Motivating the Elite

When Sputnik I streaked across the skies, American thinking about education went through a revolution. After decades of envious egalitarianism, our schools abruptly undertook stimulation of the intellectual elite for the sake of their potential contributions to us all. One Edison, they suddenly realized, makes a million jobs a generation and greatly improves our national strength.

Superior training for the intellectual elite is only the first step in a logical progression, however. Thus far, we have failed to follow up with its equally vital successor: superior motivation for the already-trained adult. On the contrary, the motivating factors over which we have any national authority either ignore or carefully stack the deck against the intellectually difficult professions.

JE

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John E. Eichenlaub

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When Sputnik I streaked across the skies, American thinking about education went through a revolution. After decades of envious egalitarianism, our schools abruptly undertook stimulation of the intellectual elite for the sake of their potential contributions to us all. One Edison, they suddenly realized, makes a million jobs a generation and greatly improves our national strength.

Superior training for the intellectual elite is only the first step in a logical progression, however. Thus far, we have failed to follow up with its equally vital successor: superior motivation for the already-trained adult. On the contrary, the motivating factors over which we have any national authority either ignore or carefully stack the deck against the intellectually difficult professions.