Recently, my good buddy Jason Becker shared this article with me over here. An excerpt: New Hampshire’s Republican-dominated Legislature overrode Democratic Gov. John Lynch’s veto Wednesday to enact a law letting parents request an alternative curriculum for any subject they object to, legislation that critics say could limit children’s access to a comprehensive and quality education. H.B. 542 …
Author Archives: pamela j. stubbart
Seligman on happiness: authentic or by definition?
I’m almost done with Martin Seligman’s well-known book of positive psychology, Authentic Happiness (2003). It’s been a very good read — although I was familiar with many of the relevant research findings, from my various internet travels (and Barking Up The Wrong Tree in particular), Seligman puts it all together and lays it out in …
"teaching to the situation"
I have another post up at Kosmos: “Teaching Advice: Teaching to the Situation”
social welfare, the handicapped, and special education
Common sense may suggest that increases in social welfare are more easily obtained by focusing resources on the mentally and/or physically handicapped, rather than using those resources instead to marginally improve non-handicapped individuals’ lives. The capabilities approach, as developed by Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum, would also imply that resources are well-spent when devoted to …
book review: Vivian Gornick's "Revolution as a Way of Life"
Last month, I read the article “Love and Anarchy” by Vivan Gornick in The Chronicle of Higher Education. It was adapted from a recently released book titled “Emma Goldman: Revolution as a Way of Life” by the same author. Because the essay was intriguing and, honestly, quite sexy, I quickly purchased the full book on …
transferring graduate schools: making it or breaking it
In case you missed it, I had another guest post up at Kosmos recently on the topic of transferring graduate schools.
thinking about academia like an economist
Today, some grad school advice I wrote for Kosmos went live. Check it out: Thinking About Academia Like An Economist
"great books": de jure or de facto?
I recently began reading Louis Menand’s The Marketplace of Ideas: Reform and Resistance in the American University, picked up on a whim from the library. Menand makes an excellent point in passing about so-called “great books” curricula (aka “general” or “liberal” education, and possibly “common core”), a point which I had not previously seen made …
"education is like a series of micro-traumas"
Said by a professor in pop culture class today, with a certain air of… resignation?: “Education is like a series of micro-traumas. You do an assignment, hand it in, get evaluated, feel badly about yourself.” So, so true. Must it be this way? Sigh.
educational technology: the great teacher heterogenizer?
I finished this book, “Liberating Learning,” in the fall, and somehow forgot to post a review. Chubb & Moe are important players in education policy, having previously published influential work regarding school choice & competitive forces in education markets. This newer book is about technology and ways in which it can disrupt the structures and …
