epistemological questions is carried out, which underlies the attempt of communication between disciplines, providing a theoretical framework that starts from basic epistemic questions, to finally base the synergy between the sciences of education and the brain sciences. In the set of reviewed literature, the state of terminological undefinedness of the area referred to as “educational neuroscience”, “neuroeducation”, or “mind, brain and education” emerged explicitly. This inconsistency in the nomenclature is correlated in the epistemological ambiguity of the different proposals, as well as the need to overcome unidirectional models of communication. In conclusion, this type of relational model, located in the interdisciplinary framework, could be demanding an evolution towards a transdisciplinary approach: with the establishment of an effective bi-directionality that incorporates professionals and educational researchers as active agents in knowledge construction processes of this new field.