Matt’s Notes
Happy February long weekend! It’s been a couple of weeks since our last episode… and we’re glad you’re here with us! In this outing, we dial things back… all the way back… to the notion of veritas… truth… or reality… in education!
So… it’s Sunday of a long weekend… we recorded the show yesterday afternoon… and after some production… I went to bed and didn’t get up for anything other than the bathroom or a glass of water… for more than fifteen hours! It was rejuvenating in its own way… as I get older, I like to think I am getting better at reading my body… and listening to it… and sleep, particularly as I am afflicted with SEVERE… and I mean REALLY severe…. sleep apnea… is a precious commodity… and with the CPAP machine… helping ensure I get the right amount of oxygen to my brain… so I am here to tell you about the BENEFITS… of a properly oxygenated brain…
My first principles as I grow older including giving my mind and body what they need to carry out their roles…
How far into the weeds will I go here?
As mentioned in the recordings, I’m utterly enthralled with Meditations by Marcus Aurelius… it’s one of a handful of books that I can say without exaggeration… has changed not just how I look at literature… but how I look at the world…
I hope you all have your own versions of these books! If you’d like to share some titles that have fundamentally changed you, leave a comment!
Thanks as ever to Doug for the great topic and great conversation. At this point, it’s hard for me to imagine more than a few weeks going by without some #ednontech…
Doug’s Notes
Veritas: Dealing with reality in education
Initially, the schools in this country were established to transmit beliefs conducive to right conduct and successful “industry”.
Walsh, D., & Paul, R. W. (1986). The Goal of Critical Thinking: from Educational Ideal to Educational Reality.
Two areas in which the educational crisis was most apparent were standards in the basic subjects and the incoherent character of the curriculum. The problem of standards was evidenced in the number of adolescents leaving school without basic literacy, despite the vast sums spent on education and despite 10 or more years of formal schooling. A significant proportion of students entering technical colleges and even universities lacked basic skills in expression and comprehension. They were unable to speak well, to write clearly, to read quickly and to understand what they read.
Barcan, A. (1993). Sociological theory and educational reality: Education and society in Australia since 1949. UNSW Press.
… apart from teachers’ deprofessionalization, the analysed narrations reveal a decreased status of the learner and of learners’ developmental needs (teachers seem to pay more attention to e.g. implementing the core curriculum and less to the interests and cognitive needs of students).
… Teachers focused on preparing learners for solving tests also neglect the activity aimed at developing learners’ individual passions and interests at school.
Zalewska-Bujak, M. (2023). Teachers’ strategies for professional activities in the conditions of neoliberal educational reality. Journal for Critical Education Policy Studies (JCEPS), 20(3).
… there is a significant share of people, especially at a young age, for whom digitalization is a key moment in their lives. At the same time, there are social groups, such as the older population, illiterate, ethnic minorities, who remain excluded from the digitalization process.
… it is necessary to restructure the approaches to teaching and education, as well as the ways in which the teaching process is organized.
Manov, B., Lendzhova, V., & Milenkova, V. (2022). Digital Aspects of Modern Society and Education Realities. South Asian Journal of Social Studies and Economics, 11-21.
“The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn.”
– Alvin Toffler
“Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in school. It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education.” – Albert Einstein
Word of the Podcast:
Reality: Not virtual, just actual reality
Question of the Podcast:
Is the curriculum & teaching in school keeping up with reality?
Thanks for checking in this Feb weekend!! We appreciate you & look forward to when next we meet again…
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