In a report prepared for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in 2007, David T. Conley proposed four components of college readiness. In the first – Key Cognitive Strategies – Conley identifies six strategies: Intellectual Openness, Curiosity, Analysis, Reasoning-Argumentation-Proof, Interpretation, Precision and Accuracy, and Problem Solving. In this article, I will examine the first of these strategies, intellectual openness, and express my perspective as a college professor and high school administrator in terms and ideas that students, parents, and teachers can understand and implement.
Key Cognitive Strategies: Intellectual Openness. Conley states:
“The student possesses curiosity and a thirst for deeper understanding, questions the views of others when those views are not logically supported, accepts constructive criticism, and changes personal views if warranted by the evidence. Such a mindset Open-ended helps students understand the ways knowledge is constructed, broadens personal perspectives, and helps students deal with the novelty and ambiguity often found in the study of new topics and new materials.”
I find it intriguing that Conley places Key Cognitive Strategies as the first component on his list and even more intriguing that he places Intellectual Openness at the top of this component. Characteristics like “curiosity,” “thirst for deeper understanding,” and “open-mindedness” would certainly be useful to a college student. However, are these characteristics developed or even addressed in mainstream secondary education? I don’t think so… that’s why I suspect we see the Intellectual Openness at the forefront.
Conventional secondary education: I use the term conventional to describe public and private school programs that use the conventional class period, the conventional exposition paradigm of X-number of hours or minutes spent on a particular portion of the subject, and the conventional measure that education is defined by the amount of time the student sits in a seat in a class and the number of days the student attends. Conventional secondary education generally does not have the time or even the patience to allow for ‘curiosity’, ‘thirst for deeper understanding’ or ‘open-mindedness’ except in very rare situations.
Do students not have “curiosity”, “thirst for deeper understanding” or “open-mindedness”? The simple answer is no.” Because conventional school is generally…boring…these characteristics become “Neutral” during the school day. The brain ruminates in the background, thinking about Face Book, World of Warcraft and the current Twilight Saga.
Curiosity: These youngsters are curious by nature. They manage to surf the web, surf Facebook, and destroy worlds and civilizations with a series of mouse clicks… and they learned how to do it without a class, a manual, or a teacher talking to them for 45 minutes.
Thirst for deeper understanding: These youngsters are constantly thirsty, hungry and ravenous for deeper understanding…but not in school. Contemporary literature like the Harry Potter series and the Twilight series did not become best sellers because they had pretty pictures. Youngsters dive, dig, and rummage through these books without adult encouragement, and may even struggle to keep reading.
Open-minded: These young people pick up new and sometimes disturbing ideas all the time. I call these ideas “underground” because these ideas are not in the curriculum and often come from the media and the Internet. These ideas remain “underground” because they are repressed in the conventional environment. In fact, open-mindedness is often punished. Take, for example, the issue of religion and public schools. Our students are not allowed to be open-minded about religion in public school. I am not advocating that we give sermons in the first period, but how can there be “open-mindedness” when the whole concept of the existence of religion in society and the influence of religion as a historical, cultural and social phenomenon is categorically removed from the public? ? educational experience. Where is the open-mindedness? Not very open.
The conventional school system produces a product that 60% of those who actually graduated from high school and were admitted and enrolled in four-year institutions did not finish in four years. The numbers get worse for two-year institutions. If 60% of cars, refrigerators, and washing machines didn’t last four years, what would we think?
The solution doesn’t lie in mainstream institutions, and even if it did, your 9th grader will be over 30 years old before any significant movement occurs (sound cynical?). Also, most conventional schools are not in the business of preparing for college; they’re in the high school business.
The solution lies with the parents and what they want for their children. They have to think outside the conventional school “box” and seek independent solutions for their children. Parents, not schools, are ultimately responsible for their children and the opportunities offered to them.
Appointment:
Conley, D. T. (2007). Redefining college readiness. Eugene, OR: Center for Educational Policy Improvement.