Education is a well-established social institution. In modern history, it has served the multiple purposes to prepare young people to participate in the economic, political, and cultural life of the society. They have also been developed to prepare novices to enter professions and function within organizations. For many decades, that society was stable and slowly Read More
Month: August 2019
Competence over Compliance
In courses organized around the instructionist recitation script, the ability of students to comply with the presented knowledge and provide expected answers is the valued outcome. In deeper, active, and authentic learning environments, students who show the greatest ability to apply multidimensional capacities to propose reasonable and fact-based solutions are the most competent learners. Mehlenbacher Read More
Teachers and Mindsets
I begin this post with three stories: First, I had an hour-long conversation with a teacher (while waiting for my son at the airport). He complained about students; he complained a lot. That is not unusual; all teachers have always complained about students, but this was different. He appeared to be blaming students for all Read More
Education for the Future
In drawing parallels between the history of life and the history of societies (including our 21st century society), biologist Geerat Vermeij observed, “the most effective adaptation for dealing with unforeseen circumstances is adaptability” (2010, 81). This theme has appeared in the literature regarding teacher preparation as well. Ben Williamson (2013) used the term flexible specialist Read More
Our Social Brains
Late in the 20th century, a diverse group of scholars (medical researchers, psychologists, computer scientists, philosophers, and others) started applying amazing new tools to the human brain. These tools include philosophical and epistemological tools (ideas to help us think about human learning), clinical and therapeutic tools (methods for studying patients in hospitals and similar setting), Read More
Ensuring Ease of Use of #edtech
The selection of technology can be a wicked problem for a community. The devices or software available are likely to have some features that are needed but are underdeveloped in the available tools, while other features that are less important will be highly developed. As a result, a poor technology selection can leave some important Read More
An Observation on Education and Politics
Especially in this century, education has become the focus of much political attention. Government agencies, politicians, and philanthropists are all much more influential in determining educational policy and practice than they were in previous generations. Neal McClusky, a policy analyst for the Cato Institute’s Center for Educational Freedom observed the effects of No Child Left Read More