Combatting the culture of ignorance

[icehorse]

In the U.S. (at least), ignorance is often honored, and intellectualism is often dismissed:

http://www.sott.net/article/313177-...tellectualism-and-the-dumbing-down-of-America

Here's one way we could combat this disastrous trend:

The bad teacher says: “You got an ‘A’ Susie, you’re so smart!”
The good teacher says: “You got an ‘A’ Susie, your hard work paid off!”

Creating a positive worldview starts early.

 

[Rainbow Mage]

In the U.S. (at least), ignorance is often honored, and intellectualism is often dismissed:

http://www.sott.net/article/313177-...tellectualism-and-the-dumbing-down-of-America

Here's one way we could combat this disastrous trend:

The bad teacher says: “You got an ‘A’ Susie, you’re so smart!”
The good teacher says: “You got an ‘A’ Susie, your hard work paid off!”

Creating a positive worldview starts early.

Yes, this is a problem in our country, but I think it has little to do with childhood development in itself, and more to do with politics.

 

[icehorse]

Yes, this is a problem in our country, but I think it has little to do with childhood development in itself, and more to do with politics.

Honoring of ignorance is common in our schools - can you connect the dots for me to see how this relates to politics?

 

[Quintessence]

The bad teacher says: “You got an ‘A’ Susie, you’re so smart!”
The good teacher says: “You got an ‘A’ Susie, your hard work paid off!”

For those of us in the audience that are stupid, could you please explain why the first is an example of "bad" teaching and the second is an example of "good" teaching?

 

[Sunstone]

For those of us in the audience that are stupid, could you please explain why the first is an example of "bad" teaching and the second is an example of "good" teaching?

I think Americans value hard work over smarts.

 

[Rainbow Mage]

Honoring of ignorance is common in our schools - can you connect the dots for me to see how this relates to politics?

Certainly. Its politicians that pass the laws allowing teachers who are not qualified to teach certain subjects. IE: evolution in the science classroom. There are also states where the education budget gets repeatedly slashed like Louisiana, and in Utah they want to make school attendance voluntary again. Speaking of evolution: guess which party does their utmost to keep it out of schools?

 

[Shadow Wolf]

Honoring of ignorance is common in our schools - can you connect the dots for me to see how this relates to politics?

Because curriculum and learning goals are decided in political settings. Teachers don't get to have much of a say, but many politicians print out bills designed by political groups such as ALEC, bills that weaken and damage education, bills that replace critical thinking with test taking, and bills that give teachers less control because a well educated populace is less likely to fall in line and perpetuate the conditions necessary to maintain the status quo.

 

[icehorse]

For those of us in the audience that are stupid, could you please explain why the first is an example of "bad" teaching and the second is an example of "good" teaching?

How about if we agreed that this bit of education theory isn't well known, so your question comes more from ignorance than from stupidity And of course, your question also provides an example of the very phenomenon the OP describes - you clever dog you!

This idea has to do with "mindsets", an educational idea pioneered by Carol Dweck. (She's easily google-able to get a good foundation.) In a nutshell, some people have a "fixed" mindset. They have taken on a label like "stupid", feel that they are destined to fulfill only their innate abilities, and more or less stop trying to learn. BTW - this can also happen to "smart" people, who come to think the world will be their oyster, and they don't have to try.

As opposed to the "fixed" mindset, the far healthier mindset is called the "growth mindset". When a person of any innate ability has the growth mindset, they will believe that they can improve their lot through applied effort.

Carol Dweck's work is widely accepted in education circles, this isn't some woo-woo theory.

 

[Revoltingest]

I don't know whether things are getting worse.
(One example cited was reading fewer books of fiction. Big deal.)
I recall Stephen Hawking relating how his crowd consider working hard at studies to be frowned upon. It was considered "common". He spent only an hour a day on course work.
Tom Wolf addressed long standing & widespread anti-intellectuallism in his book, I Am Charlotte Simmons.
Other examples abound.
Tis worth combating it, but it's not so new.

 

[Quintessence]

I think Americans value hard work over smarts.

Setting aside the difficulty of measuring and thus evidencing this suggestion, I'm not sure how it makes sense to separate these two when the one results from the other (and vice versa).

 

[icehorse]

Hey Rainbow and Shadow,

I'd have to agree that politics has negatively impinged on education in the ways you describe. But even a teacher constrained by this nonsense can create lifelong learners.

 

[Sunstone]

Setting aside the difficulty of measuring and thus evidencing this suggestion, I'm not sure how it makes sense to separate these two when the one results from the other.

The last time I looked into it, there was a debate raging about what proportion of intelligence came from our genes, rather than from "hard work". Has that debate been resolved now?

 

[icehorse]

I think Americans value hard work over smarts.

I think you've put your finger on the heart of the problem. I think Americans "used" to value hard work over smarts, and when we did, we were in better shape. I think what's happening these days is that Americans feel entitled.

 

[icehorse]

The last time I looked into it, there was a debate raging about what proportion of intelligence came from our genes, rather than from "hard work". Has that debate been resolved now?

It's an interesting question, but a Carol Dweck-ian, "growth mindset" is something that most everyone can benefit from, regardless of genes.

 

[Quintessence]

How about if we agreed that this bit of education theory isn't well known, so your question comes more from ignorance than from stupidity And of course, your question also provides an example of the very phenomenon the OP describes - you clever dog you!

This idea has to do with "mindsets", an educational idea pioneered by Carol Dweck. (She's easily google-able to get a good foundation.) In a nutshell, some people have a "fixed" mindset. They have taken on a label like "stupid", feel that they are destined to fulfill only their innate abilities, and more or less stop trying to learn. BTW - this can also happen to "smart" people, who come to think the world will be their oyster, and they don't have to try.

As opposed to the "fixed" mindset, the far healthier mindset is called the "growth mindset". When a person of any innate ability has the growth mindset, they will believe that they can improve their lot through applied effort.

Carol Dweck's work is widely accepted in education circles, this isn't some woo-woo theory.

Thanks for the response. By the by, that you were going for this sort of idea wasn't very apparent in the OP. The two examples read like arbitrary criticism rather than something that had any sort of theoretical foundation. Of course, this may also confuse me because I can't say I was raised with either of these paradigms in that boxy fashion.

 

[Sunstone]

I think what's happening these days is that Americans feel entitled.

I hear that all the time, but I don't find it to be true of the young people I know. Of course, I don't know a random sample of a thousand or two thousand young people, so maybe my small circle of young friends are atypical.

 

[icehorse]

Setting aside the difficulty of measuring and thus evidencing this suggestion, I'm not sure how it makes sense to separate these two when the one results from the other (and vice versa).

The important distinction here is that many people come to believe that they lost the genetic lottery, and they give up trying to be "smart". And of course we often conflate innate "intelligence" with "smart", if you're defining "smart" as being something you can achieve through hard work.

 

[icehorse]

Thanks for the response. By the by, that you were going for this sort of idea wasn't very apparent in the OP. The two examples read like arbitrary criticism rather than something that had any sort of theoretical foundation. Of course, this may also confuse me because I can't say I was raised with either of these paradigms in that boxy fashion.

Yes, but notice how well the OP engendered discussion

 

[Quintessence]

The last time I looked into it, there was a debate raging about what proportion of intelligence came from our genes, rather than from "hard work". Has that debate been resolved now?

That's not really what I was thinking of there, but I have no idea. What was mostly coming to mind is the many ways in which something like "smarts" and "hard work" could be interpreted and that to me, at least, the one emerges from the other (and vice versa). Applying oneself through "hard work" demands a certain sort of "smarts" (whether it's aptitude and/or virtue) and when one has "smarts" that is an impetus for doing "hard work." Further, considering aptitudes or virtues ("smarts") mean almost nothing if not practically applied, we probably would not call someone "smart" if they have not demonstrated that through work.

Guess I'm just not seeing them as a dichotomy.

 

[Sunstone]

It's too bad that academic performance isn't treated much the same as athletic performance.