This post is an essay by Matthew Pittinsky, a sociologist of education who founded the ed tech company, Blackboard. Here's a link to the original. In it he assesses the value of my work for people in the field of educational technology, where he has constructed his career. I'm flattered by his praise, but I … Continue reading Matthew Pittinsky — Three Books, by One Author, that Every EDTech Entrepreneur Should Read…and Why
This post is an opinion piece that Deborah Malizia and I just published in Hechinger Report. Here's a link to the original. It builds on two earlier op-eds (here and here) we did about the negative impact of schooling on American students. OPINION: The standards-driven pressure cooker of public education is the real crisis we must address … Continue reading Labaree and Malizia –The Standards-Driven Pressure Cooker of Public Education Is the Real Crisis We Must Address
This post is an essay by Chris Sibben, which appeared recently in his Substack Mere Orthodoxy. Here's a link to the original. In it he addresses what for me is the key challenge that artificial intelligence poses for education. AI illuminates a problem at the core of the educational enterprise, which is the danger that education … Continue reading Chris Sibben — A Hollow Crown: AI and the Formation of Students
This post is a piece I published a few years ago in Kappan. Here’s a link to the original. It’s a response to an essay by Jal Mehta proposing a new US grammar of schooling, and it refers to a piece I wrote for Kappan with my take on understanding the roots of this grammar. In my response … Continue reading The Attractions of Doing School
This post is an essay by Carl Hendrick -- The Blind Regulator: Ashby's Law and the Unavoidable Logic of Instructional Design. It appeared in his Substack, The Learning Dispatch, which I highly recommend. Here's a link to the original. In it he addresses a central problem facing systems of instruction. Here's the short version: "If learners … Continue reading Carl Hendrick — The Blind Regulator: Ashby’s Law and the Unavoidable Logic of Instructional Design
This post is an opinion piece that Deborah Malizia and I just published in EdSource. Here's a link to the original. This analysis builds on two previous op-eds that we published over the last several years: Schools Are at the Root of the Youth Mental Health Crisis School’s Shift from Community to Competition Can Harm … Continue reading How Our Education System Fuels Our Political Divides
The post is an essay by Eli Stark-Elster from his Substack. Here's a link to the original. His argument is that -- although there's a lot of talk now about the damage that social media are doing to children and major efforts to ban social media use for anyone under 16 -- there's a bigger … Continue reading Eli Stark-Elster — School Is Way Worse for Kids than Social Media
This post is a review essay by Becca Rothfeld published recently in the Washington Post. Here's a link to the original. The review focuses on the book The Score: How to Stop Playing Somebody Else's Game, by the philosopher C. Thi Nguyen. The latter is a connoisseur of games, who appreciate how the rule-bound metrics of … Continue reading Becca Rothfeld — A Philosopher’s Case for Living Playfully Without Keeping Score
Exit, Voice, and Loyalty – a book you can't get out of your head – was written by Albert Hirschman, a political economist and total mensch (read his obituary). I find that his framework is immensely useful in thinking about schools. The core argument is that political and economic organizations are responsive to different kinds … Continue reading The Problem of Public Schools in a Liberal Democracy: Insights from Albert Hirschman’s “Exit, Voice, and Loyalty”
This post is a piece I published in Kappan in November, 2018. Here’s a link to the original. Public schools for private gain: The declining American commitment to serving the public good When schooling comes to be viewed mainly as a source of private benefit, both schools and society suffer grave consequences. Here's an overview: In … Continue reading Public Schools for Private Gain: The Declining American Commitment to Serving the Public Good
