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Todd Rose (Part I) || Rethinking Intelligence

May 5, 2022

Today we welcome Todd Rose, the co-founder, and president of Populace, a nonprofit think tank that works to find solutions to redistribute opportunity, so all people have the chance to live fulfilling lives in a thriving society. Prior to Populace, he was a faculty member at Harvard University where he founded the Laboratory for the Science of Individuality and directed the Mind, Brain, and Education program. Todd is the best-selling author of Dark Horse, The End of Average, and his most recent book is called Collective Illusions.

For part one of our interview, I talk to Todd Rose about intelligence. From both history and research, we know that standardized tests made the false assumption that an average baseline of intelligence can be captured through IQ. Until today, our education system continues to value general cognitive ability over more specific skills. Instead of focusing on test scores, Todd asks us to look at jagged profiles so we can create environments where everyone can thrive. To truly cultivate human potential, Todd asserts that we need to rethink our traditional frameworks about intelligence.

Website: www.toddrose.com
Twitter: @ltoddrose

Topics

    • Dropping out of high school
    • Kurt Fischer’s Dynamic Skill Theory
    • The problem with standardized testing
    • Jagged profiles matter more than IQ scores
    • There is no aptitude without strategy
    • Everybody is capable of excellence
    • Changes to improve our school system
    • Education transforms lives
    • How Todd got into an honors program
    • The bell curve of intelligence
    • Stop pathologizing natural human variation
    • IQ limits our view of human potential
    • Individual contribution over cognitive ability


One Response to “Todd Rose (Part I) || Rethinking Intelligence”

  1. Marci Brodock says:

    Scott, I love your podcast and I listen to it faithfully. You always provide thought provoking guests and many times I find myself shouting “yeah” to the ideas and theories being presented.
    However, I find myself very frustrated too. I am a second grade classroom teacher. You and many of your guests have declared our education system is broken. I am in complete agreement that things need to change with the structure of our education system, but no one seems to be offering thoughts or ideas on how that can be realistically implemented.
    Also, as a teacher, I incorporate Carol Dweck’s research along with other greats such as Angela Duckworth, Maslow (of course), and Gardner to name a few. I am doing my best on a daily basis to make sure my students feel respected as individuals while trying to teach to the demands of Common Core. Yet, I still feel like a failure because the outside world keeps pointing to the education system as a failed system. I am not sure yet what I will do with this frustration, but I feel like I need to be a part of instigating change. Right now I am just venting and I would love to hear input from others on what they think we can do to realistically implement change. Thank you for listening and keep doing what you are doing. I have truly grown as a person and an educator because of your podcast.

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