Category: Featured

Schooling the Meritocracy: How Schools Came to Democratize Merit, Formalize Achievement, and Naturalize Privilege

by David Labaree, posted in Credentialing, Featured, Higher Education, Meritocracy, Schooling

This is an essay about the historical construction of the American meritocracy, which is to say the new American aristocracy based on academic credentials.  Here's a link to the original, which was published 2020 in Bildungsgeschichte: International Journal of the Historiography of Education.   An overview of the argument: Modern systems of public schooling have transformed … Continue reading Schooling the Meritocracy: How Schools Came to Democratize Merit, Formalize Achievement, and Naturalize Privilege

Sermon on Educational Research

by David Labaree, posted in Academic writing, Educational Research, Featured, Students

This is a piece I published in 2012 in Bildungsgeschichte: International Journal for the Historiography of Education.  It draws on my experience over the years working with doctoral students in education.  The advice, basically, is to approach your apprenticeship in educational research doing the opposite of what everyone else tells you to do.  Hope you like it. Sermon on Educational … Continue reading Sermon on Educational Research

The Five-Paragraph Fetish

by David Labaree, posted in Academic writing, Featured, Writing

This is a piece I published in Aeon several years ago about the persistence of the five-paragraph essay, which has evolved into the five-chapter dissertation and the five-section journal article.  Formalism reins supreme.  Here’s the link to the original. The Five-Paragraph Essay Writing essays by a formula was meant to be a step on the way. … Continue reading The Five-Paragraph Fetish

What If Napoleon Had Won at Waterloo

by David Labaree, posted in Empire, Featured, History, Modernity, War

What If Napoleon Had Won at Waterloo Today I want to explore an interesting case of counterfactual history.  What would have happened if Napoleon Bonaparte had won in 1815 at the Battle of Waterloo?  What consequences might have followed for Europe in the next two centuries?  That he might have succeeded is not mere fantasy.  … Continue reading What If Napoleon Had Won at Waterloo

Do No Harm: Reflections on the Impact of Educational Research

by David Labaree, posted in Education policy, Featured, History of education, Research

This post is a short piece I wrote in 2011 for a special issue of the journal Teacher Education and Practice on “Enhancing Teaching and Learning Through Scholarship.” My own take is that research in education is not necessarily well positioned to enhance education; on the contrary, it often does more harm than good.  See what … Continue reading Do No Harm: Reflections on the Impact of Educational Research

The American High School Has Failed Its Missions

by David Labaree, posted in Educational goals, Featured, High School, History of education

This article was originally published in 1989 in the MSU Alumni Magazine.  Here's a link to the original. It came out right after publication of my first book, The Making of an American High School, and introduces the scheme of three conflicting goals for US education -- democratic equality, social efficiency, and social mobility -- … Continue reading The American High School Has Failed Its Missions

Max Weber’s “Politics as a Vocation” and the Role of Professor

by David Labaree, posted in Featured, Politics, Sociology, Theory

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 … Continue reading Max Weber’s “Politics as a Vocation” and the Role of Professor

Universities Give Away Knowledge and Sell Degrees

by David Labaree, posted in Consumerism, Curriculum, Featured, Formalism, Higher Education, Research

This post is a piece I just wrote.  I tried unsuccessfully to publish in five different venues and gave up, so I'm posting it here.   I focus on an issue that I've been thinking about for quite a while:  How to understand the core business model that governs American universities.   The answer is in the … Continue reading Universities Give Away Knowledge and Sell Degrees

Response to Student Comments on My “Academic Technicians and Justice Warriors” Essay

by David Labaree, posted in Ed schools, Featured, Graduate school, Professionalism, Social justice

This post is my response to student comments about a piece I wrote called "We're Producing Academic Technicians and Justice Warriors: A Sermon on Educational Research, part 2." Both were published in the Swiss journal Bildungsgeschichte: International Journal for the Historiography of Education. The "We're Producing" paper was in turn a follow-up to another piece I … Continue reading Response to Student Comments on My “Academic Technicians and Justice Warriors” Essay

Politics and Markets: The Enduring Dynamics of the US System of Schooling

by David Labaree, posted in Educational goals, Featured, History of education, Systems of Schooling

This post is a piece I that came out last November as a chapter in a book edited by Kyle Steele, New Perspectives on the Twentieth Century American High School.  The book was published by Palgrave Macmillan as part a series edited by Bill Reese and John Rury on Historical Studies in Education.  Here is a … Continue reading Politics and Markets: The Enduring Dynamics of the US System of Schooling