1.) The differences between a “traditional student” and a “disciplinary expert,” according to Howard Gardner is, a “traditional student”, or someone who has an inherited or long-established way of thinking or learning is defined by Gardner as a scholastic learner or a “youngster from age seven to age twenty, who seeks to master the literacies, concepts, and disciplinary forms of the school”, and one who Gardner explain “respond in ways similar to preschool or primary school youngsters” exhibited outside of the classroom (Gardner p. 7). A “disciplinary expert”, or someone who is involved in a regimen that improves or develops their skills. According to Gardner that expert is a skilled person or, “an individual of any age who has mastered the concepts and skills of a discipline or domain and can apply such knowledge appropriately in new situations”, and these experts have the ability to use the knowledge learned in classrooms, and apply it to real world concepts. (Ibid).
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Gardner summarizes the differences between a “traditional student” and a “disciplinary expert” as the disciplinary expert truly understands the knowledge of what they read and are tested on. On the other hand, Garder says a “traditional student” is one who respond with atypical responses, and their knowledge is general instead of having an in-depth understanding like the “disciplinary expert”. Gardner emphasizes tremendous problems in learning, or the gap between the disciplinary expert and the traditional expert by citing cognitive research that reveals students of the traditional background and those who are esteemed, “do not successfully transfer their knowledge to new settings”, and therefore lack the understanding to realize their knowledge is naïve in that their understandings are preconceived ideas of what they learned during early childhood. Experts as Gardner put it “amassed evidence” to understand the Flat Earth Theory, while a traditional student would assume without analyzing what the evidence says. To be an expert is to appreciate the world around us with a better understanding of why the world is the way it is and to go against the grain enables one to discover oneself if I may argue, and that is why being a disciplinary expert on social studies enables me to truly become a lifelong learner. 2.) The “Scripts” that Gardner discusses are “sequences of events” that encompass a person’s understandings and are “well-entrenched” by young students entering schools. These “scripts” can be what children are taught, or exposed to growing up in regards to movies, books, and life events that expose them to new information. The problem plaguing children’s learning is that these events and stereotype “scripts” can distort their future learning and are difficult to transform into the correct conceptual understandings. These “scripts” are a result of “daily experiences and of media presentations”, and can “contain misleading assumptions or generalizations. (Gardner p. 99) These “scripts” shape the tasks of a teacher in that these “scripts” can become a barrier for their student’s further learning, Gardner see’s these scripts “quite resistant to change” (Ibid). Information that reinforces these scripts are “readily assimilated”, while information that disproves these misconceptions students may “miss the contrary clues or even deny their own perceptions” so it is these presumptions that students carry that prove detrimental to student’s growth of learning. A few examples of “scripts” for the field of Social Studies are, Flat Earth Theory, “Good-guy” and “Bad-guy” roles in conflicts, and women can only be nurses in wartime are “sound-bite capsules of reality”, according to Gardner (Ibid). 3.) What Gardner means by “entry-points” is they act as ways to “map onto the multiple intelligences” of students and provide tools for teachers to “introduce new materials in ways in which they (students) can be easily grasped by a range of students” (Gardner p. 245). When dealing with students who are different learners these entry points act as lifeboats for those students who learn differently. By applying different narratives of teaching students can learn more effectively. These different “entry-points” allow for students to have multiple perspectives and Gardner believes these “entry-points” are the “best antidote to stereotypical thinking” (Ibid). Therefore, when teachers use these different entry-points they are able to break down the barrier of students “scripts”, and enables teachers to “open a different number of different windows on the same concept” (Gardner p. 246). These
Gardner summarizes the differences between a “traditional student” and a “disciplinary expert” as the disciplinary expert truly understands the knowledge of what they read and are tested on. On the other hand, Garder says a “traditional student” is one who respond with atypical responses, and their knowledge is general instead of having an in-depth understanding like the “disciplinary expert”. Gardner emphasizes tremendous problems in learning, or the gap between the disciplinary expert and the traditional expert by citing cognitive research that reveals students of the traditional background and those who are esteemed, “do not successfully transfer their knowledge to new settings”, and therefore lack the understanding to realize their knowledge is naïve in that their understandings are preconceived ideas of what they learned during early childhood. Experts as Gardner put it “amassed evidence” to understand the Flat Earth Theory, while a traditional student would assume without analyzing what the evidence says. To be an expert is to appreciate the world around us with a better understanding of why the world is the way it is and to go against the grain enables one to discover oneself if I may argue, and that is why being a disciplinary expert on social studies enables me to truly become a lifelong learner. 2.) The “Scripts” that Gardner discusses are “sequences of events” that encompass a person’s understandings and are “well-entrenched” by young students entering schools. These “scripts” can be what children are taught, or exposed to growing up in regards to movies, books, and life events that expose them to new information. The problem plaguing children’s learning is that these events and stereotype “scripts” can distort their future learning and are difficult to transform into the correct conceptual understandings. These “scripts” are a result of “daily experiences and of media presentations”, and can “contain misleading assumptions or generalizations. (Gardner p. 99) These “scripts” shape the tasks of a teacher in that these “scripts” can become a barrier for their student’s further learning, Gardner see’s these scripts “quite resistant to change” (Ibid). Information that reinforces these scripts are “readily assimilated”, while information that disproves these misconceptions students may “miss the contrary clues or even deny their own perceptions” so it is these presumptions that students carry that prove detrimental to student’s growth of learning. A few examples of “scripts” for the field of Social Studies are, Flat Earth Theory, “Good-guy” and “Bad-guy” roles in conflicts, and women can only be nurses in wartime are “sound-bite capsules of reality”, according to Gardner (Ibid). 3.) What Gardner means by “entry-points” is they act as ways to “map onto the multiple intelligences” of students and provide tools for teachers to “introduce new materials in ways in which they (students) can be easily grasped by a range of students” (Gardner p. 245). When dealing with students who are different learners these entry points act as lifeboats for those students who learn differently. By applying different narratives of teaching students can learn more effectively. These different “entry-points” allow for students to have multiple perspectives and Gardner believes these “entry-points” are the “best antidote to stereotypical thinking” (Ibid). Therefore, when teachers use these different entry-points they are able to break down the barrier of students “scripts”, and enables teachers to “open a different number of different windows on the same concept” (Gardner p. 246). These