Cathy Davidson Project Classroom Makeover Summary

Smartness Requires Thinking Multiply Instead of Being the Same

Individuals who share similar characteristics, whether they are intelligent in a specific expertise or not, can be categorized as the “same.” In this case, a group with similar schooling and knowledge would be considered the same, meeting typical expectations in thought and performance. Often, organizations are looking for a “same-like” quality in their recruits. In doing so, looking for the “right fit” becomes more important than looking for the right thinker.

In “Project Classroom Makeover,” Cathy Davidson criticizes the sameness that is caused by credentialing and emphasizes the importance of learning through diversity and difference of thought. She claims that multiple thinking

Individuals feel safe when they can use categories in their personal and professional life to sort out all the people they come in contact with on a daily basis, whether personal or professional. This idea of putting someone into a category makes it easier to navigate through work, school, and other common obligations. We may do this indiscreetly, and we know it’s not the best way to judge others, but we do it anyway. However, if a person matches with one standard, then he will be attributed to a specific category without a clear consideration. This applies to the “Wall Street smartness” that Ho mentions and criticizes. She finds that the Ivy League degree is the only standard for smartness on Wall Street. She argues, “Wall Street smartness is, in a sense, ‘generic’ and it is precisely this notion of elitism so pervasive as to be commonplace, smartness so sweeping as to become generic, that reinforces Wall Street’s claims of extraordinariness” (184 Ho). On Wall Street, smart people all have one similarity, which is an Ivy League degree. In other words, if someone who does not have a degree from a prestigious university, he or she is probably not qualified to be labeled smart on Wall Street. It may be a true statement, since Ivy League schools do offer a high quality education; however, there are always exceptions. There are college graduates who have attended reputable and

However, a school’s academic fame does not directly prove that all of their students are talented and prepared because how much they absorb, understand and are able to utilize their new knowledge is hard to measure. Credentialing can be a stepping-stone to success, but it should not be the decisive factor. If a recruiter only considers a credential, he or she may be able to hire smart people from a proven university, but will definitely miss other qualified potential employees who have excellent experience and skills but no Ivy League degree. College is a pre-practice school for society, giving students the opportunity to study how society works in order to make a smooth transition from college to “the real world.” Unfortunately, what real employment environments need is not always what colleges focus on. Davidson is concerned about the perception colleges have about credentialing, versus what real-life work experience needs. She claims, “We were inverting the traditional roles of teacher and learner, the fundamental principle in education: hierarchy based on credentials. The authority principle, based on top-down expertise, is the foundation of formal education” (50 Davidson). The concern remains that credentialing becomes highly revered as the inviolable authority in education, which everyone follows without reservation. Professors with high educational