On the lists of “What’s in / What’s out” that I saw at the end of the year, education trends seems to be consistently missing. One trend in particular, group learning, was conspicuously absent. From Susan Cain, author of “Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking.” in her op-ed The Rise of the New Groupthink: Our schools have also been transformed by the New Groupthink. Today, elementary school classrooms are commonly arranged in pods of desks, the better to foster group …
Just a few comments on this great post (See Independent Learning is Out – Group Think is In, the post mentioned above.).
One thing I like to do is define my terms.
group·think
[groop-thingk] noun
1. the practice of approaching problems or issues as matters that are best dealt with by consensus of a group rather than by individuals acting independently; conformity.
2. the lack of individual creativity, or of a sense of personal responsibility, that is sometimes characteristic of group intereaction.
Obviously, the term groupthink has a bad connotation. However, Liberals and other big government folk want collectives. Collectives remove individual responsibility. In fact, as far as some are concerned, collectives have the virtue of making somebody else responsible.
The other thought? If we know groupthink is bad, why would there be a disproportionate push for collectives? Because we form collectives out of necessity, to get things done that one person cannot do alone, we have to have collectives. Thus, the virtue of collectives is obvious. Moreover, the people who head collectives have both the incentive and the resources to laud the virtues of collectives. The introverts who enjoy working quietly by themselves, on the other hand, have little incentive and no resources to praise the virtues of solitude. At best, someone might write an article or pen a song and speak of being alone with their thoughts. Yet rarely does anyone speak well of that experience.
Therefore, accountants praise the cost savings of open-plan offices, and collective officials (both government and corporate) praise conformity, realizing if they are ever to exercise full control, they need as their subjects the most subservient of conformists.
Nonetheless, the Bible tells us that there is virtue in being alone with our thoughts.
Psalm 46:10 King James Version (KJV)
Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.
