The neural correlates of pedagogy: An fNIRS hyperscanning study of constructivist and instructivist approaches in teacher-child dyads

A foundational debate in education contrasts constructivist and instructivist pedagogies, yet their neurocognitive underpinnings remain largely unknown. This study provides a pioneering direct neural comparison of these pedagogical paradigms. Using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) hyperscanning, we simultaneously recorded prefrontal cortex activity from 54 teacher-child dyads (children aged 4–7 years) during a collaborative LEGO-building task in a Chinese context. Dyads were randomly assigned to either a constructivist (facilitator-led) or an instructivist (expert-led) approach. We analyzed intra-brain (within-person) and inter-brain (between-person) synchrony using wavelet transform coherence.
Results revealed distinct neural signatures for each approach. Both teachers and children exhibited unique patterns of intra-brain connectivity reflecting the different cognitive demands of each role. Critically, dyads in the constructivist approach displayed significantly higher inter-brain synchrony in right prefrontal regions (implicated in social cognition and mentalizing) compared to dyads in the instructivist condition. These findings suggest that constructivism fosters a neurally coupled, collaborative state between teacher and child, potentially reflecting a shared cognitive space. In contrast, instructivist teaching appears to impose a higher, more independent cognitive load on the teacher with less dyadic neural alignment. This work provides the first neurobiological evidence differentiating these cornerstone teaching frameworks and offers a new avenue for a neurally-informed science of learning. Copyright © 2026 The Authors.