Chapter 12 of Multiple Intelligences talks about various cognitive skills as they relate to MI theory. The chapter discusses memory, problem solving, Bloom’s taxonomy, and what are referred to as “Christopherian encounters.” That last one irked me a little bit. The suggestion is that educators should challenge students’ beliefs about their own ways of thinking by pushing the limits, in the same way that Christopher Columbus challenged the thinking during his day that the earth was flat by sailing around it. The problem is, none of that is true. Columbus’s challenge wasn’t proving the earth to be round; most educated people at that time knew the earth wasn’t flat. Columbus’s claim was that the route to Asia by travelling west from Europe was way shorter than people thought it was. And here’s the thing: He took that leap, but he was ultimately wrong. Luckily for him, he ended up in what are today known as the West Indies (Called that because Columbus, defiant of his own ignorance to the very end, believed he had reached India), because he otherwise may have ended up dead. This seems like a small thing, but it causes me to cast some doubt on the science in the book as a whole. However, I do believe the sentiment expressed is valid: A classroom environment where students are encouraged to develop themselves in many different directions will be richer than a more traditional one.
No comments:
Post a Comment