More Bang for the Buck
How to Increase the Number of Innovators and Geniuses
by Jill Jenkins
According to USAfacts.org the United States spent 785.9 billion dollars or 14.55% of the total spending on education in 2014 and an average of 59% of the students graduated from high school. Education is expensive, but those who are not wholly educated become an even greater expense for our nation. To maximize the results in education, perhaps exploring the attributes and lives of those people considered a genius or an innovator could give educators insight into helping more individuals achieve this distinction. A recent article in The National Geographic Magazine did just that.
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| Albert Einstein |
IQ and Brain Research
According to the article "Genius" by Claudia Kolb in the May 2017 issue of National Geographic, after Albert Einstein died his brain was removed, sliced and diced for study, but revealed little about him (Kolb pg. 34). Using an iron-free keyboard designed by Charles Lamb, a hearing specialist and auditory surgeon at UC San Francisco, jazz musicians where asked to play both scales and improvised music while an MRI mapped their brain activity. According to this same article, ". . .when playing improvisations, the musicians' brains showed increase activity in the outer network linked to focused attention and also self-consorted quieted down," The moment of creation where past learning and skills is seen in a new way gives a genius or an innovator that creative thought. The article indicates that "richer communication between the areas of the brain may help make those intuitive leaps possible. Furthermore, those considered a genius showed a stronger web of synapses than those who weren't. Practice makes stronger synapses connections. The article discussed the research by Lewis Terman, the Stanford University Psychologist which indicated that a high I.Q. alone is not a guarantee of a genius. According to the article, "Genius," Terman began tracking 1500 California school students with I.Q.s 140 or higher and compared their success with a group with average I.Q.s. Their progress was mapped by Terman and his associates over their lifetimes in "Genertic Studies of Genius. Some of those with high I.Q.s dropped out of college and some without high I.Q.s out performed those with high I.Q.'s. I.Q. alone is not a measure of inevitable success even though it does play a role.  |
| What's in your head? |
Nurture Vs. Nature
Although the article did not state genetics does not play a role in the creation of genius as studies are still underway, it did find that nurture is important. According to the National Geographic article "Genius" by Claudia Kolb, Leonardo da Vinci's "pathway began with an apprenticeship with master artist Andrea del Verrocchio in Florence when he was a teenager (Kolb 49)." Mathematician protégé Terence Tao, who showed "a grasp of language and numbers early (Kolb)," was provided with a rich environment by his parents: books, toys, games and was encouraged to learn on his own. His parents sought out advanced learning opportunities and he began his formal education early. At seven years old, he scored 760 on the math section of his S.A.T and by eight went to the university. Many students may not have the rich opportunities that Tao had, so it is important that every child be provided with a rich environment at school and encouraged to try new educational challenges.
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| Leonardo da Vinci |
The Importance of "Grit"
Self discipline or what psychologist Angela Duckworth calls "Grit" is another element that the article claims is an essential element of all geniuses. Darwin spent twenty years perfecting The Origin of Species. Mathematician Terence Tao writes, "hard work, directed by intuition, literature and bit of luck." Thomas Edition said, "Genius is 99% perspiration and 1% inspiration." and he also said, "Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time." As educators, teaching students to focus and the importance of a strong work ethic can help them achieve amazing quests. Without discipline the students will the highest intellectual gifts will fail to soar.
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| Charles Darwin |
Developing the Minds of All Students
Providing a rich learning environment for the economically deprived is essential, because so many potential innovators are lost. This means providing not only a college education, but exposing them to books, a rich variety of different learning activities and time to explore. The school most compensate for whatever these children lack in their home environment. This costs money. The government needs to invest both money and resources. Society not only limits those who are economically deprived, but many cultures significantly limit the resources and educational opportunities for women. According to "Genius" by Claudia Kolb, Mozart's older sister Maria Anna was a brilliant harpsichordist whose career was terminated by her father when she reached 18, marrying age. Terman's studies found similar results. Many of the females with I.Q.s 140 or higher became homemakers. In 1972, I fought with my own father who felt a college education was a waste of money for his daughters, because girls are likely to get pregnant and never complete their education. When I taught in many lower socio-economic communities, I observed the same attitude. Changing cultural views on the roles of women is essential to open the doors to these potential geniuses.
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| Sir Isaac Newton |
Standing on the Shoulders of Giants by Isaac Newton
Geniuses do not bloom in isolation. "Standing on the Shoulders of Giants" is not just a quote by Isaac Newton, another genius, it is true. Geniuses develop in clusters, piggy-backing on each other. This means teachers should expose students to the work of others and if possible bring in guest speakers and workshops to expose students to innovators and creative thinkers.
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| Thomas Edison |
As an educator, how do we effectively help more students become geniuses or at least innovators thus giving the government education expenditures more bang for their buck?
- First, provide every student with a rich learning environment with a variety of different learning experiences including problem solving, group work, reading, visual stimulus and projects. This means spending more money in economically deprived neighborhoods to enhance whatever the households are missing and providing a free college education to insure that every student reaches his/her potential.
- Second, insist students develop a strong work ethic. That means hold students accountable. Every innovator is going to fail and needs to understand that he or she must keep working even when the work becomes difficult. The work ethic must be coupled with a passion for learning. This means schools need to be packed with passionate teachers who not only teach, but inspire.
- Third, genius does not happen in a vacuum. Students need to be exposed to the innovations and the innovators, They must learn to "stand on the shoulders of giants."