This post is an essay by Simon Sarris that recently appeared in the magazine Palladium. Here's a link to the original. I can't say that I buy the argument Sarris is making here, but I sure find it illuminating. He's saying that we used to induct young people into productive activity at a much younger age, … Continue reading Simon Sarris: School Is Not Enough
This post is a new piece I just wrote as the preface to the Chinese translation of my book, The Trouble with Ed Schools. For me, this was a nice opportunity to accomplish two things in looking back on this work, which was published in 2004. One is to show how the book came about … Continue reading Reflections on “The Trouble with Ed Schools” for the Chinese Edition of the Book
This post is a recent essay by John McWhorter from the Times. In it he explores an issue dear to my heart -- that dynamic writing is about action. It's the verbs not the nouns that matter most. Academic writing is dense with nouns and also with verbs that are turned into nouns (e.g., optimization, … Continue reading John McWhorter — Forget Nouns. Verbs Are Where the Action Is
This post is a reflection on Max Weber’s “Politics as a Vocation,” which he gave in 1919 at Munich University. “Science as a Vocation” is the other famous speech he gave at Munich in 1917, which I posted here three years ago. Compared to the science lecture, it’s very long — 23,000 words — so feel free … Continue reading Reflections on Weber’s “Politics as a Vocation” and the Role of the Professor
Schools are a great topic for cartoons, and here are some of my favorites. Enjoy.
This is an op-ed I published in the Detroit News way back in 1998. It captures a key part of the argument about educational consumerism that I developed in my second book, How to Succeed in Schools Without Really Learning. EDUCATIONAL CONSUMERISM: BAD FOR SCHOOLS BY DAVID F. LABAREE We hear a lot these days about how we … Continue reading Educational Consumerism
This post is an essay by Adam Grant published in the Times in 2018. Here's a link to the original. His theme is one that has long resonated with me: Doing well in school is overrated. If you're getting all A's, you're denying yourself a rich educational experience and missing out on the kind of learning … Continue reading Adam Grant — What Straight-A Students Get Wrong
This is an op-ed I published in the New York Daily News in 2020. It’s on the things we miss about schools when they close – a reminder about the nonacademic functions of school that are closer to our hearts than its academic functions. What Kids Miss When They Go Without School David F. Labaree … Continue reading What Kids Miss When They Stay Out of School
David Labaree on Schooling, History, and Writing 