On March 23, the first event of the UNESCO Chair of Science for Education took place, the result of a partnership between the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, the D’Or Institute for Research and Education (IDOR), and the National Network of Science for Education (Rede CpE). The Chair aims to promote international integration, establishing a network of dialogue and dissemination of knowledge about science for education among researchers and educators from Brazil and the world. Held at IDOR, the presentations were held in person and in English, with simultaneous online transmission and translation into Portuguese. 

Entitled “Dialogues between Science and Education” the first meeting received researchers Judith Kroll, from the University of California Irvine, Ingrid Finger, from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, and a researcher at the CpE Network, to discuss issues of bilingual education. The introduction fell to Dr. Roberto Lent, a neuroscientist at IDOR and coordinator of the CpE Network.

Dr. Kroll spoke about “Variation in language and the dynamics of the bilingual mind and brain” demonstrating that the brain of bilingual people has increased activity, in addition to language practice suggesting protection against aging. 

Then Dr. Finger made her presentation about “Biliteracy and bilingual education: coactivation of skills and crosslinguistic transfer”, bringing data from his latest book published in partnership with Dr. Ubiratã Kickhöfel Alves, “Literacy in Monolingual and Bilingual Contexts”. She pointed out that the development of listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills access the same central processing system, in which knowledge and language skills are shared. 

Dr. Roberto Lent, Dr. Ingrid Finger, Dr. Judith Kroll