Content-type: text/html Downes.ca ~ Stephen's Web ~ Lessons in Shaping Intellectual Character

Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community
Behaviourism isn't dead... it has just been latent for a while. This article charts a behaviourist revival in educational theory in the writings of Harvard's Ron Ritchhart. "Ritchhart has identified six dispositions as central to intelligence. A person must be curious, open-minded, reflective, strategic, skeptical, and must search for truth and understanding. By looking at cognitive ability as a set of behaviors rather than an innate talent, intelligence becomes something that educators can teach." OK, first, this list is incomplete: in my mind, communication (both speaking or writing and listening) are essential to intelligence. But more to the point: let's not get lost in the idea of intelligence being defined as displaying these behaviours. Focus rather on the question: can teaching these behaviours improve someone's intelligence (however intelligence is understood). And to that question, I would answer fairly unequivocally, yes.

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
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Last Updated: Dec 22, 2024 11:26 p.m.

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