In Neurocomb25®, we have pioneered the theory of learning, unlearning, and relearning — Bonsai Theory of Learning, Unlearning, and Relearning to help individuals and organisations thrive in a constantly changing world. We put it into practice through Bonsai Executive Coaching®, BONSAÏ THINKING Game™, Bonsai Metacognitive Lessons® at schools.
COGNITION
Cognition and Learning represent the thinking domain, where individuals transform general knowledge (schemata) into personal, contextual understanding (mathemata) through life-long learning. Drawing from educational neuroscience, this dimension emphasises metacognition and meta-motivation as essential cognitive tools—like watering and fertilising a bonsai tree—that sustain continuous growth within one’s learning context. The cognitive approach recognises that learning is fundamentally embodied and context-dependent, shaped by both genetic makeup and environmental interactions.
AFFECTION
Affection and Unlearning address the emotional domain, where feelings and values drive the deliberate process of discarding obsolete knowledge, habits, and practices. Through the lens of happiness studies and affective neuroscience, unlearning operates on two levels: hedonic wellbeing (happiness in learning) and eudaimonic wellbeing (happiness for learning). Like pruning a bonsai to maintain its desired aesthetic, unlearning requires critical self-examination to deepen understanding and align personal and organisational growth with evolving values and purposes. This affective dimension has been historically neglected in organisational learning despite its crucial role in adaptation.
CONATION
Conation and Relearning engage the volitional domain of future intentions and actions. Informed by conative neuroscience: future studies, and systems thinking, relearning emphasises gaining fresh perspectives through interaction with meaningful, systemic environments. This dimension involves futures literacy—the ability to imagine and shape the future—and aesthetic intelligence, which enables individuals to decode and encode meaning from their surroundings. Like positioning and wiring a bonsai tree to optimise its environment for growth, relearning creates the conditions for innovation and self-reinvention in an era of rapid change.
Let’s make change happen!
Meet our Director and Chief Neuroscientist
Aleksandra Halchenko
Aleksandra Halchenko is the founder and chief educational neuroscientist at Neurocomb25 Lab. She is the pioneer of Bonsai Thinking – the Science of Learning, Unlearning, and Relearning, which is the most cutting-edge framework for ADVANCED METACOGNITION and transformation. Through the method of Bonsai Executive Coaching™ , she helps C-suite executives and modern professionals apply cognitive neuroscience to learn, affective neuroscience to unlearn, and conative neuroscience to relearn, as well as develop Emotional Intelligence for learning, Spiritual Intelligence for unlearning, and Aesthetic Intelligence for relearning to advance innovation and human flourishing in organisations. And schools through Bonsai Metacognitive Lessons®.
She obtained a degree in Educational Neuroscience from the University of London and is a professional futurist in education, qualified teacher in the UK, Cambridge University Press accredited teacher trainer, certified coach by ICF, and Happiness Studies graduate with more than 12 years of experience in teaching and research. Aleksandra’s research into neuroaesthetics and environmental affordances for learning is a novel contribution to conative science, particularly the science of relearning. Based on her findings, she advises NGOs, governments and real estate companies on creating meaningful environments to optimise learning and innovation.
Before founding Neurocomb25, Aleksandra has held educational leadership roles and worked in prominent educational institutions in the Middle East. This instilled a love of “orientalism” in her and she decided to spend two semesters studying Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Oxford.
Aleksandra is a poetess, and an inventor of the “Black Swan Verses-Post Scriptum Poetry” genre.
Aleksandra currently holds a JPB fellowship from Harvard University’s T.H. School of Public Health, where she contributes her expertise in learning, unlearning, and relearning to support the rebuilding of Ukraine.
“It is really the time for a new generation of creative researchers and “scientific artists” to unite and bring about change in education systems worldwide. The first step towards initiating change is to establish a dialogue between science and art, research and practice”
Aleksandra Halchenko
”Real Education starts from contexual affordances! It is not only about learning, it is all about unlearning and relearning!”
Aleksandra Halchenko
“Integrated approach to education helps us get a unified view of reality and enhances our chances to bring education to life.”
Aleksandra Halchenko
Our Team
Our specialists are young researchers and practitioners in Neuroscience, Future Studies, Happiness Studies and Education who look at education not just through the eyes of an adult, when we zoom out to see the ‘big picture’, but also through the eyes of a child by zooming in to be fully present.
The people we hire to work with your portfolios are experts capable of sharing their research expertise in a way that improves the quality of education and brings a long-lasting change. Our cognitive, affective, and conative neuroscience lens enables us to offer research-based solutions to the educational issues of 25 years to come. We successfully bring those disciplines together through the science of learning, unlearning, and relearning to reform education systems for the age of super complexity.
Neurocomb25® 