It is always gratifying to be provided with an opportunity to refresh one’s professional  perspective, particularly towards the end of the year when energy levels may be low. 

The Branco Weiss Institute offered educators the chance  to become acquainted with Yale’s Robert Sternberg, one of  the most respected and prolific of researchers and writers in the field of intelligence and education. Participants in the two day seminar, The Intelligence of Success, were once again reminded of the immensely challenging nature of the teaching profession’s efforts to meet the diverse needs of our students. 

Sternberg’s aim is to undermine conventional notions of intelligence which he views as incomplete and inadequate.  The  narrow emphasis placed by schools on testable skills, mostly analytical and memory based functions, deprives pupils of the chance to develop the wide variety of abilities necessary for adaptation to the world beyond the schoolroom.  In keeping with the title of his book, Beyond IQ- A Triarchic Theory of Intelligence , Sternberg  posits three kinds of intelligence:  seminal-analytical, creative, and pragmatic. 

According to Sternberg,  conventional educational standards reward only one type of performance rather than challenging students to develop their talents in all three areas. The entire classroom community is the less for it. Not only do pupils with pragmatic and creative talents remain unrecognized: Pupils with high analytical skills are allowed to neglect the other aspects of intelligence which will prove no less valuable over the course of their  lives.  Sternberg lobbies strongly for the kind of teaching which incorporates all aspects of  his threesome and, along with Elena Grigorenko,  has developed pilot intervention programs in the hope of motivating and training teachers to implement this model. 

What should remain the ultimate goal of our efforts?  For Sternberg, successful education is enabling education. It would foster three major abilities in students: the ability to adapt to a variety of  environments; the ability  to ultimately choose an environment congenial to their talents and personality; and, the ability to influence and mold that chosen environment. As always, easier said than done.  While some of the issues raised and  concepts presented were familiar,  Sternberg’s unique  perspective and presentation proved stimulating and worthy of further investigation.  One can only look forward to the next Branco Weiss seminar. 
  
Bonnie Rechter is the English Co-ordinator at Sulam Tsur Regional High school in the Western Galilee.