Freirean pedagogy and educational neurosciences: a possible dialogue

Abstract

This paper aims to explore the possibility of establishing a disciplinary dialogue between education approaches seemingly distant and seldom connected: Paulo Freire's pedagogy and educational neuroscience. It is proposed a theoretical framework that differentiates types and levels of analysis of the educational phenomenon, looking for similarities and/or parallelisms between perspectives. An attempt is made to establish a constructive perspective that seeks for synergies without ignoring differences and that allows us to lay off disciplinary strongholds in pursuit of a broader and, possibly, more useful vision to address some current challenges in the educational field. In particular, possible convergences are explored around the following topics:  ‘generative word’ technique and emotional modulation of the attentional focus; meaningful learning and memory consolidation; effects of poverty and social oppression, reversibility and relationships with the notion of plasticity of the nervous system.