An Analysis Of Gerald Graff's 'Hidden Intellectualism'

A philosopher once said ”A child educated only at school is an uneducated child”. As we are living in a world where everyone knows the importance of schools and the meaningful of being educated, then why does he believe that a child is illiterate when he only studies at school? Are schools actually limit on areas of study and overlook the essential of real life experience? In the article “Hidden Intellectualism”, Gerald Graff claims that schools and colleges are might at fault due to their omission of the “street smarts”-knowledge necessary to deal with reality-, and their failure to invest them into academic work. By stating the fundamental of intellectualism and the influence of personal interests, he informs readers that those street smarts,

Graff also gives his childhood experience as an example of himself successfully becoming more intellectual due to his passion with sports. Thence, Graff suggests schools to encourage students to exercise their personal interests in an intellectual serious way, and by doing that, it will help students to apply their unique intelligence into academic effort. Graff insists that students should target their own passions and turn them into something academic and intellectual, as they get them hooked in the academic proceeding. Specifically, when students study about an area that is interesting to them, it is likely easier for them to perceive the given information and provide the arguments based on their own perspective about the topic reasonably and comprehensively. Young Graff, himself, admitted that “the sports world was more compelling than school because

To put it in another way, schools need to take their students’ passions seriously and put them into a solid matter that grab student attention to conquer their lassitude over tiresome works. According to Graff, “Students need to see their interests “through academic eyes” is to say that street smarts are not enough”(269). The essence of Graff’s argument is that, students now need to put their interests into academic work, and in order for students to accomplish that, it is school duty to provide areas of study that match their interests. Still, this idea will not entirely get the student exactly where they want to be. Nevertheless, students don’t have to be completely pedagogical when they study the areas such as fashion, cars, animals or beauty whereas the mandatory is to think and understand them purposefully and critically, in a way that Graff proposes is to “see them as microcosms of what is going on in the wider culture”(270). Basically, he is saying that students should analyze their interests, observes and consider them as a small piece simultaneously with the extensive world. The world is too big, though, we are still asked to target details, and student are individuals who is need to be understood. Eventually, noticing students’ passion and backing them up will be supportive to lead their path on the