[This essay is now a chapter in my new book, The Ironies of Schooling.] Professionals, by definition, are more skilled than amateurs in any given field, but they both experience failure. And to an average observer, they appear to fail in similar ways. The practitioner is moving along nicely in carrying out his or her … Continue reading Failing Like a Professional: Professionals Choke, Amateurs Panic
This post is Gary Smith's modest proposal on "How to fix college finances." His answer: "Eliminate faculty, then students." It appeared as a guest essay recently in the Washington Post. Here's a link to the original. Enjoy this ride into the wonderful world of Jonathan Swift. How to fix college finances? Eliminate faculty, then students. By Gary … Continue reading A Modest Proposal
This post is an op-ed that Deborah Malizia and I just published in the San Jose Mercury News. Here's a link to the original. It follows up on an earlier op-ed we did on the subject. Schools’ shift from community to competition harms our youth U.S. education system created in the 19th century to serve the … Continue reading School’s Shift from Community to Competition Can Harm Our Youth
This post is an essay about academic writing by Steven Mintz, which was originally published in Inside Higher Ed. Here's a link to the original. It speaks for itself. January 23, 2024 Writing With Style, Force, Flair and Impact How to get your students to love language and take pleasure in writing. By Steven Mintz Hamlet … Continue reading Steven Mintz — Getting Students to Write with Style, Flair, Force, and Impact
This blog post is an essay by Caitlin Flanagan recently published in Atlantic. Here's a link to the original. If colleges were in fact teaching students how to think, she says, then they would be encouraging students to consider the best arguments on the other side of the issue they are most ardent about. Colleges … Continue reading Caitlin Flanagan — Colleges Aren’t Teaching Students How to Think
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 RESEARCH … Continue reading Sermon on Educational Research
This post is a classic essay by Anders Henrikkson, published in Wilson Quarterly. Here's a link to the original. It's comprised entirely from statements about European history drawn from student essays. Anyone who has ever graded exams will recognize the genre. Here are a few of my favorite lines from this piece: The Crusades were a … Continue reading A Brief History of Europe Culled from Student Papers
This post is the statement issued on October 11 by the president and provost of Stanford. To me, it's the best such statement by university leaders that I've seen in response to the Hamas attack on Israel and the ongoing battle in Gaza. What I like is that they stay focused on the issues on … Continue reading Stanford Statement on Israel and Palestine
This post is a piece I wrote not long ago, something I’ve been meaning to write for years. An alternative title is: “School — Can’t Live With It, Can’t Live Without It.” See what you think. School Gave Me the Creeps David Labaree Did you like school? I didn’t. … Continue reading School Gave Me the Creeps
This post is an essay by Rachel Shin about the hypercompetition among students at elite universities, which appeared several weeks ago in Atlantic. Here's a link to the original. She reports that Yale undergraduates have ramped up student stress by turning the application process for admission to what are supposed to be benign extracurricular activities … Continue reading Rachel Shin on Hypercompetition at Elite Universities
David Labaree on Schooling, History, and Writing 