critical thinking – Hansel and Gretel

As to Bs: A Beginning

As to Bs: A Beginning This is about curriculum. Arguably, the most important curriculum there is to the future of a human and his/her society. ∞∞∞∞∞ A quiet boy, no more than fourteen. The walls peel inward while classmates eyeball the boy, in the rear corner, and me, in the front. Dry October leaves pile inContinue reading “As to Bs: A Beginning”

Charlie

Charlie “Youngster, you don’t know shit.” At one point or another, what teacher or parent hasn’t thought something like this about a teenager’s attitude? The thought consoles us in an adolescent’s particular moment of petulance. Programmed by nature, the adolescent is pinging us and, damn, sometimes we want to ping back. Remarkably, I know ofContinue reading “Charlie”

What if

What if . . . …we have had it all wrong? To start, what if we rightly assumed that America’s vitality necessitates a thriving middle class? A sine qua non. Further, what if we have built our society’s basic structures — education, jobs, housing — to edify the vitality of that middle class? But, what if, whileContinue reading “What if”

The business of education

The business of education To be perfectly clear, public school teachers need the unifying protection and collective bargaining of unions, history has proven. And, to be perfectly clear, history is showing that America’s urban public school district administrators occupy some of the most conflictive public sector positions, balancing the ever-increasing social/emotional/cognitive/physical needs of students andContinue reading “The business of education”

The Graduate: “What Forest?”

The Graduate: “What Forest?” This post represents a departure from this blog’s usual style. With due reason. This post illuminates a spot-on piece by Clarence Page, Chicago Tribune columnist, who writes about the leaves and the forest. His contention: today’s college students are not learning critical thinking skills. In “Has College Become Too Easy?” he separatesContinue reading “The Graduate: “What Forest?””

In the Lost and Found Box: Critical Thinking

In the Lost and Found Box: Critical Thinking Going through an elementary school’s Lost and Found at the end of a school year can be like an archaeological dig. One June, my mother, patience stretched by the antics of three young boys, refused to abide by my joy for the reclaimed, a prized windbreaker jacket. “Barry, really, youContinue reading “In the Lost and Found Box: Critical Thinking”