Chapter 2: The Septic Focus

Septic - this is a term that we generally associate with Poison! Harmful! Infected! Germy! So, I get my mental rubber gloves on, and proceed to explore the chapter.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this chapter. From my vantage point as a music educator, I would read points that Robinson was making and say "Yes! Yes!" (good thing I was home alone!)
This chapter explores "academic ability" and our present-day obsession with it in our educational communities. What IS academic ability? How does it impact my view of myself? Our students' view of themselves? Higher education? Corporate needs? Is this view really relevant now in our constantly-changing world of technology and innovation? Is academic ability the most important "thing" to measure in a child?
"The relationships between education and the world we actually live in are being stretched to breaking point. They need now to be entirely rethought. this process should begin by reframing the abilities we all have, and reassessing the skills and aptitude that are now most needed for personal fulfillment and for economic success." (P. 93)
Robinson begins the chapter by reviewing the tried and true measures of intelligence - IQ testing and academic ability. TV shows such as Mastermind and Who Wants To Be A Millionaire were created on the premise that intelligence can be measured by a person's capacity to remember and recall factual information such as names, dates etc. This is prepositional knowledge. Another form of measuring intelligence is illustrated by the testing used by Mensa - Logico-deductive reasoning or in other words logical analysis...working out the principles of a sequence and how it will progress.
There is a general belief that each of us is born with a fixed intellectual capacity, and that that capacity can be measured with a pencil/paper type of testing. Not only that, but the results of this testing is a predictor of performance later in life. IQ testing has been the foundation for the selection of different styles and levels of education and has been referred to in conclusions made association IQ scores with racial and ethnic differences. As powerful as these tests have been in determining our childrens' futures, "there is no general agreement on exactly what IQ tests measure, nor on how whatever it is they do measure relates to general intelligence." (p. 63)
As our world society has evolved, so have our paradigms that we operate in. The most notable shift occurred at the time of the Renaissance. It was at this time that two main themes emerged - individual experience and the power of reason. I really enjoyed reading about Descartes and his quest for understanding. In the end, he concluded that really, all that he knew for sure was that he was thinking about the problems! "I think, therefore I am". The hallmark of a paradigm, according to Robinson, is the approach to science itself...to change a paradigm is to replace one tradition with another.
Robinson spends some time outlining the history of the British educational system, which influenced of course the rest of Europe as well as our own system here in the US. Some of the history was familiar to me (grammar schools, the influence of the Church), but a lot was not. I learned about the beginnings of schola publica (public schools) and how their assumed superiority led to the division of the educational system at that time. I'd never heard of the eleven-plus system. Children were divided according to their different abilities and attitudes. What is interesting to me is how that was accomplished! Only a certain percentage of students were expected to pass the test. If a higher number passed, then the passing level was raised so that the actual numbers would remain the same! This test was strictly based on academic ability, centering on verbal and mathematical reasoning.
Has our focus on academic ability been all bad? No, there have been benefits. From that focus we have made extraordinary advances in medicine, industrial technologies, communication and travel, and our understanding of the physical universe. But the price we have paid, according to Robinson, comes in three main areas: the division of the arts and sciences, the division of intellect and emotions, and the narrowing of intelligence.
I found great value for my personal teaching style when Robinson talked about linearity. Building ideas one upon another, moving through a sequence of study, patterns, cause and effect. We hear these terms over and over as educators. Even in my music instruction, a subject area which begs for creativity, I find myself sometimes stuck in this thinking. What about spontaneous discovery?!?! How often do I allow my students to discover for themselves a particular concept? Do I take the time? Do I feel that I need to "get through" a curriculum in a prescribed amount of time?
Academic ability is not the end-all of education. It is only part of our educational challenge. As educators we need to be mindful of the social, communal, personal aspects of our students. We need to "see through the academic illusion to their real abilities, and to how these different elements of human capacity enhance rather than detract from each other." (p. 93)