EduResearch Matters July 21, 2026 by Sakunah Alhada
“The science of learning” has acquired considerable policy authority. Through AERO’s model of learning and teaching and the mandated core content in ITE, concepts such as working memory, cognitive load, long-term memory and explicit instruction have become prominent. These ideas matter.
The concern is not their inclusion, but epistemic centralisation. That arises when a narrowed and selective translation of the science of learning becomes a comprehensive account of learning. It can then become the benchmark by which other educational knowledge is authorised, marginalised or dismissed.