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June 20, 2013
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6 Comments
My favorite quote from the article is:
"But I think that the science I present in the book does show that there is rigorous research backing this idea that if we're open to people's unique brand of intelligence, and we help inspire them to have a purpose in life, to pursue their unique brand, they can actually demonstrate extraordinary intellectual feats and creative accomplishments."
I really love the idea of viewing each one as unique. It is tough to force some students to write a paper or pass a test when you see they think so differently and their skills are in such a different venue then the method with which we grade them. I wish we could challenge them in regard to their unique style and see them excel at that which fits them best.
Kristan Farley
Hello Kristan:
I think too often students have a "follow the herd" mentality in which they pursue a course of education not based on their unique educational qualities, but rather on what they believe is the idea course to follow. In a perfect world, there would be systems available to direct students into education/career paths that best suit their talents. One of the primary jobs of teachers - at any level - could be to perform diagnostics to find where students' abilities are. It is often frustrating to see students pursuing end goals that are not their passion, but to help rectify this we can assist in helping students decipher what their abilities are and how to pursue their passions.
Thanks,
Eric
Interesting interview. Thank you for posting!
I like the idea Kaufman proposes, but I cannot help but think it is a problematic conceptual shift for intelligence whether in education or in business. Encouraging an "infinite number of intelligences" as he says, sounds great and I agree with his points that measuring intelligence is dynamic over time, not static, and that labeling can be dangerous because it becomes self-fullfilling. The observation that many creative thinkers had some type of handicap at one point and overcompensated in another area which may have allowed them to overachieve in that area is insightful as well.
There has to be some kind of pragmatism factored in though. Taking the stance that everyone has a unique intelligence that should not be compared to anybody else's and should not be measured to a standard, dismisses a qualitative aspect of intelligence all together. His view of quality seems to be firmly attached to individual development over time, but a totally individualized and subjective definition of quailty undermines the purpose of defining quality in the first place. It loses any meaning. As you suggest Eric, this perspective might lead teachers to be more oriented towards finding each student's individual abilties and talents, but this shifts teacher's objective from instruction to a sort of talent treasure hunt for each studen. At least at younger ages maybe. That could be a good thing. I don't know.
In the end I think Kaufman's concept of intelligence is a great ideal and probably one we should work towards, but in order for it to be effective in scale it needs to be grounded somehow with a more practical foundation that incorporates some kind of social standard even though he may oppose this. Maybe he addresses this in more detail in his book. I'll have to pick it up and find out!
Hello Colin:
Thank you for your thoughtful feedback regarding my post. I agree that Kaufman's intelligence paradigm may be somewhat subjective. Attempting to ascertain the unique educational talents of each student, while neglecting to establish a baseline setting can produce students with high levels of self-esteem, but who are unable to accept criticism or failure. There is a careful balancing act for faculty; we need to teach the material, but also try to individualize, as much as is possible or warranted, the material to the student. I think one of Kaufman's crucial points is that we cannot apply an overarching matrix to individual student achievement, given the diversity of student and their unique talents. One thing we may try to do is to guide our students into areas in which they are most likely to succeed. This can be challenging in the online realm as we lack the face-to-face time with the student to ascertain their proclivities, but this is part of the challenge of online faculty.
Thanks,
Eric
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