Global Media Reaction to Charlottesville and Trump’s Comments

In the US, high school teachers are preparing for the fall semester, due to begin after Labor Day in early September. They are also following the events in and about Charlottesville and wondering how they will incorporate them into their lessons. As someone who teaches American history, I will sadly include discussion of contemporary white...

The Atlantic Asks: “Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?”

I have always been skeptical of magazine articles that diagnose or psychoanalyze an entire generation. Even with a healthy dose of skepticism, Jean M. Twenge's article, "Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation," is worth a read. The argument is straight-forward: "Teens who spend more time than average on screen activities are more likely to be unhappy, and...

Northeastern University and What’s NExT for Experiential Education

I spent last week at Northeastern University in Boston working with about 70 educators to begin a network of educators committed to experiential education. Northeastern has dedicated real resources to a wide variety of experiential opportunities for its students ("real-world" experience, service learning, research, global ed, and within the classroom itself) and our conference was...

Pre-School Math Instruction Versus Phenomenon-Based Learning

Sometimes it feels that newspaper articles about education fall into two categories: "alarming trend" and "promising trend." The first kind might have a headline like "99% of American Schoolchildren Can't Find the USA on a Map," the second "New Computer Application Makes All Kids at Crumbling School in Geniuses." (I guess there is also the...

Preparing Students to Face Troubling Issues

When we teach our students about death in the trenches of World War I, what do we want them to learn? And how should they feel? What comes of a 15-year old considering some 300,000 dead at the Battle of the Somme? I would find it chilling if a student had no emotional response to the scale...

Teaching Against Hope?: Helping Students Face Global Problems

It goes something like this: I cannot save the people out in the rafts upon the Mediterranean. I cannot help them-- a few dollars to a worthwhile charity is essentially meaningless. I cannot help the women trapped in sweatshops because I don't know where my clothes come from and without those jobs, they might starve...

Are High School Clubs a Bad Idea?

I teach at a wonderful independent school at which everyone gets along really well, the curriculum is rigorous and innovative, the students are kind and curious, and the faculty and staff are amazing. I treasure the commitment and dedication of everyone, faculty, staff, students. I love being in the classroom with my students or collaborating...

Intrinsic Motivation and “The Whole Student”

The Infinite Monkey Theorem describes a very simple problem in probability yet it offers many opportunities for philosophical reflection--and jokes. Given enough time and sufficient numbers, a group of monkeys will eventually produce all of Shakespeare. As a teacher, I reflect upon the truth that even the worst educator will "produce" a conventionally successful student, eventually....

How Can Young People Best Help the Neediest in a World of Staggering Inequality?

The students in my course on Globalization have just finished their project on sourcing. A few looked at the companies that make some of their favorite jackets or shoes and tried to decode corporate double-speak and find the truth about how factory workers are treated. Others have offered the school more sustainable and just options...