neurons, neural chemistry and genetics. They don’t study
Q: As someone who has been involved in literacy his
education. Educational researchers do. We need better
entire career, how did the field of neuroscience enter your
communication and collaboration between these two
work?
communities. That’s what educational neuroscience is trying
A: It was during my doctoral program at the University
to do.
of Georgia, back in the 1990s. Back then the emerging
brain imaging research was starting to get a lot of attention
Q: Why have literacy researchers been slow
in the popular press. So was evolutionary
to take up work in educational neuroscience?
psychology, genetics, research on chimps using
A: Several reasons. Literacy researchers have
tools and sign language and so on. The science
had other perfectly good and productive lines
behind these studies sounded fascinating, but
of research to pursue. You know, in education
the public’s interest was a little worrisome.
we usually focus on contexts and outcomes,
There has been a long history that still echoes
an echo from mid-20th century conditioning
today where life science ideas are misused
theory. We forget that the outcomes are
by non-scientists to justify bigotry. Racism,
symptoms of changes in the underlying
eugenics, women’s subordination have all been
biological systems responsible for them. We
rationalized in the past with pseudo-biological
can do descriptive work on how student
claims. And you could find that starting to
outcomes change in response to instruction or
reemerge in newspaper editorials in the 1990s,
environment, and that’s important work. But
which concerned me. Brain-based education,
it is not a full explanation. It’s important to
kind of neuroscience lite, was getting started
understand the biological nature of learning,
then, too, even though no one had actually
The thing is,
memory, agency and how and why these
done any brain research on education.
things change in response to experience,
So I thought this would be a hotneuroscientists
neurologically, genetically, systemically. That’s
button area to investigate. Not
what’s responsible for the changes in outcomes
many literacy scholars were
we can observe. Anything we can educate
paying attention.
study the brain,
a child to do, we do by way of that child’s
It was a good bet. In the
biology, whether we are aware of it or not.
20 years since I took all
neurons, neural
But this isn’t a new idea for education. It was
those graduate courses in
central to the theoretical work of John Dewey
neuroscience and related fields,
chemistry and
back at the dawn of the 20th century.
the neurosciences have grown
exponentially. From a small research
Q: As this body of knowledge grows,
community, graduate programs sprang
genetics. They
how should educators keep it in perspective?
up and neuroscience has skyrocketed.
For instance, should we be cautious about
The imaging technology has grown
don’t study
overestimating the extent to which innovations
more sophisticated, there’s a greater
based on neuroscience can be applied in the
awareness of the dangers of data
real-world setting?
manipulation and misinterpretation.
education.
A: Absolutely. There are a lot of overAnd yet, few people in literacy
exuberant claims about the brain and learning
education understand this research.
—Dr. George Hruby
out there right now, especially in the so-called
Which has allowed me to publish some
brain-based booklets on education. You know,
nicely cited analyses.
as opposed to liver-based education. But
seriously, folks… (ba-ding!). For one thing,
Q: What intrigues you about the brain and
just because biology underlies our ability to
learning, especially as it applies to literacy?
learn, it does not follow that learning is nothing but biology.
A: Well, I think a more bio-ecological view of literacy
Contrary to what some authors claim, it is not the brain
development is crucial to understanding both language
that reads. You do. Yes, your brain makes reading possible,
learning and learning to read, as well as for deeper theories
but, then, your teeth make chewing possible. Do you ever
of comprehension and motivation. We have a lot of research
say: “my teeth had breakfast this morning?” Of course not.
on the ecological part of that view, now we need the
That’d be what philosophers call a category error. And even
biological part.
though you hear people say your brain learns or your brain
And there’s a lot of work to be done. There’s about as
reads, just because you need your brain to do so, you never
many neurological studies that relate directly to literacy
hear anyone say: “my brain went shopping last weekend,”
education as you can count on the fingers of one hand, all
or “my brain went nuts at the Wildcats game,” even though
small subject sets and correlational. There was early work
we need it for those activities, too. When people who have
on dyslexia, but done without baseline data on normal
neural development in childre