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FROM: CREATING THE FUTURE
Perspectives on Educational Change
Compiled and Edited by Dee Dickinson
EDUCATING THE GLOBAL INTELLECT
Arthur L. Costa
In this, the last decade of the century, we are witnessing a universal revolution of the mind. As a result of instantaneous global communications, entire nations have become increasingly aware of other societies' artistic, technological, social, and economic progress. Comparing other nations' prosperity with their own dismal existence has demonstrated to the peoples of underdeveloped nations the compelling effects of the applied intellect: creativity, problem solving, and reasoning skills in a climate of entrepreneurship, freedom, and collaboration.
As a result, entire nations are renouncing their brief experiment with intellectual depression. They have embarked on a revolutionary demand for the installation of those cultural, societal, and environmental conditions that promote the fullest development of the intellect: by greater involvement in creative problem-solving, democratic decision-making, and responsive interaction among the masses rather than decisions made by an elite few.
The human quest for intellectual fulfillment has never been more pronounced. Luis Alberto Machado's notion of each individual's inherent right to have his or her intellect developed is now seen manifest as a universal aim from South Africa to the Kremlin, from the Brandenburg Gate to Tiananmen Square.
Based on the two truisms that schools are a reflection of society and that modern society is becoming an increasingly global one, there is a quiet revolution taking place in education as well -- a revolution of the mind. The restructured schools and effective classrooms based on collaborative learning, participative decision-making, strategic teaching and peer coaching are having a secondary effect: that of the quest for the intellectual empowerment and fulfillment of the individual.
I strongly believe that this global quest for intellectual empowerment and the more microcosmic but concurrent educational pursuit of participative decision-making are not merely coincidental. The parallel patterns are far too obvious. Both school leaders and national leaders are heading toward a new state of mind -- a new perception of their role and that of their organization; from seeking power to empowering others; from controlling people to enabling them to be creative.
Surprisingly, perhaps, this is not so innovative an idea. The Greeks had a similar societal concept-- Paideia -- a society in which learning, fulfillment, and becoming human are the primary goals and all its institutions are directed toward that end. The Athenians designed their society to bring all its members to the fullest development of their highest powers. They were educated by their culture -- by Paideia. Self-development and the promotion of lifelong learning is the "central project" of society.
Jean Houston's remark, "Never has the vision of what human beings can be been more remarkable," takes on even greater meaning as we more clearly envision, more stridently demand, and more eagerly install those societal and noticeably similar educational conditions in which humanness is enhanced.
We are on the verge of a new century and the threshold of a new millennium. The young people in our schools today are the statespeople, leaders, parents, and teachers of the 21st century. Invested in them is our legacy: the idea of a world in the future in which humans can live in harmony with each other and with their environment.
The cooperative skills they learn in schools today equip them with the empathy to build the global community of the next generation. The problem-solving skills they learn in school today provide them with the stamina to tackle the immense problems facing our ecological future. The communication skills they learn today furnish the ability to work in the emerging corporate world era. Learning how to learn today fosters the continuance of learning throughout a lifetime. The fullest development of the intellect today makes it possible for them to continue developing visions of ever more remarkable human beings. The best way to predict the future, however, is to invent it now.
If our schools fail, then our society and the greater global society will fail. Whatever it costs, the price of failure will be greater than the price of education. Our children are worth it. Our planet is worth it.
About Art Costa, Ed.D.:
Dr. Arthur Costa has done a great deal of thinking about "school as home for the mind." His insightful and compelling presentations to groups of educators move many to action in creating classrooms that are thoughtful places to learn. His words have been heard and read throughout the world. Indeed he is actively concerned that there must be worldwide change in educational systems if they are to meet the needs of a global society.
Dr. Costa is former professor of Education at California State University, Sacramento where he served as Chair of the Department of Educational Administration and where he taught graduate courses to teachers and administrators in curriculum, supervision, and the improvement of instruction.
He is the author of The Enabling Behaviors, Teaching for Intelligent Behaviors, and Supervision for Intelligent Teaching, and he edited the widely used text Developing Minds: A Resource Book for Teaching Thinking. He is co-author of Techniques for Teaching Thinking, and co-author of Cognitive Coaching: A Foundation for Renaissance Schools, as well as numerous other articles and publications on supervision, teaching strategies, and thinking skills.
Dr. Costa has made presentations and conducted workshops for educators throughout the United States and in Canada, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and the South Pacific. He taught in the Bellflower School District of Los Angeles, worked as a curriculum Consultant in the Los Angeles County Superintendent of Schools' Office, and served as Director of Educational Programs for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration for the western states.
Active in many professional organizations, Dr. Costa served as President of the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development in 1988-89, and has also served as President of the California ASCD.
Copyright © 1991 New Horizons for Learning, all rights reserved.
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