Reclaiming the wholeness of human capacity in an age of complexity
For more than a century, the assumption that intelligence is something that should be ranked and graded has shaped school curricula, assessment systems, and even our language about what it means to be “smart.” Academic achievement, test scores, and subject mastery stand as proxies for human capability.
And yet, the world that students now inhabit is revealing the limits of that assumption.
In an age when most students can type faster than they can write, it’s easy to wonder whether learning handwriting and cursive is still relevant. Yet a growing body of neuroscience suggests these “old-fashioned” skills are anything but obsolete. Writing by hand activates neurons and varying areas of the brain in ways that typing simply does not.
Remember the recorder? It's that small plastic instrument — looks kind of like a flute or clarinet — that's often the first instrument children learn to play in school. Or, at least, they used to.
A recent report found that the number of kids learning the recorder has declined over the years in schools in the United Kingdom. Teachers in the U.S. say the instrument's popularity has declined here, too, due to COVID-era restrictions and the rise of popular alternatives like the ukulele.
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