Rigor?
Ian Jacobs: 2000
English has a vast and growing vocabulary. The flexibility of English is the life blood of the culture, but there is a down side. Old words with restricted special meanings are sometimes suddenly applied in wider contexts which leads to confusion and endless argument.
The word rigor is a case in point. This perfectly good word with a clear meaning in an academic context is suddenly applied to all areas of a High School Curriculum. Its meaning is suddenly broadened to the point where it becomes undefined.
The meaning of Rigor
Before I came across the term in Education Literature some ten years ago I had associated the notion of rigor with mathematical arguments and proofs. A rigorous proof is one which is thorough, leaves no room for misunderstanding, and is therefore definitive and conclusive. Such a proof may be short, elegant, long, or exhaustive. It may involve innovative or traditional symbolism, be either difficult or straight forward. To qualify as a rigorous proof it must simply leave no room for counter argument. Mathematics and Physics instruction is classified as rigorous or not depending on the levels of proof required from the instructor for statements they wish to have students accept as being true. The requirement for rigor is placed in the first instance on the instructor not the student.
For instance - a course in Physics which involves the calculus is regarded as more rigorous than a course where descriptions involve only language and elementary math. The more rigorous course is regarded as more difficult because it suits fewer people. In fact, a calculus based course may not be more difficult, but simply more rigorous in terms of the directness and completeness of the arguments presented. A calculus based course may not be more demanding in terms of student attention and time.
I have no idea how the term 'rigorous' with its clear and restricted meaning came to be applied (or misapplied) to Education in general, but since it has been, we need to discuss what it may be taken to mean for different disciplines. What for instance could we mean by a 'rigorous' course in the performing arts or a 'rigorous' course in English? How would we determine if a student of the arts or of English has met a graduation requirement to demonstrate a particular level of 'rigor'?
Because rigorous is not clearly defined when applied across the curriculum it may be taken to mean a variety of things. Consider the following plausible statements which could be found in almost any good school's advertising literature.
"The courses offered at this school are the most rigorous available."
"Rigor in course work has been increased in response to parental demands, by the application of targeted resources in key areas, and the appointment of qualified staff.
Without close examination statements such as these have a nice ring to them. We are all in favor of busy young people working hard at their studies. We are well within our comfort zone. The publicity brochure is well received and unchallenged by right thinking parents: parents who, like ourselves, have no precise idea of what we mean by rigor or how it might be possible for all students to meet the same 'rigorous' standards.
Without a clear understanding of what rigor might mean in the wider context, the reader is free to substitute any of a dozen meanings. Because people have a tendency to see what they want to see there is something here for everyone. The use of a vague term suits everyone and is an excellent advertising ploy. To see how this may happen let us examine several possible substitutions.
Disciplined?
Rigor should not be confused with the level of discipline in a student body. Let us replace the word 'rigor' with 'discipline' and 'courses' with 'classrooms' in our statements to see how well they fit, to see if someone could read this meaning into the statements.
"The classes at this school are the most disciplined available."
"Discipline in the classroom has been improved in response to parental demands, by the application of targeted resources in key areas, and the appointment of extra staff."
Disciplined fits perfectly. I suggest that the writer could have simply replaced the somewhat oppressive concept 'disciplined' with the more fashionable 'rigorous' without examining what rigorous actually means.
Difficult?
A second possible confusion arises between difficult and rigorous. A rigorous program may not necessarily be a difficult one. [Difficult is defined over a long period of time by the percentage of the population who fall short of mastery.] Again let us examine the substitutions.
"The courses offered at this school are the most difficult available."
"The difficulty of course work has been increased in response to parental demands, by the application of targeted resources
in key areas, and the appointment of qualified staff."The substitution fits very well - with the downside that with increasing difficulty
(by definition) we have an increasing failure rate. I suggest that the writer may have substituted the more palatable and vague 'rigorous' for the less attractive 'difficult'.Demanding?
There is a third possible confusion. Rigorous does not necessarily mean demanding in the sense of a requirement for long hours of study and preparation. Again let us try the substitution.
"The courses offered at this school are the most demanding available."
"The demands made on students to complete course work have been increased by the application of targeted resources in key areas, and the appointment of more qualified staff."
Again the substitution fits very well. The writer could well have replaced the more imperative 'demanding' with the less definite 'rigorous'.
Traditional?
There are many other confusions. For instance, let's try 'traditional'. The concept of rigor has nothing to do with tradition verses innovation but the substitution works perfectly.
"The courses offered at this school are the most traditional available."
"The traditional content of course work has been increased in response to parental demands, by the application of targeted resources in key areas, and the appointment of qualified staff."
The writer could well have meant 'traditional' but have substituted the more imaginative 'rigorous' to make the statements more palatable.
Taking the four substitutions together a casual reader who has not examined the meaning of the term is free to assume that 'rigorous' means a blend of traditional, disciplined, difficult and demanding as it applies to class work.
Rigor Across the Curriculum
Instruction which is rigorous is competent and thorough. Unsupported statements are avoided and arguments are developed in a logical way. A rigorous course is somehow complete in that it leads to understanding in one or more areas of a discipline. For this reason we seek to employ specialists who are good communicators. It is perfectly possible for a non specialist to have children paint pictures in an orderly classroom but it takes a specialist with a deeper understanding of the craft to place a child's work in the broader context of painting and image creation. A child who paints pictures is occupying time - a child who sees themselves as a developing painter is in education.
Education involves a relationship between student and instructor. The delivery of a rigorous argument in English, which falls on deaf or Japanese ears, does nothing to promote a climate of rigor in the classroom. The requirement for rigor goes beyond the competence of the instructor and the student separately. An argument must be both well delivered and well understood. For this reason instruction must be suited to students. A non native speaker of English with a rudimentary knowledge of grammar cannot write a competent expository essay of 4000 words, or listen with understanding to a well structured one hour lecture. A course which sets impossible tasks will never be rigorous. A language course designed to build competence towards the distant goal of fluency in written English will be at a lower level but may well be more rigorous.
Completeness
The requirement for completeness can be brought into focus by a requirement to publish in some way. An instructor may develop curricula, teaching methods, and materials, write, publish and lecture to professional bodies. A body of student work which is the outcome of a successful rigorous course will demonstrate competence, the development will be thorough and the work will in some way be complete.
The extended essay program in Physics for the IB Diploma meets these criteria. An 'A' essay in Physics may fall short of an original contribution to knowledge, but it will be ready for publication. It will be informative. The writing will be grammatically correct and the style will be fluent. The figures will be produced to a professional standard. The text and graphics will compliment each other and the figures and pages will be numbered. The list of references will be presented in a standard form. Arguments will be developed and conclusions will be drawn. The essay will worthy of exposure to a wider audience. A student who is has produced work of this length (4000 words) with these qualities, has demonstrated competence.
Public performance
The requirement to demonstrate competence, the outcome of a rigorous education, can be met in some disciplines by requiring a public performance with the following reservation. Not all full IB students will write an IB extended essay which is worth reading. In the world of the IB that is easily handled. We display and publish only the best.
Not all IASAS music delegates are capable of playing or singing well enough to bring even an audience of parents, friends and teachers to its feet. In the Music world that is easily handled. We have an honors concert to celebrate the best of the best. Two hours is enough.
A successful public performance is a special celebration of excellence. Not everyone is ready to be in public by themselves as they graduate, and many will never be, no matter what they do in their lives or how long they live. There is nothing wrong with that. A rigorous education does not aim to put everyone in the same place. It aims merely to show everyone what excellence is and to help them to appreciate it when they see it. The roll of informed, well educated supporter, is the role that most of us play, most of the time.