This post is a paper I wrote last summer and presented at the University of Oslo in August. It's a patchwork quilt of three previously published pieces around a topic I've been focused on a lot lately: the role of US higher education -- for better and for worse -- in creating the new American … Continue reading US Higher Education and Inequality: How the Solution Became the Problem
Category: Uncategorized
Daniel Markovits on “The Meritocracy Trap”
In this post, which I just wrote, I look at the arguments in the new book by Daniel Markovits. It crystallizes a lot of the issues in the current debate about meritocracy and advances the argument in ways I hadn't considered before. This is not a review of the book but a teaser to get … Continue reading Daniel Markovits on “The Meritocracy Trap”
The Dysfunctional Pursuit of Relevance in Educational Research
In this paper, I explore the issue of relevance in educational research. I argue that the chronic efforts by researchers to pursue relevance is counterproductive. Paradoxically, trying to make research more relevant actually makes it less so. Drawing on an analysis by Mie Augier and Jim March, I show that this is the result of … Continue reading The Dysfunctional Pursuit of Relevance in Educational Research
Why another blog?
I'm a recently retired professor at the Stanford University Graduate School of Education. I see this blog as an opportunity for me to continue my work as a teacher without the annoyances of having to teach classes, grade papers, and attend faculty meetings. It will allow me to exercise my teacher voice and to explore … Continue reading Why another blog?
David Labaree on Schooling, History, and Writing 