What others are saying.... Tony Wagner, the Innovation Education Fellow at the Technology and Entrepreneurship Center at Harvard and author of The Global Achievement Gap and Learning to Innovate, Innovating to Learn, has a good definition of a “better” education. It is one that teaches what Wagner calls the “the three C’s”—“critical thinking, effective oral and written communication, and collaboration.”Thinking critically, Wagner says, involves asking the right questions—rather than memorizing the right answers. Communication and collaboration involve defining objectives and then working with others to bring them about. A person needs all three C’s to become a creative creator or a creative server.
“If you cannot communicate, you cannot collaborate,” explains Wagner, “and if you cannot collaborate, you will be less creative.” There is a myth, he says, that the most creative and innovative people do their best work alone. “That is simply not true from what I see in the workplace and from talking to highly innovative people. Innovation today is almost always done in teams that are multinational, multilingual, and even virtual.” In such teams, he argues, “to work effectively you have to communicate effectively.” Thomas Friedman and Michael Mandelbaum authors of That Used to Be Us: How America Fell Behind in the World It Invented and How We Can Come Back 2011
“Now, I can confidently offer my analysis of a historical situation we’ve studied in a clear and articulate way.” Kareena Ramani-NIST International School-Graduate 2014
“The Harkness discussion furthered my ability to think critically and to understand the various opinions people had. I was able to have an open-mind by discussing events and issues.” Pavin Chayavivatkul-NIST International School-Graduate 2014
“I believe the Harkness discussions have improved my confidence, public speaking ability and critical thinking skills.” Steven Apichaidejudom-NIST International School-Graduate 2014
Speaking of the advantages — and challenges — for students that the Harkness Table represents: “If it’s happening correctly, students when they walk in the door they know immediately that they must participate, they know that the responsibility for what happens in the next 50 minutes, if it is successful or not, rests partially with them. They are prepared and they have a responsibility to the group. Second, they know that their responsibility takes a variety of forms. It takes the form of saying what’s in your mind, it takes the form of being directly honest and disagreeing with somebody if you do, or supporting him, it takes the responsibility of listening carefully and not dominating the discussion, of looking for a better idea and championing that idea if you hear it. It includes asking questions more than giving answers, and saying what I don’t understand, as much as what I do understand. It’s surrendering the notion of being the expert and being the correct student, and accepting the notion of being the confused student or the incomplete student and saying, ‘Help me out here. I really do not understand this.’” Jack Herney, a teacher of Modern European History at Exeter