Inhoudsopgave:
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This book explores the many ways in which the obsession with âbeing smartâ distorts the life of a typical college or university, and how this obsession leads to a higher education that shortchanges the majority of students, and by extension, our societyâs need for an educated population. The author calls on his colleagues in higher education to return the focus to the true mission of developing the potential of each student: However âsmartâ they are when they get to college, both the student and the college should be able to show what they learned while there.Unfortunately, colleges and universities have embraced two very narrow definitions of smartness: the course grade and especially the standardized test. A large body of research shows that it will be very difficult for colleges to fulfill their stated mission unless they substantially broaden their conception to include student qualities such as leadership, social responsibility, honesty, empathy, and citizenship. Specifically, the book grapples with issues such as the following:⢠Why Americaâs 3,000-plus colleges and universities have evolved into a hierarchical pecking order, where institutions compete with each other to recruit âsmartâ students, and where a handful of elite institutions at the top of the pecking order enroll the âsmartestâ students.⢠Why higher education favors its smartest students to the point where the ânot so smartâ students get second-class treatment.⢠Why so many colleges find it difficult to make good on their commitment to affirmative action and âequality of opportunity.â⢠Why college faculties tend to value being smart more than developing studentsâ smartness (i.e., teaching and learning). |
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