The Academic vs. "Real Life" Dichotomy

Is going to college worth it? (Especially considering today's economy, not to mention the enormous price tag that leaves many graduates starting out their independent lives tens of thousands of dollars in debt.) This is the subject of this NY Times article, which questions the value of a college education in the changing economic landscape and seems to pit academic skills in opposition to workplace skills.

Professor Lerman, the American University economist, said some high school graduates would be better served by being taught how to behave and communicate in the workplace.

Such skills are ranked among the most desired — even ahead of educational attainment — in many surveys of employers. In one 2008 survey of more than 2,000 businesses in Washington State, employers said entry-level workers appeared to be most deficient in being able to “solve problems and make decisions,” “resolve conflict and negotiate,” “cooperate with others” and “listen actively.”

Yet despite the need, vocational programs, which might teach such skills, have been one casualty in the push for national education standards, which has been focused on preparing students for college.

The author acknowledges that the debate between academic versus vocational education is not new, but it makes me wonder why this polarization continues to be played out in the conversation about education. I contend that if we were to think more holistically about learning, some of these "non-academic" skills are actually embedded in (or at least highly relevant to) teaching for dispositions. The ability to problem-solve and be strategic in one's thinking cannot be divorced from understanding, say, mathematical formulas and how to apply them; conflict resolution requires the same disposition for understanding different perspectives that you would find in a social studies class; cooperation and active listening is fundamental to true collaborative inquiry.

Consider how much the education of young people would be transformed if we stopped compartmentalizing kids and saw them genuinely as developing thinkers whose academic, emotional, social, and personal experiences are actually integrated into a whole person!

Ongoing Reflection and Practice

As I consider this process of teaching for intellectual character, I realize that it is a personal reflective journey, and that the transformation of my students as thinkers only comes as I learn how to transform the experience and culture of my class, and that THAT comes best when it arises organically through deep personal reflection and self-examination. So, I recommend that you finish the last 3 chapters of Ritchhart's book, and here are some final thoughts to continue this professional journey:

1. Engage with yourself as a teacher:
   What are MY values? What do I believe about learning and the goal of teaching? What kind of thinker am I?
2. Attend to the defining aspects of dispositions:
   Creating a more thinking-rich classroom itself requires a dispositional stance:
   o Inclination
   o Ability
   o Awareness
3. Engage with colleagues
   -Why does this concept/skill/topic matter to our discipline? How would engaging in this help our students become better thinkers?
   -What thinking dispositions should we be actively cultivating? How do you scaffold activities or tweak assignments to place greater emphasis and value on the demonstration of those dispositions?
   -Observe one another teach.

Let me just say how much I've appreciated everyone's thoughtful and earnest participation, most of all your willingness to examine yourselves and allow us to enter into your own reflective journey!