The Educational System's Role in Furthering Intelligence

As a person matures in age, especially earlier in his life, he matures in other aspects of himself as well. Physical attributions advance, behavioral habits change, and mental capacities develop. For the first two, it is quite apparent which factors contribute to this growth and in what respects do they do so. For instance, a teen’s muscular growth can easily be observed as an effect from daily visits to the gym, just as his lack of etiquette around a table can be derived from watching his family eat dinner. Intelligence, as the ability to learn and the aptitude to retain learned knowledge, however, is a harder trait to measure the growth of. Many factors play into the extension of the mind such as family upbringing, environmental observations, and natural curiosity. While a child is still young, he sends most of these factors through a school to be cultivated and enriched. At an early point in many people’s lives, the educational system takes on an enormous responsibility to develop the intelligence of its constituents. Its role in promoting the growth of intelligence is one that is not only positive but also the greatest one on the matter.

A large part of the educational system’s role in the intelligence of its students is providing continued motivation for those students. In a child’s world, dominated by instant gratification, it is difficult to focus and partake in learning; a tree that takes at the very least ten years to see the fruit of. Carol Dweck wrote about this in the magazine Scientific American. She created in her article, “The Secret to Raising Smart Kids”, a boy who was stereo typical of many young students. Dweck wrote that this boy became depleted suddenly of all curiosity towards learning and came to a decisio...

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... the role that the education system plays in developing intelligence is greatly underestimated. School is taken lightly by lazy students and is compared as ineffective with regards to the internet. The schooling system goes unnoticed as one of the biggest factors that play into the growth of intelligence in a person. The tools inherited through this system are endlessly used, knowingly or not, in both an occupation and in everyday life. The positive function that the education system serves in developing the youths’ intelligence is of a tremendous and important magnitude.

Works Cited

Dweck, Carol S. "The Secret to Raising Smart Kids." Scientificamerican.com. 12 Aug. 2009. Web.

Johnson, Steven. "Watching TV Makes You Smarter." New York Times 2005. Web.

Rushkoff, Douglas. "The Decade Google Made You Stupid." Thedailybeast.com. 13 Dec. 2009. Web. 14 Dec. 2009.