Five Pillars of the Mind: Redesigning Education to Suit the Brain

Tracey Tokuhama-Espinosa

Mar 2019 · W. W. Norton & Company

About this ebook

From the author of Neuromyths, a revolutionary look at teaching and learning via the logical pathways of the brain. A review of the research on brain networks reveals, surprisingly, that there are just five basic pillars through which all learning takes place: Symbols, Patterns, Order, Categories, and Relationships. Dr. Tokuhama-Espinosa proposes that redesigning school curriculum around these five pillars—whether to augment or replace traditional subject categories—could enable students to develop the transdisciplinary problem-solving skills that are often touted as the ultimate goal of education. Heralding a potential paradigm shift in education, Five Pillars of the Mind explores how aligning instruction with the brain's natural design might just be the key to improving students' learning outcomes.

About the author

Tracey Tokuhama-Espinosa, PhD, is a Professor at Harvard University's Extension School and is currently an educational researcher affiliated with the Latin American Social Science Research Faculty (FLACSO) in Quito, Ecuador. She is also the founder of Connections: The Learning Sciences Platform, and an Associate Editor of the Nature Partner Journal, Science of Learning. Tracey has taught Kindergarten through University and works with schools, universities, governments and NGOs in more than 40 countries around the world.