Synopses & Reviews
In The Disciplined Mind, Howard Gardner argues that K-12 education should strive for a deep understanding of three classical principles: truth, beauty, and goodness. Such an understanding requires mastery of the major disciplines that human beings have created over the centuries. As powerful examples of his approach, Gardner describes an education that illuminates the theory of evolution, the music of Mozart, and the lessons of the Holocaust. Far from the standardized test mentality that has gripped both policy makers and the public, Gardner envisions an education that preserves the strengths of a traditional humane education while preparing younger generations for the challenges of the future.
Synopsis
The brilliant educator who revolutionized our thinking with his theory of multiple intelligences now asks what--and how--we should be teaching our children.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1: A Personal Introduction: An Education for All Human Beings
From the Parochial to the Universal
An Uncluttered Perspective: The True, the Beautiful, and the Good
About This Book
Signposts
Chapter 2: Educational Constants
An Educational Montage: The Transmission of Roles and Values
Formal Schooling: Mastering Notations and Disciplines in a Remote Setting
A Virtue-Filled Education in the Disciplines
Perennial Choices
Chapter 3: Education in the Future
An Understandably Conservative Institution
The Forces That Will Remake Schools
An Educational Crossroad
Chapter 4: Perspectives of Mind and Brain
Scientific Knowledge and Value Judgments
In Olden Days: Inborn Traits and Well-Shaped Behaviors
The Cognitive Revolution
From the Study of the Mind to the Study of the Brain
Education and the Brain
The Considerable Distance Between Science and Practice
Chapter 5: How Cultures Educate
The Best Preschools in the World
The Cultural Turn
Insights from Studies of Culture
The Cultural Perspective Applied to Education
Beyond Reggio: Other Effective Schools
Preschools
Primary Schools
Secondary Schools
A School Vision
Chapter 6: Designing Education for Understanding
A Classroom Perspective
False Starts
Teaching for Understanding: A Formal Introduction
Difficulties of Understanding
Obstacles to Understanding
Disciplinary Expertise
Four Approaches to Understanding
Other Players
Chapter 7: Disciplined Approaches
Three Puzzles
Vantage Points: From Puzzles to Concepts
The Disciplines...and Beyond
The Patterns of the Scientist...and the Mathematician
The Beauty of the Artist
The Accounts of the Historian
In the Shopping Mall of the Disciplines
Chapter 8: Close Looks
Exploring Three Icebergs
Evolution
The Music of Mozart
The Holocaust
Aliments for Informed Citizens
Chapter 9: "Multiple Intelligences" Approach to Understanding
Three Uses of Intelligence
Multiple Entry Points to Rich Topics
Powerful Analogies and Metaphors
Multiple Representations of the Core Ideas: Introducing the "Model Language"
Remaining Issues
Orchestrating the Three Approaches
The Rest of the Curriculum: Possibilities and Limits
Chapter 10: Getting There
A Tale of Two Scripts
A K-12 Pathway to Understanding
The Power and the Perils of Disciplinary and Interdisciplinary Study
A National Standard or National Standards?
Multiple Pathways
Unum Out of Pluribus?
Leadership Challenges
Battle Scars and Occasional Medals
"Scaling Up": Three Helpful Ingredients
The Roles of Business
Finding an Appropriate Niche
Chapter 11: In Closing
One Hundred Years of Education...and of World History
Once More, My Vision
A World Worth Striving For
Connecting
Afterword: A Tale of Two Barns
Appendix: "The Trio of Colliding Agendas"
References
Index