213: Thoughts on Schools School has been a social institution for centuries. The purpose of school, the nature of the curriculum, the role of the experts who operate school and teach in school, and the people enrolled as students are variables that change to reflect the dominant culture. In many cases, these factors are explicit Read More
The publicly funded schools for young people, commonly called K-12 schools in the United States are an example of general purpose schools. Modeled after liberal arts education, we can trace the history of these schools to one-room school houses maintained in villages and towns early in the nation’s history. Ostensibly, these schools were places where Read More
Schools are organizations in which consensus is very difficult to achieve; the probability of sustaining commitment to any decision reached through consensus is lower still. Those decisions tend to be overturned when leadership changes or in response to other political influences. This is a source of real and reasonable frustration for teachers; it is unavoidable. Read More
In 1993, Seymour Papert imagined two time-traveling professionals from 100 years earlier; he speculated the physician would be flummoxed by the technology as well as the work of doctors and nurses in the 20th century clinic, but the teacher would find the technology and the work in a 20th century classroom very familiar. Papert based Read More
182: When Computers Started School Historians of technology trace the beginnings of computers from the analytic machine of Charles Babbage in the 19th century. The history of electronic digital computing is usually measured from the creation of Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC), the computer built to handle the massive computations necessary for military applications Read More
Information technology is an essential aspect of every school. Students and teachers use computers to consume and create digital information. Administrators and staff use cloud-based student information and business systems to manage data and facilitate operations. Librarians manage digital collections and subscriptions to full-text databases, and technology specialists support learning management systems and other infrastructure Read More
Since computers entered the educational market in the late 1970’s, there has been debate about their appropriate role in schools. While some advocate for quick adoption of every new emerging tool, others advocate for avoiding digital technology altogether. Between those extremes we find the more rationale observers who advocate for purposeful and thoughtful approaches to Read More
I heard this week of the passing of one more of the teachers who taught in my junior high school. When I was a student, George taught industrial arts. In seventh grade the curriculum was mechanical drawing and woodshop and in 8th grade it was ceramics and metal shop. He was one of three full-time Read More
I learned this morning of the passing of one of my middle school (but we called it junior high school back then) teacher who later became a colleague and mentor. He brought me in to the work I do now and advanced my career and work in ways I won’t forget. One of the projects Read More
Social justice education is an idea that has captured the attention of teachers, scholars, leaders, and other in recent years. I have tried to find just what it means for me for some time. For context, I am a white, heterosexual male with grey hair; while I was raised in a weakly-practicing Protestant family, I Read More