It’s a sad fact that many of our teachers are weak. They’re weak on knowledge of their subjects and weak on teaching technique. Unfortunately, we know little about effective professional-development programs. The major reason lies in the research on professional development itself. A major review, in 2008, of the research on professional development for teachers … Continue reading “America Needs Better Teachers”
The notion of antiracism now dominates at all levels of education, from infant to university. In a previous piece, I described how the 2017 President of American Educational Research Association (AERA) gave speeches to teachers instructing them that teaching math to kids poses a racist threat, playing a set of video clips to underline her … Continue reading “Credo Quia Absurdum: Education and the Cult of Anti-Racism”
Karl Marx is a common fixture on college course syllabi. From English to sociology to philosophy, the German socialist’s writings are explained, analyzed, and dissected. I find myself, a teacher of modern social theory, often explaining the nuances of Marxist concepts like “commodity fetishism” and “species being” to students. But there is one thing you … Continue reading “We Need to Teach About the Socialist Alternative…and Its Failure”
One of the most important aspects of our society is educating our children to properly function within it. While the education system is centered around the “core” academics, research in recent decades has suggested that Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) has unrealized benefits for academic prowess and well-being. SEL is “the process through which children … Continue reading “‘Core’ Academics Neglect Social, Emotional Learning—Music Education Can Change That”
Alan Jacobs’ new book, Breaking Bread with the Dead: A Reader’s Guide to a More Tranquil Mind, is a coaxing argument to read “old books that come from strange times.” Readers of his previous works The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction and How to Think will not be surprised that Jacobs, distinguished … Continue reading “The Spurning of Old Books: The Devaluation of the Past Threatens Higher Ed”
To speak against critical thinking in today’s academy is comparable to denying the divinity of Jesus in the medieval church—it’s heterodox. Not only does it rail against the values of contemporary scholarship, it may even be foolish in light of today’s students. Isn’t the lack of critical thinking the problem in modern society? Here’s how … Continue reading “The Case Against the Cult of Critical Thinking”
The importance of college football to university education is vastly overrated. Rather than an integral part of the college experience, football means more student debt, another burden for taxpayers, and a compromised education for athletes. The COVID-19 pandemic is prompting universities to develop costly new teaching methodologies, require expensive campus protection strategies, and has caused … Continue reading “Is College Football an Expensive Luxury for Many Universities?”
Here is a dirty little secret: I am a teacher at a community college, but I have never taken an education course. The same is true for most of my colleagues at the college level. We all have majored in our “subject,” but many of us have had no education in the area of our … Continue reading “A Grassroots Effort Is Changing College Instruction for the Better”
Students who leave college with no degree but an accumulation of debt face obvious hardship, but what about taxpayer money wasted on students with no degrees? The results for North Carolina are staggering. Of the 155,982 students who enrolled in one of its 16 public universities last year, 52,184 will not graduate. To Dr. Harry … Continue reading “College Dropouts Cost North Carolina Taxpayers $446M Per Year”
Veteran Washington Post columnist Jay Mathews writes mostly about K-12 education, but he is also interested in the results for students after they’ve graduated and enrolled in college. He’s also a self-professed college football freak, looking forward to the first-ever playoff series for the national title.