I believe that schools are becoming irrelevant in the lives of young people. Adults are trying to improve schools by looking towards their past; “what worked for me will work for them,” is their misguided reasoning. We (and this pronoun includes educators and all other adults who care about our children’s future) must reinvent our Read More
Author: Gary Ackerman
Elevator Pitch on Educational Expertise
The expertise we need to improve education comes not from business leaders nor the other citizens who dedicate their time and energy to serving on boards of education or in the legislature, nor even from education leaders (most of whom have built careers building compromises that satisfy different constituencies). The expertise comes from scholars who Read More
A Quick Story of Politics and Science
Trofim Lysenko (1898-1976) was a botanist and plant scientist who lived in worked in the Soviet Union. He was the director of the Institute of Genetics which was part of the Academy of Sciences within the USSR. In that position, he was able to exert political influence and he used that influence to promote a Read More
IT Changes Everything
When I was a child and young man, telephones hung on walls and there was no indication of who might be on the other end when it rang. All calls–friends, family, colleagues, misdials, telemarketers–were treated the same. We stopped what we were doing and went to see who was there and what they wanted. With Read More
What We Mean by “They Learned It”
In addition to having strong foundational knowledge (what we traditionally understand learning to be), we want those who have “learned it” to be able to use it critically; they should be able to judge the quality of their knowledge and the degree to which it will suffice in the current situation. We want those who Read More
“I Taught It, They Didn’t Learn It.”
Teachers complain. They complain a lot. No, really. You can’t imagine the things teachers say about students, students’ previous teachers, colleagues, administrators, parents and society, and everyone else. After more than three decades of hearing it, I may nod, but it is like white noise to me; with one exception. When I hear, “I taught Read More
Variation–It Belongs in Schools
The last generation of educators have been focused on standards. We fuss and fret over what it is students are supposed to know and we obsess over the dubious data we are given to indicate the degree to which students are or are not learning it. Standards were originally proposed as a strategy for ensuring Read More
An Observation of IT in Schools
If you get bored, skip down to the end… Schools have always been information-rich places. There is a curriculum to be taught that comprises ideas, concepts, information, and skills. Learning the curriculum requires information-rich interaction between teachers and students and among students. Humans have invented technologies to facilitate interaction and information exchange for centuries, and Read More
When Darwin First Presented
Historians of science speculate widely on the reasons why Charles Darwin waited so long to publish On the Origins of Species. (For those not familiar with the story, Darwin had conceived the theory of natural selection in the years after his voyage on the HMS Beagle ended in 1836, but he did not publish until Read More
IT Goals in Schools
In all organizations decisions are made for several purposes, and goals are set at three levels to guide decision-making and improve performance. At the broadest level, organizations have strategic goals. These are captured in the mission statements that are adopted by the leaders at the highest levels. In schools, the strategic goals are focused on Read More