Customer Reviews

Awakening Genius in the Classroom

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Thomas Armstrong asserts in his book, "Awakenking Genius in the Classroom," that every child is a "genius." He uses the term "genius" to mean "giving birth to ones joy" rather than the common use of the word (somenone with an exceptionally high IQ). Dr. Armstrong seeks to open educator's eyes to the possibilities and potentials that lie within each child. Although his book can be redundant in parts, he does manage to validate all children as special and to give teachers a new framework with which to view their students. I found the book to be informative and inspirational. It reaffirms why most of us began teaching - to ignite the spark within children which will help them to develop a lifelong love of learning.

I found this book to be incredibly disappointing. I was hoping for something powerful and inspiring that would give ideas for creating a really dynamic classroom. Instead, Mr. Armstrong has given us a derivative and vague book that does little to help those of us in education other than offer general criticisms and platitudes.

Modeled on Gardener's multiple intelligences (which Armstrong acknowledges), Awakening Genius offers us twelve types of "genius" that every child has. Things like playfulness, creativity, joy, etc. This is not to downplay the importance of these qualities; however, Armstrong's use of the word "genius" is misleading and, though he again acknowledges this and tries to define his own meaning of the term, his attempt in disingenuous. He is also extremely vague in answering questions like "why twelve?" "why these twelve?" and "what are some specific strategies to bring these to life in a classroom?" Instead, we have generalizations and activities with little definite direction.

Fortunately, this book is only seventy pages long or I never would have finished it. Those people who find motivation is generalizations and good cop/bad cop prose might find something worthwhile in here. I found very little but frustration.

Thomas Armstrong asserts in his book, "Awakenking Genius in the Classroom," that every child is a "genius." He uses the term "genius" to mean "giving birth to ones joy" rather than the common use of the word (somenone with an exceptionally high IQ). Dr. Armstrong seeks to open educator's eyes to the possibilities and potentials that lie within each child. Although his book can be redundant in parts, he does manage to validate all children as special and to give teachers a new framework with which to view their students. I found the book to be informative and inspirational. It reaffirms why most of us began teaching - to ignite the spark within children which will help them to develop a lifelong love of learning.

This was extremely dry and boring reading. I thought it would be enlightening and provide some sort of useful information but instead I found it to contain statistics and reading felt disjointed. I found this to be completely useless in helping me understand and tap into my students.

I read this book every August before I start school, and I've been reading it every year since I first picked it up almost 10 years ago. I'll agree with the reviewer who says it is full of generalizations only so far as this: What did you expect? If there were a specific, detailed method for genius, then we'd all be following it and our schools would be the top in the entire world. So sure, this is big-picture, right-brain thinking, and that's as it should be. Look at the work of Eric Jensen on the arts and thinking, or at the seminal culling of research and thinking that Daniel Pink and Richard Florida have done with their books, A Whole New Mind and The Rise of the Creative Class.

As an educator, no book in the past ten years, aside from Pink's A Whole New Mind, has had as great an influence on how I look at the students who enter my 7th and 8th grade classroom of a public school everyday, or on how I structure the environment of that classroom. As well, this book has had a profound influence on my own life and how I chose to live it, and in truth, I feel far more in touch with my own capabilities and with what genius (in Armstrong's definition) I possess. I take issue with the reviewer who feels that Armstrong is disingenuous in his definition of genius. Armstrong is quite clear and up front (it's right on the first page!) with his "redefining" of genius. And his "redefinition" isn't so much an act of rationalization for his own intents. Rather it's a tracing of the etymology of the word, it's history, and a reconnecting with the word's original meanings.

So if you're looking for a book that will tell you exactly what to do to create a genius, exactly how to think about what's wrong about the educational system, or exactly how to counter the societal impulses that counter our natural genius...look elsewhere. But if you're looking for a book to spark/awaken your own thinking about what's wrong with the way we understand education, with the way we treat our students, and which will ignite your own pursuit of genius, then buy this slim tome, read it in one sitting, consume it several times. You will not be disappointed.

I use this book with my college students. It is enlightening in that it sheds a new sense of what really is involved in the concept of genius. Too many parents and teachers look at the term "gifted" and identify children who are merely very strong linear thinkers and good test-takers. That is such a narrow view of the reality of genius. Very few authors, painters, sculptors, musicians, and creative thinkers in any other areas often declared "linear" are in the genius category. Genius, as it stands alone, implies a sense of creativity rather than straight-forward book-learning. Too often gifted children are just strong readers. There is much more to genius than that. Read this book for an enlightened sense. It will not give you specific strategies for teaching but will broaden your horizons for understanding the more valid implications of genius.