Reflections of brain researches on early childhood education

Abstract

The brain is the organ in which the learning occurs. Therefore, discovering its structure, functioning, and learning styles has become a focus of interest to the educators. Brain researches that come into question at this point reveal many unknowns about the brain and learning and correct the inaccurate information. As a result of brain researches, plasticity (flexibility) feature of the brain which was thought not to change is found that is to say that its variability and formative characteristics are accepted. In light of this information, early childhood period is considered as a critical period in terms of development and learning in a child’s life. Researches about the synapse connections that are important in terms of brain development also confirm this opinion. The purpose of this study is to create question marks about how these researches can be benefited in early childhood education by drawing attention current brain research topics. For this purpose, suggestions for what the teachers and parents can do for brain development in this critical period in the light of the data obtained from brain researches to the techniques and tools used in brain researches and to the brain which is the learning organ were included in this study. Through literature review, obtained data is presented to the readers in theoretical dimension. © The Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology.