What we can learn from Project Runway.
I've become a Project Runway junkie. I couldn't possibly care less about fashion without being a radical nudist, but I love that show.
They got something right that every school I've ever gone to got wrong: they separated the role of judge from the role of mentor.
I'm crazy about Tim Gunn. He's confident without being an egomaniac. He's knowledgeable, open-minded, articulate, and tactful, which makes him a good mentor. He's also very entertaining, which is fortunate, since he's on TV. As the Runway contestants design and sew their creations, he provides advice and feedback. He's a resource to them, but he doesn't score their work. That's left to the snarky judges.
I could have used somebody like that during my school years, because It's kind of tough to expand your knowledge when you have to be careful about revealing your ignorance. It's not much of an issue in the primary years, and it wasn't a big deal in college, but it's major when you're in a program that systematically cuts a large fraction from an entering class. You don't ask a question because you need to know something, you ask a question to demonstrate how much you already know. Real questions are whispered from one student to another.
In school or in life, people don't usually say, "That's a stupid question." What they do say is, "You should know that," or "How did you get this far without knowing that?" (If the offending asker outranks the person being questioned, the comments occur later and are addressed to a third party.)
Maybe we could have a stupid question amnesty day. You'd have to be patient with a lot of idiots, but think of what you might learn yourself.
They got something right that every school I've ever gone to got wrong: they separated the role of judge from the role of mentor.
I'm crazy about Tim Gunn. He's confident without being an egomaniac. He's knowledgeable, open-minded, articulate, and tactful, which makes him a good mentor. He's also very entertaining, which is fortunate, since he's on TV. As the Runway contestants design and sew their creations, he provides advice and feedback. He's a resource to them, but he doesn't score their work. That's left to the snarky judges.
I could have used somebody like that during my school years, because It's kind of tough to expand your knowledge when you have to be careful about revealing your ignorance. It's not much of an issue in the primary years, and it wasn't a big deal in college, but it's major when you're in a program that systematically cuts a large fraction from an entering class. You don't ask a question because you need to know something, you ask a question to demonstrate how much you already know. Real questions are whispered from one student to another.
In school or in life, people don't usually say, "That's a stupid question." What they do say is, "You should know that," or "How did you get this far without knowing that?" (If the offending asker outranks the person being questioned, the comments occur later and are addressed to a third party.)
Maybe we could have a stupid question amnesty day. You'd have to be patient with a lot of idiots, but think of what you might learn yourself.