The Disciplined MindÂ
Howard Gardner
Penguin Books 1999
Page 39-40
To put it crisply, I favor depth over breadth, construction over accumulation, the pursuit of knowledge for its own sake over the obeisance to utility, and individualized over a uniform education, and an education that is public in character. I favor student-centered education over teacher-centered education, and I support an education attentive to developmental and individual differences. In all these dimensions, I might be seen as on the liberal or progressive side of the educational playing field.
At the same time, however, I also favor education that is rooted in the disciplines, that employs regular assessment, and that applies high standards to student work. In that sense, I align myself with the traditional or conservative camp.
Finally, with respect to technology, I find myself squarely in the middle: the new technologies hold tremendous promise, but they must be seen as means rather than ends.
The Internet can help create vigorous and constructive communities; it can isolate and desensitize individuals to their fellow human beings; it can even foment hatred.
Page 41
With the possible exception of the Church, few institutions have changed as little in fundamental ways as those charged with the formal education of the next generation.
Page 42
Indeed, if schools do not change quite rapidly and quite radically, they are likely to be replaced by other, more responsive (though perhaps less comfortable and less legitimate) institutions.
Page 43
In the future, however, education will be organized largely around the computer. Not only will much of instruction and assessment be delivered by computer, but the habits of mind fostered by computer interactions will be highlighted, while those that fall through the computational crack may be lost. For example, precise, step-by-step thinking is likely to be enhanced, while fine-grained aesthetic or ethical judgments may be marginalized.
Page 52
Youngsters ought to be reared so that they enjoy learning, develop wide-ranging interests, and want to nourish their minds for the remainder of their lives. Plato put it memorably: “The purpose of education is to make the individual want to do what he has to do.”
Page 53
In the future, the individual (or “intelligent agent”) who can examine these bodies of knowledge and determine what is worth knowing will be at a tremendous premium. Even more estimable will be the person (or browser) who (or that) can synthesize the exponentially expanding domains of knowledge so that vital information can be made available in useful form to the average citizen and the average policymaker.
Page 59
With most other observers, I am convinced that education stands at a crossroads. The shifts in the world are so cataclysmic, their implications at such variance with past practices, that the status quo cannot endure in most parts of the world. Indeed, if somewhat paradoxically, the nations that are deemed most successful by current standards seem most concerned about the unsuitability of their current schools for future needs.
Page 69
Yet the broad Piagetian picture endures, and its educational implications are clear. Armed with it, educators are likely to present content and ideas in ways that are developmentally appropriate; they will realize that different children – even children of the same size and age – may be at different developmental levels and hence will be skeptical of curricula or measures that purport to be suitable for all learners.
Page 70
Chomsky’s work is important because it suggests that children are born with certain quite specific kinds of mental representations, which develop along narrowly constrained lines. There are structures dedicated to language, and these unfold in a prescribed manner – much like a physical organ growing – during the first years of life. There seem, as well, to be mental structures dedicated to the appreciation of number, spatial relations, music, and the understanding of other persons.
Page 76
Educators’ understandable focus on cognition has sometimes had the unfortunate consequence of minimizing awareness of other equally important factors. Probably the most crucial is motivation. If one is motivated to learn, one is likely to work hard, to be persistent, to be stimulated rather than discouraged by obstacles, and to continue to learn even when not pressed to do so, for the sheer pleasure of quenching curiosity or stretching one’s faculties in unfamiliar directions.
Darwin’s testimony on the virtues of intrinsic motivation is worth quoting: “It may be more beneficial that a child should follow energetically some pursuit, of however trifling a nature, and thus acquire perseverance, than that he should be turned from it, because of no future advantage to him.”
Page 77
It therefore behooves educators not simply to attempt to motivate students en masse but rather to identify activities that will rapidly become rewarding for a certain group of predisposed students.
Creating an educational environment in which pleasure, stimulation, and challenge flourish is an important mission.
And so, in the last several years, cognitivists have proposed various models of how emotions can structure, guide, and influence mental representations. All point to a simple truth: if one wants something to be attended to, mastered, and subsequently used, one must be sure to wrap it in a context that engages the emotions.
Page 151
It would be wonderful if each growing individual had some opportunity to create in an art form. There is no substitute for drawing a portrait or a still life, composing a song or a sonnet, choreographing and performing a dance. Education early in life ought to provide such opportunities to think and perform in an artistic medium.
Page 186 (I’m not sure I understand this. g.b.)
By now, my educational vision should be clear. Deep understanding should be our central goal; we should strive to inculcate understanding of what, within a cultural context, is considered true or false, beautiful or unpalatable, good or evil.
Page 216
I personally favor a “pathway for understanding.” Let me indicate just one of its dimensions. Education in this pathway ought to be inspired by a set of essential questions: Who are we? Where do we come from? What do we consider to be true or false, beautiful or ugly, good or evil? What is the fate of the earth? How do we fit in? What is the earth made of? What are we made of? Why do we live, and why do we die? Are our destinies under the control of God or some other “higher power”? What is love? What is hatred? Why do we make war? Must we? What is justice and how can we achieve it?
Page 230
In general, human beings learn best from landmarks, heroes, positive (and negative) examples of behaviors and attitudes. The leader can serve as one point of comparison for those who would bring about change; but even the leader will have limitations, blind spots, preferred lenses. It is important to show that other, at comparable schools, can also embody and education for understanding. And most important of all is the realization that individuals with the school can carry out a revolution – and survive to tell the tale.
Page 250
A person can succeed on Wall Street or in Washington and yet fail as a human being. To be sure it will be more difficult, more controversial to agree on who embodies these “soft” virtues and these “connections.” And yet, as a society, we will not feel legitimate unless we make the effort to do so. The Czech playwright and political leader Vaclav Havel has said it eloquently:
Regardless of where I begin my thinking about the problems facing our civilization, I always return to the theme of human responsibility, which seems incapable of keeping pace with civilization and preventing it from turning against the human race. It’s as though the world has simply become too much for us to deal with. The main task for the coming era is something else: a radical renewal of our sense of responsibility. Our conscience must catch up to our reason; otherwise we are lost.
Page 260
Which brings me to a final point. I believe that many of our current testing policies, no matter how well intentioned, are fundamentally misguided. We are moving toward implementing an education that, at best, is suited to an earlier era, where the amassing of mountains of information was seen as the mark of an educated.