On the road I’ve been meeting and chatting with so many education professionals with differing views on the current landscape of education.

I’m not surprised. In my twenty years of working in Education, it seems it has always been this way. And diversity of thought isn’t necessarily a problem either.

The conversations have been thoughtful, respectful and grounded in a shared commitment to improving outcomes for young people.

Cognitive psychology has made an important contribution to education. Research into memory, cognitive load, retrieval practice and explicit instruction has helped educators better understand how learning occurs. These insights deserve a place in every school’s ‘how to teach’ guide.

However, the challenge emerges when a narrow interpretation of cognitive psychology becomes the dominant lens through which teaching is understood.

When learning is viewed primarily as the efficient transfer of knowledge from teacher to student, education can become increasingly focused on compliance and delivery. Teachers are asked to follow tightly prescribed routines, lessons become more scripted and success is measured by how closely practice aligns with a particular model of instruction.

In these environments, I wonder if teacher autonomy becomes the first casualty.

Teaching should not be accepted as a simple process of application of techniques. It is a complex professional practice that requires judgement, adaptation, creativity and responsiveness to the unique needs of learners within a dynamic workplace for staff.

In my time working in and with schools, I find the most effective teachers constantly make decisions based on context, relationships and the individual students sitting in front of them.

The second casualty might be learner curiosity.

Children are naturally inquisitive. They ask questions, explore ideas, make connections and seek meaning in the world around them. While explicit teaching may show promising signs of being necessary, it is rarely sufficient on its own. Deep learning requires opportunities for investigation, discussion, creativity, collaboration and problem-solving.

When classrooms become overly focused on efficiency and certainty, there is less space for wonder. Students become highly skilled at reproducing information without developing the curiosity that drives lifelong learning and that concerns me as an educator and parent.

Students learn how to answer questions to satisfy the adult but not to satisfy their learner curiosity.

A third consequence may be the narrowing of educational purpose.

Schools exist to do more than improve test scores or maximise knowledge acquisition. They help young people develop identity, agency, resilience, social understanding, creativity and a sense of belonging to name a few.

These outcomes are more difficult to measure but they remain central to why education matters.

The concern for me is not cognitive psychology itself, which I love learning about constantly.

My concern is in the way some parts of the education industry is attempting to elevate one body of knowledge above all others. And this happens in cycles with an everything old is new again kind of vibe to it.

Education is informed by psychology but also by sociology, neuroscience, philosophy, child development, organisational leadership and the personal experiences of teachers, students and the wider community.

The most effective schools recognise that learning is both cognitive and social.

Effective schools understand that evidence-informed practice matters, which is different from the notion of evidence-based practice. One relies heavily on findings derived from controlled research environments; the other integrates those findings with professional expertise, contextual knowledge and the complex realities of teaching and learning.

Effective schools are engaging schools.

They value structure, while preserving flexibility.

They pursue academic excellence without sacrificing curiosity or reasonable supports.

If we ever reduce teaching to a narrow interpretation of how learning happens, we risk producing classrooms that are more efficient but less human.

And Education has always been about more than just efficiency.

By Ben Sacco

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