Assuring successful lifelong learning: Can neuroscience provide the key?

The use of the term 'neuro' in scientific contexts has become more and more popular. Many politicians and practitioners, especially in the field of education, seem to believe that scientific work gets a specific aura if it is neuroscientifically based. This chapter questions whether, and if so, how neuroscience can contribute to explaining or promoting complex learning processes. To illustrate complex learning processes and the requirements associated with their enhancement, it focuses on lifelong learning (LLL). The needs of the 'knowledge society' have placed LLL at the centre of an intensive ongoing political debate. Essential constituents of LLL are a persistent motivation to learn and the skills to realize this motivation. Researchers in the field of education agree that schools provide the basis for LLL and therefore teachers play a decisive role for imparting relevant competences. Consequently, LLL trainings should also target teachers. As a concrete example, a training programme for teachers to enhance LLL is presented. Based on this example, the chapter discusses how bridges can be built between neuroscience and education to cooperate in explaining and promoting complex learning processes.