The Distinctions between "Street Smart" and "Book Smart" Students
The distinctions between "street smart" and "book smart" students are a source of contention. Students who are book smart come in a variety of shapes and sizes, and they hide in the street smart category, thus the term "hidden" intellectualism.
Graff's Intellectual Side
Graff's intellectual side came out during arguments when he used reasoning. Graff's argument about intelligence diversity, as well as the importance of knowledge other than that taught in class, is compelling because it recognizes that people, such as college students, must learn to apply and integrate the intellectualism they enjoy, such as fashion, cars, and television, into their day-to-day classroom work. However, the argument is weak in addressing how students can reverse society's perception of them as being geeks.
Importance of Extracurricular Activities
More knowledge about extracurricular activities compared to knowledge on "academic work" is not detrimental to college class learning as viewed by schools. Many young people are not excellent in academic work. On the contrary, they excel in extracurricular activities, for instance, fashion and sports. Students should first be trained to be intellect in things they like. This helps them gain the necessary motivation and confidence in tackling most of the academic challenges in a classroom setting.
Real Intellectuals
Real intellectuals can change any subject, regardless of its lightweight, through the reasoning approach. Most students with intellectualism in a specific field are always looked down upon and are also labeled as being geeky or nerdy. The students still strive to gain approval of other students in the midst of the mocking and being looked down upon. However, being intellectual is okay, and it does not qualify one as a geek. Colleges and universities should not measure the intelligence of students based on their potential in class-based work.
Introduction
Among most children as well as students, there exist a controversy regarding the essence and difference between the "street smarts" and the "book smarts." Such a controversy is fully explained in Gerald Graff's article on Hidden Intellectualism. According to Graff, there are many cases where the book smart students take various forms and hide in the category people refer to as street smarts, hence the concept of "hidden" intellectualism. Graff identified his intellectual gift after noticing his potential to use reason and other positive argumentative strategies when he discussed sports with his friends. He also ascertained that by using argument and reasoning at the same time, he was portraying his intellectual side, and the same case applied to the story given by Graff of Michael Warner who, using reason, argued the Christian Pentecostal perspectives of his parents. Gerald argued that there are many types as well as different ways in which people can identify with intellectualism. In his article, he further argues that individuals, especially college students, are intelligent in diverse ways, and what is needed is learning how to incorporate and apply the intellectualism they enjoy into a setting similar to a school during classes. Graff's argument makes an overall good case for the diversity of intelligence and the importance of knowledge other than that taught in class as it identifies that people, i.e., college students, need to learn how to apply and integrate the intellectualism they enjoy, i.e., about fashion, cars, and T.V into their day-to-day classroom work, even though it is weak in addressing how students can reverse society's perception of them as being geeks.
Response to the Article
As explained by Graff, having more knowledge about extracurricular activities such as sports, fashion, and cars as compared to knowledge on "academic work" is not detrimental to college class learning as viewed by schools. In the article, Graff claims that students who have such extra knowledge are at the disposal of significant teaching assistance as it enables a further understanding of new concepts. Besides, such students are better prepared to expand their interest, and thus, they are better suited to write with better quality in days to come. I concur with Graff's argument in that many young people are apparently not excellent in academic work, but on the contrary, they excel in extracurricular activities, for instance, fashion and sports. In that light, such students could be considered to possess a form of intellect that is concealed, particularly in the education system that is founded on academic excellence. Graff lays the claim that schools and colleges could impede students who are street smart from tapping into their intellect as the non-academic excellence is usually unappreciated. Besides, Graff believes that such learning institutions could be at fault as they are likely to fail in helping the street-smart students from channeling their extracurricular intellect into good academic work.
Nurturing Intellectualism
There is the need first to train students to be intellect in things that they like as this would be significant in helping them gain the necessary motivation and confidence in tackling most of the academic challenges. With the appropriate training, students will know how to be true intellectuals and gain the potential to plug that format or approach into any other subject and be intellect in it. According to Graff, real intellectuals are capable of transforming any subject, regardless of its lightweight, through the thoughtful and reasoning approach they apply when addressing such a challenge. On the contrary, a "dullard" will be incapable of finding joy or interest even in the most of the richest subjects. Therefore, training the students first to master the activities they are interested in is a sure way to develop intellectuals in any field or subject in a classroom setting.
The Stigma of Being Geeky or Nerdy
By using his experience as a reference, Graff explains that he was always afraid to bring out his intellectual side of using reason during sports discussion since he feared that he would be bullied and also a target for name-calling. Most students who portray intellectualism in a specific field, particularly during their elementary and college education, are always looked down upon and are also labeled as being geeky or nerdy. Graff explains that even though such students face the stated challenge, they still strive to gain the approval of other students in the midst of the mocking and being looked down upon. Nonetheless, Graff, in defense of the so-called "geeks" or nerds, grabs the attention of his audiences as he provides logic by putting forth the statement that "when Marilyn Monroe married the playwright Arthur Miller in the year 1956 after divorcing the retired baseball star Joe DiMaggio, the symbolic triumph of geek over jock suggested the way the wind was blowing." By making the point, Graff intended to show the audience that being intellectual is equally okay and it does not qualify one as a geek.
Encouraging Intellectualism in Schools
However, Graff proves that he holds no prejudice when he elaborates that it is essential for students to challenge themselves through reading and writing to produce intellectual students who are well-rounded. According to Graff, students should read models of intellectually challenging writing to become intellectuals. Students are better suited to take on intellectual identities once they are encouraged to do so initially on subjects that are of interest to them as opposed to those that are of interest to their teachers or instructors. The overall argument raised by Graff, in this case, is that intellectualism is good; hence schools and colleges should encourage learners. In that light, students should be allowed to think critically and further write in fields that are of interests to them, i.e., music, fashion, cars, T.Vs, or even sports. The author makes the claim that students need examples of intellectually challenging literature, for instance, George Orwell as proposed by Graff, but on the contrary, those students who are into the literature of their interests first are better suited to read the challenging ones.
Conclusion
The paper has ascertained that students who do not portray academic excellence have high chances of excelling in other extracurricular activities. Therefore, the education system should not be rigid in measuring the performance or intelligence of college and university students based on their potential in class-based work. Besides, students should be trained to be intelligent in activities that they like first before being introduced to the classroom work. Such a move would enable them to apply the primary knowledge in addressing the tasks given during classrooms. As per the stand of the author, I think it is healthy to give students a chance to go for their personal interests as opposed to being forced into doing something beyond their own will. This is based on the fact that human beings are autonomous beings who are capable of making decisions or choices independently.
Work Cited
Graff, Gerald. “Hidden Intellectualism.” Pedagogy vol. 1 no. 1, 2001, pp. 264-270.
