QuoteProject
We've got to do fewer things in school. The greatest enemy of understanding is coverage... You've got to take enough time to get kids deeply involved in something so they can think about it in lots of different ways and apply it.
Howard Gardner
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

Effective education requires depth over breadth, allowing students to engage deeply with topics.

Howard Gardner emphasizes that in education, prioritizing a comprehensive understanding over a superficial coverage of numerous topics is crucial. He argues that by slowing down and allowing students to engage deeply with subjects, they can think critically about the material and apply their knowledge in various contexts, fostering a richer educational experience.

Themes

EducationUnderstandingDepthInvolvementLearning

In practice

Example use cases

In a teacher training session, to advocate for project-based learning.

More from Howard Gardner

Anything that is worth teaching can be presented in many different ways. These multiple ways can make use of our multiple intelligences.
Howard GardnerRead
I want my children to understand the world, but not just because the world is fascinating and the human mind is curious. I want them to understand it so that they will be positioned to make it a better place
Howard GardnerRead
What we want... is for students to get more interested in things, more involved in them, more engaged in wanting to know; to have projects that they can get excited about and work on over long periods of time, to be stimulated to find things out on their own.
Howard GardnerRead
If Confucius can serve as the Patron Saint of Chinese education, let me propose Socrates as his equivalent in a Western educational context - a Socrates who is never content with the initial superficial response, but is always probing for finer distinctions, clearer examples, a more profound form of knowing. Our concept of knowledge has changed since classical times, but Socrates has provided us with a timeless educational goal - ever deeper understanding.
Howard GardnerRead
But once we realize that people have very different kinds of minds, different kinds of strengths -- some people are good in thinking spatially, some in thinking language, others are very logical, other people need to be hands on and explore actively and try things out -- then education, which treats everybody the same way, is actually the most unfair education.
Howard GardnerRead
The countries who do the best in international comparisons, whether it's Finland or Japan, Denmark or Singapore, do well because they have professional teachers who are respected, and they also have family and community which support learning.
Howard GardnerRead

Similar quotes

The task of the educator lies in seeing that the child does not confound good with immobility and evil with activity.
Maria MontessoriRead
Bilingualism lets you have your cake and eat it. The new language opens the doors to the best jobs in society; the old language allows you to keep your sense of 'who you are.' It preserves your identity. With two languages, you have the best of both worlds.
David CrystalRead
Wonder implies the desire to learn.
AristotleRead
Let us recommit to supporting every girl to develop her skills, enter the workforce on equal terms, and reach her full potential.
Antonio GuterresRead
One's life is more formed, I sometimes think, by books than by human beings: it is out of books one learns about love and pain at second hand. Even if we have the happy chance to fall in love, it is because we have been conditioned by what we have read, and if I had never known love at all, perhaps it was because my father's library had not contained the right books.
Graham GreeneRead
Many college text-books, which were a weariness and stumbling-block when I studied, I have since read a little with pleasure and profit.
Henry David ThoreauRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.