Wonderful TED talk by educator Sugata Mitra on children’s natural initiative, the Internet, and what can be done without teachers. Thematically, Mitra’s fun talk is very Locke, Montessori, and, at the end, Hayek. (Via Arnold Kling.)
Sugata Mitra on child-driven education Read More »
In my Philosophy of Art course, we are discussing Plato’s philosophy of art, by means of selections from Statesman and Books 3 and 10 of The Republic, along with snippets from Ion, Phaedrus, and Symposium. In The Republic, Plato makes a systematic case for censoring all arts. The task of the Platonic philosopher is to
Plato on censoring artists — a summary Read More »
More data showing that culture, not race, is crucial to educational performance: “Africans outperform African-Americans in Seattle schools: Even the children of destitute Somali refugees do better.” From the Seattle Times report: “African-American students whose primary language is English perform significantly worse in math and reading than black students who speak another language at home
Immigrant culture, race, and education Read More »
The latest rankings of the Top 400 Universities in the World, 2011-2012. A breakdown of their locations by country followed by some explanatory questions: Top 10: United States 7 United Kingdom 3 Top 20: USA 14 UK 4 Canada 1 Switzerland 1 Top 100: USA 51 UK 12 Canada 5 Australia 4 Netherlands 4 Germany
Top universities in the world by country Read More »
I like this paragraph from Michael Strong’s The Habit of Thought: “The effort of Socratic Practice is to develop students’ own standard of intellectual judgment by means of placing the onus of responsibility for understanding entirely on them and providing them with the tools and experiences necessary to develop their intellectual judgment. ‘Does it make
Michael Strong on Socratic teaching Read More »
“Babies Are Born to Dance, New Research Shows” is the headline of a recent report in Science Daily: “Researchers have discovered that infants respond to the rhythm and tempo of music and find it more engaging than speech.” Data like this connect with key issues about mind-body integration. Music seems to be central to every
Are babies born to dance? Read More »
This chart, based on a Bureau of Labor Statistics time-use survey of teenagers, presents data for four racial/cultural groupings: Asian, non-Hispanic white, Hispanic, and black. If the data are accurate, how far does the chart go towards explaining differentials across the races in grades, graduation rates, employment rates, and income levels? Also interesting is the
Homework, race, and success in life Read More »
For this year’s conference of the Association of Private Enterprise Education, I am organizing and chairing a session on two giants of the twentieth century — Friedrich Hayek and Ayn Rand — with four scholars comparing their views on values and political economy. Topic: Hayek and Rand on Values Chair: Stephen Hicks, Ph.D., Rockford College,
Hayek and Rand on values — APEE 2011 conference Read More »