I Want To Understand How Best To

My Belief In Why America Has Been Doing So Well Up To Now Is That We Have Been Propelled By Our Immigrants And Our Encouragement Of Technical Innovation And, Indeed, Creativity Across The Board.

In The United States, If You Ask Teachers, "are There Children Whom We Should Call 'gifted?'", Many If Not Most Will Say 'no.' That's The Politically Correct Answer. But If You Then Ask The Teacher To Rank Order Students In Terms Of How Well They Paint Or Write Or Dance, They'll Have Little Difficulty In Doing So.

When A Child Is Thriving, There Is No Reason To Spend Time Assessing Intelligences. But When A Child Is Not Thriving - In School Or At Home - That Is The Time To Apply The Lens Of Multiple Intelligences And See Whether One Can Find Ways To Help The Child Thrive In Different Environments.

If Confucius Can Serve As The Patron Saint Of Chinese Education, Let Me Propose Socrates As His Equivalent In A Western Educational Context - A Socrates Who Is Never Content With The Initial Superficial Response, But Is Always Probing For Finer Distinctions, Clearer Examples, A More Profound Form Of Knowing. Our Concept Of Knowledge Has Changed Since Classical Times, But Socrates Has Provided Us With A Timeless Educational Goal - Ever Deeper Understanding.

Kids Make Their Mark In Life By Doing What They Can Do, Not What They Can't... School Is Important, But Life Is More Important. Being Happy Is Using Your Skills Productively, No Matter What They Are.