WORLD OF LEARNING: THE DISORIENTING DILEMMA

"Multicultural Critical Theory: At B-School?" The New York Times 1/9/10

This article, about a trend in business schools to offer curriculum concerned with "thinking through clashing priorities and potential options, rather than hewing to any pre-planned strategy," was closely related to a couple of items I've come across recently.

In an earlier Times piece on keeping memory strong and the brain active as it ages (Friday, January 1, 2010 WORLD OF LEARNING), Barbara Strauch notes that "a professor...at Columbia Teachers College has proposed that adults learn best if presented with what he calls a 'disorienting dilemma,' or something that 'helps you critically reflect on the assumptions you’ve acquired.' I would argue that this is critical for learning at any age.

And on PBS's This Emotional Life, another professional opines, "It is in...conflict that we really capture the difference in perspective that is the reason for having a group in the first place."