/uploads/1/3/7/2/13722163/eng_111_intro-edu.docx
Alice L Erickson
Professor Wentworth
English 111
20 October 2012
Students strive for educational success, but not all are able to meet strict guidelines that
have been provided by today's educational institutions. Unfortunately, students are not given
equal opportunities to succeed; socio-economic factors, educators, and learning environments
all differ from student to student. Does success derive solely from the responsible, self-
motivated student? Society tends to rely on the individual to succeed, but, as Malcolm Gladwell
points out in his analogy Teachers and Quarterbacks, “what matters more than anything in
predicting professional success is the quality of the learning environment that the quarterback
is drafted into, not the quality of the experience he was drafted from.” (Gladwell 3) Educational
institutions must adapt to meet diverse learning needs.
Dr. Howard Gardner challenged traditional education beliefs in 1983 with his “Multiple
Intelligences Theory.” This theory suggests that humans posses all nine intelligences, but each
person demonstrates these intelligences in various ways. So, if each person demonstrates
acquired knowledge differently, then there must be different approaches for acquiring
knowledge Gardner labels intelligence in a new way; to him intelligence is, “the ability to create
an effective product or offer a service that is valued in a culture; a set of skills that make it
possible for a person to solve problems in life; and the potential for finding or creating
solutions for problems, which involves gathering new knowledge.” (2). Clearly then, if
knowledge can so broadly be demonstrated then educational institutions must offer students a
variety of ways to show this. Literally and figuratively institutions are robbing the learner of
potential success by restricting them to uniform learning policies.
Additionally, Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences Theory insists that teachers must
“encourage equal interaction between the teacher and the student;” this way the student will
not feel inferior to an all-knowing teacher. Doesn’t the collaboration of ideas provide the most
successful results? Paulo Freire would agree with this statement; in his article “The “Banking”
System” he explains how modern educational institutions are not providing students with a
quality education because educators are simply depositing information into learners like a
bank. Like Gardner, Freire expresses that equal interaction between teachers and students is
essential; otherwise “knowledge (becomes) a gift bestowed by those who consider themselves
knowledgeable upon those whom they consider to know nothing.” (241) By depositing
information into students in this way, schools are essentially discouraging growth and
exploration amongst students.
Alice L Erickson
Professor Wentworth
English 111
20 October 2012
Students strive for educational success, but not all are able to meet strict guidelines that
have been provided by today's educational institutions. Unfortunately, students are not given
equal opportunities to succeed; socio-economic factors, educators, and learning environments
all differ from student to student. Does success derive solely from the responsible, self-
motivated student? Society tends to rely on the individual to succeed, but, as Malcolm Gladwell
points out in his analogy Teachers and Quarterbacks, “what matters more than anything in
predicting professional success is the quality of the learning environment that the quarterback
is drafted into, not the quality of the experience he was drafted from.” (Gladwell 3) Educational
institutions must adapt to meet diverse learning needs.
Dr. Howard Gardner challenged traditional education beliefs in 1983 with his “Multiple
Intelligences Theory.” This theory suggests that humans posses all nine intelligences, but each
person demonstrates these intelligences in various ways. So, if each person demonstrates
acquired knowledge differently, then there must be different approaches for acquiring
knowledge Gardner labels intelligence in a new way; to him intelligence is, “the ability to create
an effective product or offer a service that is valued in a culture; a set of skills that make it
possible for a person to solve problems in life; and the potential for finding or creating
solutions for problems, which involves gathering new knowledge.” (2). Clearly then, if
knowledge can so broadly be demonstrated then educational institutions must offer students a
variety of ways to show this. Literally and figuratively institutions are robbing the learner of
potential success by restricting them to uniform learning policies.
Additionally, Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences Theory insists that teachers must
“encourage equal interaction between the teacher and the student;” this way the student will
not feel inferior to an all-knowing teacher. Doesn’t the collaboration of ideas provide the most
successful results? Paulo Freire would agree with this statement; in his article “The “Banking”
System” he explains how modern educational institutions are not providing students with a
quality education because educators are simply depositing information into learners like a
bank. Like Gardner, Freire expresses that equal interaction between teachers and students is
essential; otherwise “knowledge (becomes) a gift bestowed by those who consider themselves
knowledgeable upon those whom they consider to know nothing.” (241) By depositing
information into students in this way, schools are essentially discouraging growth and
exploration amongst students.