Wink and a Nudge
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- 5/6/2009 |
- 10:00 am
Recommending books can be tricky: personal tastes vary, and what is relevant or interesting to one person may seem less so to another. That said, we've got a recommendation that you're sure to find both relevant and interesting, even if you disagree with some of its positions.
The book is called Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth and Happiness, and while only a small part of it deals with education directly, the book's central premise is widely applicable to the learning process.
Put simply, the book says that people (especially children) inevitably take the path of least resistance -- in many cases, the default option -- many times every day. With that in mind, what would happen if we changed those default options from something harmful to something helpful, while still giving people the option to make any choice they want? The authors, both armed with extensive credentials in academia, economics and the behavioral sciences, uncover some pretty thought-provoking answers.
For example, putting vegetables (rather than dessert) at the front of the school cafeteria line leads to a big increase in the number of veggies that kids eat. Likewise, making it so that employees are automatically enrolled in their work 401(k) plan leads to a much higher rate of program participation. In both cases, freedom of choice hasn't been taken away -- you can still choose to eat the chocolate cake or to opt out of the 401(k) program -- but by making the default setting something that is inherently more advantageous, doing nothing can still be good for you.
How might these principles apply to education? Forget for a moment about large-scale institutional changes, and think instead about small-scale, everyday situations. If you have children in your home, which is more accessible to them: a book (like, say, this one) or a video game system? Is it as easy for them to read a newspaper as it is to watch television? What changes can we make in our everyday lives that might nudge our children (or our students) in healthier directions?
We'd love to hear your thoughts on this, whether you agree or disagree. Remember: this is a forum for discussion, so weigh in early and often!
