What is "Dumbing up?" (Part 1)

Through the 1960s, rote learning through repetitive 

practice dominated our schools' curricula. 

Critical and creative thinking were low 

on the agenda (if they were on the 

agenda at all). Thankfully, the tide turned. 

Today, we take it for granted that our 

children need to develop into higher order

thinkers. To navigate our fast and complex 

world, they must infer meaning, think 

abstractly, synthesize information, and 

solve problems. Deep understanding is more

important than the recall of facts; children

should not be machines that simply spit out

information.

BUT...