Beyond one-to-one tuition, Oxford’s other great influence on nurturing
divergent thinking has been the collegiate system. In Nick’s research
into experimental psychology, he greatly values input from philosophers,
biochemists, neuroscientists and academics from other disciplines.
education are crucial to nurturing what succeeds in
one-to-one interactions at university. Towards the
end of his own Winchester career, Nick found himself
with a miniscule number of hours up to books.
Inundated with a plethora of bookscha-s, Nick was
afforded the opportunity to learn how to organise
his time and motivate himself to get up to speed
in the academic disciplines where he was lacking.
the pursuit of ideas and criticism of them comes
to life. Nick wants students to follow their noses
and assess what they think. Students have, in Nick’s
experience, found it tricky to adapt to this process.
An OW friend of his once remarked that success at
school is achieved through appearing to know more
than you do and to stay quiet to prevent being caught
out. Better to stay silent and be thought a fool than
speak and remove all doubt. But at university the
trick is to reveal what you don’t know in order
to identify the flaws in your ideas and fix them.
This process requires a precious level of trust
between tutor and student. A harsh critic may
prevent discussion; complacent tutors will fail to
analyse properly a student’s thoughts. Wykehamists
enjoy a formal friendliness with dons, and through
the institutions of Div and lunch are exposed to each
other’s ideas and the opportunity to respond to them.
This sets them in good stead for the tutorial process.
Nick tells me, as many have, that Wykehamists are
extremely lucky. Many of the aspects of their secondary
Nick’s parents, who had moved to the USA during
his final year at Winchester, convinced him to defy
the typical Wykehamical convention of going up
to Oxford as soon as an offer was received. Staying
on and making the most of what Winchester could
teach him put him in good stead for his time at
Oxford and, above all things, prepared him for
his first experiences with the tutorial system.
Beyond one-to-one tuition, Oxford’s other great
influence on nurturing divergent thinking has
been the collegiate system. In Nick’s research into
experimental psychology, he greatly values input
from philosophers, biochemists, neuroscientists
and academics from other disciplines. By placing
undergraduate students in a college with great
diversity in academic study, Nick expects two things:
that they will acquire a vast range of knowledge
through discussions with their peers, and also that
they will learn how immensel y interesting and
inspirational other disciplines can be.
According to Nick, universities with collegiate
systems have advantages over those who prioritise
pure research when it comes to nurturing divergent
thinkers. ‘Tunnelers’ are good, he says, and we need
them, but we also require people who can open their
minds to other ways of thinking. His arguments
certainly support his opinion.
The Wykeham Journal 2017 33