The Unschooled Mind : How Children Think and How Schools Should Teach

Merging cognitive science with educational agenda, Gardner makes an eloquent case for restructuring our schools by showing just how ill-suited our minds and natural patterns of learning are to the prevailing modes of education. This reissue includes a new introduction by the author. "I like to invoke the image of figure and ground. In any scene, certain elements stand out as figures, as dominant foci, against a less prominent background, which (ideally) supports the central figure. At present, test scores and rankings have become figures, so dominant that they virtually occlude everything else. In my preferred portrait of education, a well-schooled mind becomes the central figure--a mind that truly understands disciplinary ways of thinking and one that also encourages respectful and ethical behavior. All the rest--including the instruments of accountability should be in the background, providing support for that central, powerful image. Why the current ideal of school focuses so much on a certain view of knowledge, transmitted in a certain way, and documented in a certain way, is a question for historians and policy makers: That it has taken this turn is a source of regret to those of us who harbor a different view of knowledge and education."--The introduction by the author (p. xxviii) Introduction: the central puzzles of learning I: The "natural" learner Conceptualizing the development of the mind Initial learnings: constraints and possibilities Knowing the world through symbols The worlds of the preschooler: the emergence of intuitive understandings II: Understanding educational institutions The values and traditions of education The institution called school The difficulties posed by school: misconceptions in the sciences More difficulties posed by school: stereotypes in the social sciences and the humanities III: Toward education for understanding The search for solutions: dead ends and promising means Education for understanding during the early years Education for understanding during the adolescent years Toward national and global understandings. "Why are children not mastering what they ought to be learning in school? Twenty years after its original publication Howard Gardner's answer to this pressing question remains timely and relevant. Drawing on cognitive science and psychology, Gardner shows how ill-suited our minds and natural patterns of learning are to current educational materials, practices and institutions, and makes an eloquent case for restructuring our schools."--Publisher CONTENTS......Page 8 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS......Page 12 THE UNSCHOOLED MIND AFTER TWENTY YEARS......Page 14 1 Introduction......Page 32 PART I THE “NATURAL” LEARNER......Page 54 PART II UNDERSTANDING EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS......Page 154 PART III TOWARD EDUCATION FOR UNDERSTANDING......Page 228 NOTES......Page 318 INDEX......Page 342 "Merging cognitive science with educational agenda, Gardner shows how ill-suited our minds and natural patterns of learning are to current educational materials, practices, and institutions, and makes an eloquent case for restructuring our schools. This reissue includes a new introduction by the author." --Amazon