What Schools Fail to Recognize: Creativity, Common Sense, Critical Thinking, and Wisdom Trump Knowledge and IQ

Schools in the United States and around the world have largely succeeded in one respect: IQs rose 30 points during the 20th century.  Yet, in many respects, the world is in a more perilous state now than it was in 1900.  Autocrats are on the rise and economic inequality is soaring.  Pollution, climate change, and antibiotic resistance threaten our lives and health. Terrorist and other violent attacks continue to plague societies the world over.  Why? A major reason is that our schools are failing our children and our society in key respects because they are largely teaching the wrong things.  Children need to learn to be creative, to develop common sense, to think critically, and to act with wisdom--seeking a common good.  There are lots of smart leaders in the world today--there are perilously few wise ones.  Can you think of any? How did this situation come to be and what can we do about it?

In a Chats in the Stacks book talk Robert Sternberg, Professor in the Department of Human Development, will build on the collection of research presented in his new edited volumes The Nature of Human Creativity (Cambridge University Press, May 2018) with James C. Kaufman, and The Nature of Human Intelligence (Cambridge University Press, January 2018) to discuss how intelligence and creativity, as well as wisdom, broadly defined, are crucial in a college education, and how they can be more effectively measured, investigated, and developed. 

This book talk is supported by the Mary A. Morrison Public Education Fund for Mann Library.

Light refreshments served.