October 11, 2009
Britain's Central Planning Death Panels
October 11, 2009
Free Market M.D.
October 11, 2009
Economies of Scale in Compliance
October 11, 2009
Balan's Challenge
October 10, 2009
The Pleasure of Telling Others What to Do
October 10, 2009
Gonick the Great - and How He Could Have Been Greater
October 9, 2009
More Scott Sumner
October 9, 2009
Not From The Onion
October 9, 2009
Thoughts on a Second Stimulus
This sounds exactly like something out of Boys Adrift.
http://www.boysadrift.com/
http://www.amazon.com/Boys-Adrift-Epidemic-Unmotivated-Underachieving/dp/0465072097
The fact that these traits are what are prized by most dimwit teachers is precisely the reason why the education establishment is doomed, as the most intrinsically valuable traits, that are not being selected for currently, will ultimately win out. Notice that, except for being meticulous, the traits Posner lists are mostly social traits, not intellectual traits that you would think education would be trying to inculcate, giving further evidence for Bryan's thesis that schooling is often mainly an interminable array of hoops for students to jump through in order to signal that they will continue to be obedient drones once they enter the workplace. Combine the sad wreck that the education market currently is, caused mostly by being funded primarily with public money, with revolutionary technologies like the PC and the internet that replace precisely those functions and you can see the great upheaval that is coming. I'm personally looking forward to all the video of nincompoop teachers and administrators at public schools wailing as they get the boot.
I'm confused, are you legitimately planning to write both of these books? They both sound fascinating, but I need to know if I should be eagerly awaiting them in the future.
From a time when corporal punishment was rather more common at schools, but with a message that is still true today:
"It is the duty of the student
Without exception to be prudent
If smarter than the teacher, tact
Demands that he conceals the fact. "- Edward Anthony
That's probably true of those who keep teaching kids. It's the best they think they can hope for.
I just wanted students who wanted to be there, and were willing to learn. I could deal with rowdy. I had a great time with the kids at mathcamp (http://www.mathcamp.org), who obviously wanted to be there, loved math, and could be pretty raucous. Yes, they were mainly boys, but the girls could be pretty raucous, too. Fab time. Enthusiastic, woo!
Of course, I'm not teaching kids for money any more, but most of the staff members I taught with are still in academia. It's the best teaching experience I've ever had.