Browse by Tags

All Tags » Education (RSS)
20 June 2009
History of Violence
Why is it that when we study history, so much of it is recounting a succession of rulers and wars: that is, political history? As a liberal, I believe the state is predominantly an agent of violence. And wars are obviously violent. So looked at that way, the common conception of history seems to be a... Read More...
no comments
Filed under: ,
20 June 2009
The Child, the Parent, and the State
A child is a potential man. Man is characterized by the fact that he acts and that he has morality. To act is to behave with purpose: using reason to willfully choose between alternative means toward ends. Morality is a set of feelings which constrain action. Newborn infants do not act; their behaviors... Read More...
no comments
Filed under: ,
20 June 2009
Practical Education
What is the point of all this formal learning we expect schoolchildren to do: the endless assignments and tests? One stock answer to this question is that it teaches them how to get things done. That would obviously be learned better in the real world than in school. The somewhat more plausible answer... Read More...
no comments
Filed under:
20 June 2009
The Abdication of Parenthood
We as a society have abdicated parenthood. We have handed parenthood over to the state. The prime responsibility of raising children to become decent, humane, and successful adults has been given over to state schools. Kids' lives are dominated by school. They spend about 6 hours a day at school... Read More...
no comments
Filed under:
20 June 2009
Because School Told Us
I recently taught a workshop about brains for a group of 24 5th graders. First I wrote on the board, “What does the brain do?” The students dutifully enumerated the standard list: controls your movements, thinks, feels emotion, controls your heartbeat, controls your body temperature; obviously... Read More...
no comments
Filed under:
20 June 2009
The Crippling of Curiosity
Modern schooling has served to cripple the intellectual lives of every generation since its inception. In schools, children are herded and harrangued into completing academic chores. These chores are usually utterly mindless, pointless, forgettable, boring, harrowing, or some combination of the above... Read More...
no comments
Filed under: