Summary # 8

Ever wonder why you are so smart when it comes to facts you are interested in and not so smart when it comes to school subjects? If you are anything like Gerald Graff you have. His essay "Hidden Intellectualism" is about exactly that people, especially youths, who excel at things such as sports and don't do so well with subjects in school. Graff uses this essay to explain his idea that the problem isn't that the children who fall into this category aren't intellectuals the problem is that schools aren't "capitalizing" on the benefits of using things that the youths are interested in to capture them. Graff explains that although some of the subjects that attract the youth of today's attention, such as cars, is not exactly textbook material our schools can use these subjects to attract students and keep the material they are learning interesting. He quotes Ned Laff, a college professor, who states "is not simply to exploit students' nonacademic interests, but to get them to see those interests through academic eyes."and then elaborates on that viewpoint. (302). The author is saying that our schools need to realize that if we can get students to absorb the information needed and to practice the skills needed by using a subject that captures their interests and the students do this in a " reflective, analytical way" than they are still learning what they need to be and doing it in a way that they want to learn and they will more readily remember. If we overlook this or write it off than maybe we are overlooking an irreplaceable learning tool.