The Aptitude Myth: How an Ancient Belief Came to Undermine Children’s Learning Today

The Aptitude Myth addresses the decline in American children’s mastery of critical school subjects. It contends that a contributing cause for this decline derives from many Americans’ ways of thinking about children’s learning: They believe that school performance is determined very largely by innate aptitude. The Aptitude Myth traces the deep historical origins, the spread and elaboration, and the eventual triumph of the belief in the determining power of mental abilities “given” at birth and therefore fixed. Covered is 600 B.C.E. until 1926 (when the S.A.T. was first administered). The belief in aptitude, assumed by many Americans to be the modern view of learning ability, is revealed as an archaic way of thinking that originated in the imaginations of our ancient forebears and gradually gained credibility over 2,500 years. In recent times, the belief became elaborated to include the fanciful notion that more-than-modest academic study injures a child’s health. Having inherited this mindset, Americans don’t know how to insure that children gain mastery. A new mindset is needed. The final chapter offers a transformative mindset.

Table of Contents:
Introduction Part I: European Antecedents Chapter 1 A Perspective on Teaching Out of the Depths of Time Chapter 2 Greek Philosophers Focus on a World Beyond the Senses Chapter 3 New Views of the Natural World Chapter 4 New Views of Human Consciousness and Learning Chapter 5. New Views of Children and Childhood Chapter 6. New Views of Authority in Societies and Schools Chapter 7. New Ideals for Human Life and Learning Chapter 8 An Influential Educator Reflects the Currents of His Time Chapter 9. New Views and Ideals All Coalesce in One Man’s Mind Chapter 10 Basic Guidelines for the Western-Contemporary Paradigm Part II: American Responses Chapter 11 Evolving Notions of Child-Rearing in Pre-Civil War America Chapter 12 Emerging Social Currents in Post-Civil War America Chapter 13 Emerging Intellectual Currents in Post-Civil War America Chapter 14 American Educational Metamorphosis I: Socially Efficient Education Chapter 15. American Educational Metamorphosis II: Child-Centered Teaching Chapter 16 American Educational Metamorphosis III: A “Given” Joins the Establishment Part III: Tomorrow’s Opportunities Chapter 17 Which Problems Is it Now More Significant to Solve? Chapter 18 Toward a New Paradigm: Seven Assertions to Think With Index About the Author

About the Author :
Cornelius Grove, a former teacher and university lecturer, completed a doctoral dissertation on international classroom cultures in 1979. Since then, he has remained determined to contribute new historical and cross-cultural insights to that topic. Since 1990, he has served as managing partner of the business consultancy he founded, all the while continuing to explore his passion as an independent scholar, yielding The Aptitude Myth.

Review :
What are our goals in educating children, and what is the nature of human learning? Americans typically answer these questions in ways that differ from the answers given in other nations. In The Aptitude Myth, Cornelius Grove reveals that ancient Greece was the source of key underlying themes in American education, and traces these down through European and American history into the early 20th century. He then proposes alternative ways of thinking about children and learning. Addressed to parents and educators, The Aptitude Myth offers a fascinating panorama, and will challenge the thinking of all who are interested in education. Cornelius Grove makes an important contribution in The Aptitude Myth, filling in the historical path that led to our current conceptions of ability, learning, and education. Anyone who wants to dig a little deeper into the origin of these beliefs will be rewarded here. I want you to know how impressed I am with The Aptitude Myth. The review of the history which led to the current state of American education was comprehensive in scope and extremely well written. The assertions in the concluding chapter present a clear challenge for both educators and parents to rethink the way children learn and to restructure learning environments to ensure children achieve the "mastery" of critical skills and knowledge which this book articulates so well. Cornelius Grove has authored an important book that all educators should read, and I have highly recommended it to many of those I worked with before my retirement. I congratulate Grove on writing such a valuable book for all who are interested in making real change in education today.