Will A Change To College Admissions Make For A More Caring World?

20:00

January 22, 2016

Richard Weissbourd, senior lecturer on education and faculty director of the Human Development and Psychology Program at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, which tweets @hgse.

Stuart Schmill, dean of admissions at MIT, which tweets @MIT.

Making Caring Common: Turning The Tide: Inspiring Concern For Others And The Common Good Through College Admissions.

"A healthy and fair admissions process cannot simply encourage students to devote more time to others: It needs simultaneously to reward those who demonstrate true citizenship, deflate undue academic performance pressure and redefine achievement in ways that create greater equity and access for economically diverse students."

The New York Times: Rethinking College Admissions

"'Turning the Tide' sagely reflects on what’s wrong with admissions and rightly calls for a revolution, including specific suggestions. It could make a real difference not just because it has widespread backing but also because it nails the way in which society in general — and children in particular — are badly served by the status quo."

Huffington Post Parents: The Children We Mean to Raise

"Almost 80 percent of youth picked high achievement or happiness as their top choice, while roughly 20 percent selected caring for others. A root of this troubling finding may be the messages that parents are unintentionally sending."

This segment aired on January 22, 2016.