Cornelius N. Grove

The Aptitude Myth (eBook, PDF)

How an Ancient Belief Came to Undermine Children's Learning Today

• Format: PDF

Produktbeschreibung

The Aptitude Myth addresses the decline in American children's mastery of critical school subjects. It contends that a contributing cause for this decline derives from many Americans' ways of thinking about children's learning: They believe that school performance is determined very largely by innate aptitude. The Aptitude Myth traces the deep historical origins, the spread and elaboration, and the eventual triumph of the belief in the determining power of mental abilities "given" at birth and therefore fixed. Covered is 600 B.C.E. until 1926 (when the S.A.T. was first administered). The belief in aptitude, assumed by many Americans to be the modern view of learning ability, is revealed as an archaic way of thinking that originated in the imaginations of our ancient forebears and gradually gained credibility over 2,500 years. In recent times, the belief became elaborated to include the fanciful notion that more-than-modest academic study injures a child's health. Having inherited this mindset, Americans don't know how to insure that children gain mastery. A new mindset is needed. The final chapter offers a transformative mindset.

Produktdetails

• Verlag: Bloomsbury eBooks US
• Seitenzahl: 208
• Erscheinungstermin: 19. Juni 2013
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9798216290179
• Artikelnr.: 74832442

Autorenporträt

Cornelius Grove, a former teacher and university lecturer, completed a doctoral dissertation on international classroom cultures in 1979. Since then, he has remained determined to contribute new historical and cross-cultural insights to that topic. Since 1990, he has served as managing partner of the business consultancy he founded, all the while continuing to explore his passion as an independent scholar, yielding The Aptitude Myth.

Inhaltsangabe

Introduction Part I: European Antecedents Chapter 1 A Perspective on
Teaching Out of the Depths of Time Chapter 2 Greek Philosophers Focus on a
World Beyond the Senses Chapter 3 New Views of the Natural World Chapter 4
New Views of Human Consciousness and Learning Chapter 5. New Views of
Children and Childhood Chapter 6. New Views of Authority in Societies and
Schools Chapter 7. New Ideals for Human Life and Learning Chapter 8 An
Influential Educator Reflects the Currents of His Time Chapter 9. New Views
and Ideals All Coalesce in One Man's Mind Chapter 10 Basic Guidelines for
the Western-Contemporary Paradigm Part II: American Responses Chapter 11
Evolving Notions of Child-Rearing in Pre-Civil War America Chapter 12
Emerging Social Currents in Post-Civil War America Chapter 13 Emerging
Intellectual Currents in Post-Civil War America Chapter 14 American
Educational Metamorphosis I: Socially Efficient Education Chapter 15.
American Educational Metamorphosis II: Child-Centered Teaching Chapter 16
American Educational Metamorphosis III: A "Given" Joins the Establishment
Part III: Tomorrow's Opportunities Chapter 17 Which Problems Is it Now More
Significant to Solve? Chapter 18 Toward a New Paradigm: Seven Assertions to
Think With Index About the Author