Quote Scrambler

Discuss Perspective

1. What is intelligence if not the ability to face problems in an unprogrammed (creative) manner? The notion that such a nebulous, socially-defined concept as intelligence might be identified as a “thing” with a locus in the brain and a definite degree

1. What is intelligence if not the ability to face problems in an unprogrammed (creative) manner? The notion that such a nebulous, socially-defined concept as intelligence might be identified as a “thing” with a locus in the brain and a definite degree of heritability- and that it might be measured as a single number, thus permitting a unilinear ranking of people according to the amount they possess, is a principal error, … one that has reverberated throughout the country and has affected millions of lives. –Stephen Jay Gould

2. Now, what I want is, Facts. Teach these boys and girls nothing but Facts. Facts alone are wanted in life. Plant nothing else,

2. Now, what I want is, Facts. Teach these boys and girls nothing but Facts. Facts alone are wanted in life. Plant nothing else, and root out everything else. You can only form the minds of reasoning animals upon Facts; nothing else will ever be of any service to them. –Charles Dickens, “Hard Times”

3. The best learning environment is like a good cafeteria. It not only affords the essential staples but also offers a large

3. The best learning environment is like a good cafeteria. It not only affords the essential staples but also offers a large variety of choices to satisfy individual tastes. This allows children to discover their natural interests, proclivities, and special talents. –Jenson

4. The profit of education is the ability it gives to make distinctions that penetrate below the surface…One knows that there is a difference between sound and sense

4. The profit of education is the ability it gives to make distinctions that penetrate below the surface…One knows that there is a difference between sound and sense between what is emphatic and what is distinctive, between what is conspicuous and what is important. –John Dewey

5. Americans hold the notion that good teaching comes through artful and spontaneous interactions with students during lessons… Such views minimize the importance of planning increasingly

5. Americans hold the notion that good teaching comes through artful and spontaneous interactions with students during lessons… Such views minimize the importance of planning increasingly Effective lessons and lend credence to the folk belief that good teachers are born, not made. Our biggest long-term problem is not how we teach not but that we have no way of getting better. –Stigler & Hiebert

6. In the classroom, time is a fixed resource. If children are organized in cooperative learning groups studying grade level material for the majority of their school day,

6. In the classroom, time is a fixed resource. If children are organized in cooperative learning groups studying grade level material for the majority of their school day, they will have time to do little else. They will not have time to learn anything new to them.

--Nancy Robinson

7. The curriculum of a subject should be determined by the most fundamental understanding that can be achieved of the underlying principals that give structure to a subject…Teaching specific topics or skills without making clear their context in the broader fundamental structure of a

7. The curriculum of a subject should be determined by the most fundamental understanding that can be achieved of the underlying principals that give structure to a subject…Teaching specific topics or skills without making clear their context in the broader fundamental structure of a field of knowledge is uneconomical…An understanding of fundamental principles and ideas appears to be the main road to adequate transfer of training. To understand something as a specific instance of a more general case-which is what understanding a more fundamental structure means—is to have learned not only a specific thing but also a model for understanding other things like it that one may encounter. –Jerome Bruner

8. Facts are complex things which have connections and logical implications which reach beyond themselves. And the mental weaving of these connections is what education and critical thinking is

8. Facts are complex things which have connections and logical implications which reach beyond themselves. And the mental weaving of these connections is what education and critical thinking is fundamentally about. Indeed, so-called “higher order” learning is itself predicated on having this broad understanding of how certain facts and information are connected or related to something else. –J.D. McPeck

9. IQ is positively correlated with just about all major measurements of success and well-being: occupational status, socioeconomic status, income, marital stability, even good

9. IQ is positively correlated with just about all major measurements of success and well-being: occupational status, socioeconomic status, income, marital stability, even good health and life expectancy. The correlations tell us the U.S. is very much a meritocracy, and the kind of “merit” that matters most is intelligence. –D. Seligman

10. A firm grounding in the arts teaches practical skills and such characteristics as self-discipline and critical thinking. The arts naturally embrace paradox and

10. A firm grounding in the arts teaches practical skills and such characteristics as self-discipline and critical thinking. The arts naturally embrace paradox and ambiguity, to study them is to learn flexible thinking. Those who have trained in an art form are more likely not only to grasp the nuances in real life, say the experts, but also to persevere in finding novel solutions to everyday problems. –Susan Gains, “The Art of Living”

11. Good teachers are passionate about ideas, learning, and their relationship with students… These teachers did more than teach to set standards or use approved

11. Good teachers are passionate about ideas, learning, and their relationship with students… These teachers did more than teach to set standards or use approved techniques. Their classroom relationships featured “interest, enthusiasm, inquiry, excitement, discovery, risk taking and fun.” Their cognitive scaffolding of concepts and teaching strategies was “held together with emotional bonds.” –P. Woods and B. Jeffrey, “Teachable Moments”

12. The belief that the reason a person goes to school is to get a good job and earn more money as an adult has robbed our society of two important values. First of all, it deprives young people of the feeling that

12. The belief that the reason a person goes to school is to get a good job and earn more money as an adult has robbed our society of two important values. First of all, it deprives young people of the feeling that what they are doing now is important. All the rewards are seen to be somewhere in the future. Secondly, it deprives society of the understanding that learning has value in itself and not just as a saleable commodity. This greatly reduces the range of knowledge that is considered worth having, and creates a population of narrowly-educated citizens. –B.B. Tye

13. Finding the right answer is important, of course. But more important is developing the ability to see that problems have

13. Finding the right answer is important, of course. But more important is developing the ability to see that problems have multiple solutions, that getting from X to Y demands basic skills and mental agility, imagination, persistence, patience. –Mary Hatwood Futrell