I'm sorry I don't have time for extended discussion today but I did want to reference this blog post from Mind/Shift: Struggle Means Learning: Difference in Eastern and Western Cultures. Alix Spiegel writes about a UCLA professor, Jim Stigler, who has been studying the differences in how East and West approach "intellectual struggle".
We seem to be spending more and more time talking about persistence and self-regulation, and about tinkering and successful failures, that I thought this post offered some different insights into how people might learn.
I am not necessarily advocating students work though their thinking with a full audience. I do firmly believe the process counts as well as the product, and allowing time for that process to occur in a supportive environment should be the aim of all teachers.
The Mind/Shift post is well worth a read.
