Although most teachers are familiar with growth mindsets, many conflate it with other terms or concepts or have difficulties understanding how to best foster growth mindsets in their students. Shelby Clark and Madora Soutter describe how growth mindsets are related to, yet distinct from, intellectual risk-taking and share strategies for fostering…

The aim of education should be developing intellectual character, moral character, civic character, and performance character. That does not mean that schools should ignore teaching content, but that the dispositions and habits of mind that come from developing these four forms of character will remain with students throughout their lives.…

Looks at such areas as the reasons some gifted succeed and others don't, the emphasis on the process models of giftedness, and the problems of identifying and evaluating the gifted. (IRT)

What disturbs teachers most is not students' ignorance about our culture and history, but their unwillingness or inability to think critically about subjects that ostensibly interest them. Teachers often exacerbate this problem by oversimplifying complex issues, using "defensive" or controlling teaching strategies, and squelching debate.…

Proposes six principles to follow when teaching students to think. Aimed at teaching thinking as an indivisible process rather than as a set of discrete skills, the principles involve active learning, the articulation of thinking, intuitive understanding, structuring courses developmentally, motivating learning, and establishing a positive…

Fascination with pedagogical technique has denigrated the intellectual life of K-12 educators and furthered the proliferation of "interdisciplinary" instructional approaches that blur important distinctions among disciplines. An atmosphere that values technique over substance tends to drive out or marginalize educators who enjoy reading and…

Arguments for the arts in education generally focus on their imaginative, individualistic, and risk-taking characteristics. In this article, the author contends that there are important lessons about intellectual development to be learned by looking at the neglected aspects of the arts, including their formal, controlled, and authoritarian side.…

Despite widespread consensus that children's social, ethical, and intellectual development are equally important, many school-improvement efforts still fail to grapple with all three facets. This article describes how an award-driven science fair was redesigned to challenge and motivate students, encourage cooperation and problem solving, and…

Howard Gardner's biggest concern about American students is their lack of genuine understanding--the ability to apply knowledge, skills, and other attainments successfully in new situations. His book "The Unschooled Mind" develops a learning approach based on Piaget's cognitive development theory, Gardner's own multiple intelligences…

Introduces articles in the special "Kappan" section drawing primarily on data from an ongoing longitudinal study (the Illinois Middle Grades Network), Indiana's middle Grades Improvement Program, the national Middle Grade School State Policy Initiative, and Michigan's Middle Start Initiative. Each project used Robert Felner's Middle…

A jaded education professor deplores the endless memorization, mindless assignments, and incessant testing going on in high school classrooms, to the exclusion of intellectually and aesthetically challenging pursuits. He refuses to devise another strategic plan, restructuring, or curriculum standard. Schools must strive to enculturate youngsters…

Society's demand for specialization discourages teachers from becoming skilled generalists. The result is intellectual impoverishment for schools and children. The greatest challenge is teaching students to think in holistic terms. Students must look beyond telecomputing to explore ideas and discover how technology itself is shaping their…

A Public Broadcasting Service television series uses national and international current events to stimulate critical analysis in high school students. Among facets of critical analysis and supporting teaching strategies examined are determination of perspective, evaluation of logic, analysis of supplementary materials, projections into the future,…

A recent Rockefeller Foundation report concluded that a lively life in the humanities depended on vigorous engagement with reading, writing, and cultures. Collaboratives for Humanities and Arts Teaching (CHART), created to foster humanistic education, targets classrooms of average students from impoverished urban and rural districts. Such…

Parents and teachers help children develop their intelligence by mediating their learning experiences. When children seek such mediation by asking questions, parents and teachers can use one of seven responses. The single most helpful response is to take children's questions seriously and turn them into golden thinking and learning opportunities.…