Smart & Good High Schools - The Flippen Group

Smart & Good High SchoolsCHAPTER 5: Fostering the 8 Strengths of Character—Outcome 1SUCCESSFULLY INTELLIGENT PEOPLE:1. motivate themselves2. learn to control their impulses3. know when to persevere4. know how to make the most of their abilities5. translate thought into action6. have a product orientation7. complete tasks and follow through8. are initiators9. are not afraid to risk failure10. don’t procrastinate11. accept fair blame12. reject self-pity13. are independent14. seek to surmount personal difficulties15. focus and concentrate to achieve their goals16. spread themselves neither too thick nor too thin17. have the ability to delay gratification18. have the ability to see the forest through thetrees19. have a reasonable level of self-confidence and abelief in their ability to accomplish their goals20. balance analytical, creative, and practical thinking.The preparation for lifelong learning and the developmentof critical thinking are vital and achievable outcomesof schooling. The ability to think and problemsolveis clearly important in the workplace; it repeatedlyshows up on lists of what employers say they are lookingfor. Moreover, given the rapid advances in knowledge andtechnology and consequent increases in job complexity inmany fields, being a lifelong learner is an ever moreimportant workplace asset. It is also clearly an asset withintrinsic value, one that keeps us intellectually alive andgrowing—part of a flourishing life.4 PROMISING PRACTICES FOR DEVELOPING ALIFELONG LEARNER AND CRITICAL THINKER1. Have a relevant, rigorous, and engaging curriculum.2. Develop critical thinking through in-depth, balancedinvestigation of controversial issues.3. Use published curricular materials that developcritical thinking about value-laden current events.4. Teach media literacy.OUTCOME 1:Lifelong Learner and Critical ThinkerPromising Practice 1:1Have a relevant, rigorous, andengaging curriculum.The school’s most fundamental task—andthe first step toward helping students become lifelonglearners and critical thinkers—is to engage them effectivelyin learning. Because the academic curriculum is aschool’s central vehicle for teaching and learning, therecan be no higher priority than ensuring that the curriculumis relevant, rigorous, and engaging. All three qualitiesare essential.—ROBERT STERNBERG 4 87How do Ritchhart’s and Sternberg’s emphasis on theimportance of applied intelligence relate to our firststrength of character, “lifelong learner and criticalthinker”? We believe that applied intelligence is at thecore of this developmental outcome. Moreover, everyonecan develop this kind of practical intelligence within thelimits of natural endowment. Becoming a lifelong learneris not just for those with high IQs or those pursuingadvanced degrees; it is a universal challenge—and a distinguishingmark of individuals who have used their talentsto achieve excellence in any field.A curriculum must be seenby students as relevant to their livesand aspirations.A curriculum must, first of all, be seen by students as relevantto their lives and aspirations, helping them to build apositive future. It must also be rigorous—sound in contentand design, consistent with learning standards and othermarkers of quality, and challenging both faculty and studentsto strive for excellence. Finally, it must be engagingin how it is implemented. One can have a curriculum thatis relevant and rigorous but taught in a way that fails to