Teach frustration capacity to students instead of providing moral simplicity

“Unambivalent responses to uncomplicated meanings: This is a Manichaean formula for polarization, and a blueprint for misunderstanding—both oneself, and others,” writes Lyell Asher in a call for the higher ed community to resist providing students with the moral simplicity that they “crave.” Asher outlines the many places that this simplification can be tempting—from the university boardroom to the college laboratory—and discusses the impact that this can have on the institution and the institution as a whole. Asher goes on to discuss how teaching students to become comfortable with frustration, “the sense of waiting, of not knowing,” as well as expanding their capacity to engage with and understand complex issues, can lead to better results for the students and the community as a whole.

http://www.chronicle.com/article/Your-Students-Crave-Moral/239075