On Intelligence

I've just started to read a new book -- well, listen to it on my famous Hancock Park dog walks -- by the guy who invented the Palm Pilot. It's pretty technical in parts, but I think it has some big implications for education.

The book is On Intelligence and the author is Jeff Hawkins. In brief, Hawkins argues that intelligence fundamentally consists of (1) stored memories of past experiences which (2) allow us to make reasonably accurate predictions about future experiences, and (3) sensory imputs which allow us to correct our predictions and add new experiences. Hawkins argues that we should not confused "intelligence" with "intelligent behavior." The latter may or may not be a sign of intelligence; it could merely reflect training or conditioning. The essence of intelligence, in contrast, is the correction of the paradigm our brains create about the world.

I think this has a lot to say about the classroom. We spend a lot of time in schools assessing and rewarding intelligent behavior. Isn't that what most of our homework, classwork, and standardized test scores are about? And yet, if a student earns a perfect score, the student probably has LEARNED nothing from the experience. If, however, a student makes some reasonable mistakes and then comes to understand WHY the answers were wrong, then that is the moment when the student actually is learning and the brain is growing.

That means that we need to make classrooms safe places to make mistakes. Not that we should accept laziness or sloppiness. But it is even worse to make children overly cautious and afraid of making mistakes. When that happens, students are afraid to take the kind of risks involved in making reasonable mistakes or in questioning why an answer was inadequate. And that is the point at which intelligence increases.

More about this as I continue the book....

Homework: Study the spelling words. Review the math material in preparation for tomorrow's test.