A report into how new scientific understanding can help practical education regain the respect it deserves.
A report by the Centre for Real World Learning at the University of Winchester, in association with Edge, looking at the increasing interest in practical learning, particularly at this time of recession. It argues that the fact that we still place low value on practical achievements is a reflection of misconception about the nature of bodies, and their relation to minds and 'intelligence'. The report reviews recent neuroscientific research to conclude that 'brains, bodies and minds are much more closely tied together than the traditional model would have had us believe', therefore meaning practical and academic learning are much more alike than thought. It dispels eight beliefs about practical and vocational learning which are largely false- including that practical learning is cognitively simple and that practical education is only for the less able.