IDEA Consortium

Education Ecology

The Intellectual Domain

Intellectual activity aimed at mastery of fundamental disciplines is not only a foundation of education, it is almost ubiquitously considered the sine qua non of education. The biggest single challenge of writing about Education Ecology is and will be to keep the Intellectual Domain in perspective. From the 3Rs to the PhD, intellectual development is independent and divorced from the personal and institutional arenas in which it occurs. Those charged with responsibility for our educational systems, almost universally focus on the intellectual domain; regarding spiritual issues as inappropriate, emotional issues as problems, and physical structures as, well, physical. Proponents of traditional IQ tests see the intellectual domain as a singular or general mental function while advocates of multiple intelligences spread the focus to anywhere from six to sixty mental functions. Both make mental activity a focus of school success.

revised 23 January 2020

Return to Education Ecology Page

Return to IDEA Consortium Home

www.brucelindgren.com