The Aptitude Myth: How an Ancient Belief Came to Undermine Children’s Learning Today

The Aptitude Myth addresses the decline in American children’s mastery of critical school subjects. It contends that a contributing cause for this decline derives from many Americans’ ways of thinking about children’s learning: They believe that school performance is determined very largely by innate aptitude. The Aptitude Myth traces the deep historical origins, the spread and elaboration, and the eventual triumph of the belief in the determining power of mental abilities “given” at birth and therefore fixed. Covered is 600 B.C.E. until 1926 (when the S.A.T. was first administered). an archaic way of thinking that originated in the imaginations of our ancient forebears and gradually gained credibility over 2,500 years. In recent times, the belief became elaborated to include the fanciful notion that more-than-modest academic study injures a child’s health. Having inherited this mindset, Americans don’t know how to insure that children gain mastery. A new mindset is needed. The final chapter offers a transformative mindset.

History

Grove Ed.D. independent scholar author of "The Aptitude Myth" (2013), Cornelius N.

Americas

R&L Education

What is the explanation for American students' comparatively mediocre academic performance? A Mirror for Americans finds part of it in how they are taught in primary schools. Comparisons with East Asian teaching are supplied by 50 years of research findings. Grove asks not that we copy East Asian teaching approaches, but that we use them as a mirror to gain insights into typically American approaches and their underlying values, which are handicapping our children's learning.

A Mirror for Americans: What the East Asian Experience Tells Us about Teaching Students Who Excel

Politics & Social Sciences

Social Sciences

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Grove Ed.D. independent scholar author of "The Aptitude Myth" (2013), Cornelius N.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Grove Ed.D. independent scholar author of "The Aptitude Myth" (2013), Cornelius N.