Hidden Intellectualism In Gerald Graff’s “Hidden Intellectualism,” Graff argues that by not involving non-academic elements to the curriculum, schools are missing out on opportunities to encourage their students to learn. Students may be more prone to pick up intellectual identities if they were encouraged to do so on subjects that interest them. Graff recalls moments in his youth when his interests in academic subjects were minimal. Although his interests in non-academic subjects were vast, his careful examination of sports teams and critiquing of moves had very similar aspects to an intellectual’s analysis of a subject.
Through these non-academic activities, Graff was able to learn to make an argument, weigh different kinds of arguments, generalize, and enter into an argument of conflicting ideas. Graff does not blame schools by stating that academic subjects do not carry the same entertainment value of sports and other non-academic subjects. However, Graff does put the onus on the schools for not finding ways to tap this vast pool of intellectual material.
Sports is full of challenging arguments, debates, and problems for analysis and intricate statistics that students might be more interested in studying.
Tapping into this material and making use of its potential would allow students to become interested in academic studies and practice more intellectual thinking. While Graff encourages schools to use non-academic subjects, he also warns that non-academic subjects should not be overused. Non-academic subjects should help deter boredom. The main point is to teach and encourage students to use their academic abilities. Graff’s belief is that students will transfer their interests from non-academic subjects to academic subjects.
Schools could also benefit from adopting more of a non-academic attitude. Schools fail to capture the game-like element of sports. In sports, students compete against each other instead of against the system. Students should be taught how to argue, prove or disprove a point. Instead, they are taught to show information or read vast amounts of material and produce it again when asked. However, the real world is not like this. The real world is filled with rivals, rival’s interpretations and theories. Just like sports, the real world is like a competition and not like school.
By not encouraging students to learn these important skills, we are missing out on the opportunities to prepare them for real life. Schools that learn to make use of non-academic activities will allow their students to leave school more rounded and prepared for the real life disputes and arguments, that they will encounter after school. They can transfer skills and interests from non-academic activities and put them to academic applications. Schools and students have much to gain from the involvement of non-academic elements into the school’s curriculum.
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