Christina Hinton

Bio: Christina Hinton is an academic researcher from Harvard University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Educational neuroscience & Educational research. The author has an hindex of 8, co-authored 10 publications receiving 267 citations. Previous affiliations of Christina Hinton include Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

Research Schools: Grounding Research in Educational Practice

Abstract: — Education lacks a strong infrastructure for connecting research with educational practice and policy. The need for this linkage grows as findings in cognitive science and biology become ever more relevant to education. Teachers often lack the background knowledge needed to interpret scientific results, whereas scientists often lack an understanding of pedagogical goals. We need to build an infrastructure that supports sustainable collaboration between researchers and teachers and creates a strong research foundation for education. A primary agent of the lasting collaboration between researchers and practitioners in medicine is the teaching hospital, where researchers and practitioners work together on research that is relevant to practice and the training of young professionals. Education needs analogous institutions—research schools—that join researchers and teachers in living, community-based schools. In these schools, practice shapes research as much as research informs practice. Research schools will provide a fundamental infrastructure for linking transdisciplinary research on learning with educational policy and practice.

How Many Brains Does It Take to Build a New Light: Knowledge Management Challenges of a Transdisciplinary Project

Abstract: The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development ' s (OECD) Center for Educational Research and Innovation (CERI) carried out the Learning Sciences and Brain Research project (1999 - 2007) to investigate how neuro- science research can inform education policy and practice. This transdisciplinary project brought many challenges. Within the political community, participation in the project varied, with some countries resisting approval of the project altogether, in the beginning. In the neuroscientifi c communi- ty, participants struggled to represent their knowledge in a way that would be meaningful and relevant to educators. Within the educational community, response to the project varied, with many educational researchers resisting it for fear that neuroscience research might make their work obsolete. Achieving dialogue among these communities was even more challenging. One clear obstacle was that participants had diffi culty recognizing tacit knowledge in their own fi eld and making this knowledge explicit for partners in other fi elds. This article analyzes these challenges through a knowledge management framework.

School-Based Research.

Abstract: Longago, JohnDewey(1899)describedagapbetween research and practice in education Over a century later, we are still confronted with this issue Much research on learning is not embodied in practices in schools, and the practical expertise of teachers rarely informs education research There is a need to create an infrastructure that integrates research and practice in education In the field of medicine, research and practice are joined in teaching hospitals In these institutions, researchers work alongside doctors to incorporate recent advances in medical research into practice and track results There is a growing movement in the field of education to create analogous institutions in education called research schools (Chen, 2006; Fischer, 2009; Hinton, 2008; Hinton & Fischer, 2008, 2010; Kuriloff, Richert, Stoudt, & Ravitch, 2009) Research schools are living laboratories where researchers collaborate with practitioners to carry out research, train educators, and disseminate findings Researchers at the Harvard Graduate School of Education have createdpartnershipswith adiversenetworkofpublic and private schools This article beginswith an introduction to the research schoolmovement It then focuses on a research school partnership between Harvard Graduate School of Education and St George’s School, an independent college preparatory school inRhode Island This partnership has generated fruitful school-based research, and can serve as a model for other research partnerships between universities and schools

What Does the Brain Have to Do with Learning? Ignoring Important Findings from Educational Neuroscience Can Be Just as Dangerous as Uncritically Embracing "Brain-Based" Products or Interventions

Abstract: The amount of information on learning and the brain circulating in the education community can be dizzying, and, unfortunately, much of this information is inaccurate. Laboratories are often disconnected from the challenges of real classrooms. And teachers and parents often don't know how to ensure that scientists are exploring the questions that they most want answered. But the emerging field known as Mind, Brain, and Education (MBE) is committed to connecting diverse disciplines--including cognitive psychology, biology, and education--and using this collected knowledge to inform education policy, practice, and research. We believe that MBE can help increase understanding and separate sound science from myths. Several "myths" impede knowledge sharing among groups that want to understand and improve teaching and learning. Some of those myths are about the field itself: the role of neuroscience in informing education and the false division between researchers and educators. Other myths, what we call neuromyths, have become widespread and influence how we educate children: left brain/right brain, critical periods, and gender differences in the brain. We should approach findings in educational neuroscience and so-called brain-based programs with cautious optimism. Ignoring important findings from this field can be just as dangerous as uncritically embracing products or interventions that claim to be based on these findings. MYTH #1 The brain is irrelevant in learning. After Bruno della Chiesa, a leader in educational neuroscience, proposed launching a project on neuroscience and learning to an international audience of policy makers, he was confronted with a surprising question from a French colleague: "Qu'estce que le cerveau a a voir avec l'apprentissage?" or "What does the brain have to do with learning?" Bruer (1997) presented a more refined and nuanced version of this question when he argued that brain science isn't directly relevant to learning. Cognitive psychology, he said, must mediate between neuroscience and education to develop useful applications. While there are some limitations in translating neuroscientific findings directly into classroom applications, these limitations are typically due more to insufficient collaboration among researchers and educators than to intrinsic limitations. In fact, neuroscience and education have successfully worked together to build knowledge that's applicable to the classroom. For example, consider dyslexia. Education researchers have established that most dyslexic students have difficulty analyzing the sounds of words. Many of these students can learn to read through different learning pathways that use distinctive processes, but they still have difficulties analyzing sounds at lower levels (Fink 2006). Biological and cognitive research helped explain how this pattern of strengths and weaknesses emerges through differences in genetics and corresponding brain processes (Haworth et al. 2007). By understanding both the manifestations of dyslexia across many students and some of the causes for different profiles of dyslexia, researchers have been able to quickly identify students at risk for dyslexia and design differentiated interventions. As Denis Mareschal and his colleagues (2007) have pointed out, education research often studies the "what," focusing on the outcomes of learning. By using different methods, including those from cognitive psychology and neuroscience, we can also study the "why" and the "how" of learning. While brain research alone can't tell us how to teach children, understanding the brain leads to uncovering underlying learning mechanisms. MYTH #2 Neuroscientists know it all, and teachers don't understand research. A second myth is the false divide between scientists and educators. While there are some barriers to communication between researchers and educators, these barriers are far from insurmountable. …

What Does the Brain Have to Do with Learning

Abstract: Ignoring important findings from educational neuroscience can be just as dangerous as uncritically embracing “brain-based” products or interventions.

Democracy and education.

Abstract: Course Description In this course, we will explore the question of the actual and potential connections between democracy and education. Our focus of attention will be placed on a critical examination of democratic theory and its implications for the civic education roles and contributions of teachers, adult educators, community development practitioners, and community organizers. We will survey and deal critically with a range of competing conceptions of democracy, variously described as classical, republican, liberal, radical, marxist, neomarxist, pragmatist, feminist, populist, pluralist, postmodern, and/or participatory. Using narrative inquiry as a means for illuminating and interpreting contemporary practice, we will analyze the implications of different conceptions of democracy for the practical work of civic education.

Learning a New Land: Immigrant Students in American Society

Abstract: Carola Suarez-Orozco, Marcelo M. Suarez-Orozco and Irina Todorova, Learning a New Land: Immigrant Students in American Society Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2008, 440 pp., $29.95 hb. (IS...

Mind, Brain, and Education: Building a Scientific Groundwork for Learning and Teaching1

Abstract: The primary goal of the emerging fi eld of Mind, Brain, and Education is to join biology, cognitive science, development, and education in order to create a sound ground- ing of education in research. The growing, worldwide move- ment needs to avoid the myths and distortions of popular conceptions of brain and genetics and build on the best inte- gration of research with practice, creating a strong infrastruc- ture that joins scientists with educators to study effective learning and teaching in educational settings. Science and practice together provide many potentially powerful tools to improve education. Neuroscience and genetics make possible analysis of the " black box " of biological processes that under- pin learning. Understanding the biology of abilities and disabilities helps educators and parents to facilitate individual students ' learning and development. Cognitive science pro- vides analyses of the mental models/metaphors that pervade meaning making in human cultures, creating tools for avoid- ing unconscious distortions and crafting effective educational tools. Developmental and learning science produce tools to analyze learning pathways, including both shared patterns and learning differences. To reach the potential of grounding education effectively in research requires improving the infra- structure by creating (a) research schools where practice and science jointly shape educational research, (b) shared data- bases on learning and development, and (c) a new profession of educational engineers or translators to facilitate connecting research with practice and policy.

The Future of Educational Neuroscience

Abstract: The primary goal of the emerging field of educational neuroscience and the broader movement called Mind, Brain, and Education is to join biology with cognitive science, development, and education so that education can be grounded more solidly in research on learning and teaching. To avoid misdirection, the growing worldwide movement needs to avoid the many myths and distortions in popular conceptions of brain and genetics. It should instead focus on integrating research with practice to create useful evidence that illuminates the brain and genetic bases as well as social and cultural influences on learning and teaching. Scientists and educators need to collaborate to build a strong research foundation for analyzing the “black box” of biological and cognitive processes that underpin learning.