Category: Modern Research

Low-tech Schooling: Avoiding the Shallows in a High-tech Society

Think back only a short while ago to how the transformation of schooling occurred rapidly in response to Covid-19. Materials were sent home and school was provided digitally through internet video services such as Zoom, Skype and Teams. Technology, and particularly screen-based learning, became ubiquitous. While we have since seen a return to on-site schooling, did Covid-19 bring an end to schools without screens? Technology – and here I mean specifically screen-based devices – has transformed all aspects of our lives. Now, there are upsides to this technological transformation such as instant access to our fitness data or knowledge of

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The Imitation Brain: Three Ways to Make the Most of Mirror Neurons

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Is it possible that imitation is also the pathway to learning? In the late 1990s and early 2000s, scientists at the University of Parma published a series of studies singling out neurons that respond both when accomplishing a certain action and also when observing others accomplishing a certain action. We might call this colloquially the “monkey see, monkey do” paradigm, perhaps all the more appropriate as the initial studies were done on monkeys. In 2010, a study took mirror neurons to the next level by identifying mirror neurons in humans. Scientists were able

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The Pathway to Mastery: Apprenticeship in the Classroom

A new book landed on my desk around the beginning of the school year. Robert Greene’s Mastery (New York: Viking, 2012) touches on a number of points that are worthy of exploration and consideration. It reads like a mix of historical biography and self help by a writer who is a master of his craft. I first came across Robert Greene when I listened to his 48 Laws of Power (New York: Viking, 1998) as an audiobook. At that point I largely dismissed Greene as a relevant voice in my life due to how Machiavellian his self-help advice came across.

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Finding Flow through Effort: Intensity as the Key to Academic Success

At the intersection of challenge and skill, the state of flow emerges: a state of total immersion and enjoyment. Jason Barney’s book on flow, entitled The Joy of Learning: Finding Flow through Classical Education connects Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s study of flow with the classical Christian classroom. In this article I plan to build on Jason’s work by investigating some recent research that connects the concept of flow to grit and the growth mindset. My claim is that in order to achieve lasting flow, one must achieve an appropriate level of intensity. The first aspect of this claim to elaborate is the

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Human Development, Part 3: Get in the Zone

It is a dangerous thing to become a Jedi padawan. The training and trials are extremely difficult; one might say almost impossible. Qui-Gon Jin tells Anakin Skywalker, “Anakin, training to be a Jedi is not an easy challenge, and even if you succeed, it’s a hard life” (from Star Wars: Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace). As difficult as the training might be, there is even greater danger in not fully completing one’s Jedi training. You are liable to lose a limb. Both Anakin Skywalker and Luke Skywalker lose their right hands when they face Sith Lords before being fully

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Human Development, Part 2: All the World’s a Stage

That one essay – you know the one that got this whole educational renewal movement going – needs to be reevaluated. I am talking about the essay “The Lost Tools of Learning” by Dorothy Sayers. Her approach reminds me of Galadriel’s speech in the prologue to The Lord of the Rings movies, “Much that once was is lost. For none now live who remember it.” Someone who remembers the way things were must pass that knowledge down or else it is forever lost to the detriment of future generations. “And some things that should not have been forgotten were lost.”

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Human Development, Part 1: What Do You Have in Mind?

A sound pedagogy requires a good understanding of anthropology (the study of human beings including our nature, our biology, our behavior and our social patterns) and of epistemology (the study of the nature of knowledge and how humans experience and acquire knowledge). One way these key areas of study (anthropology and epistemology) converge pertains to the development of children. We have a general understanding of the child as a small and vulnerable human being that undergoes tremendous transformations from birth to adulthood. Considerable philosophical, psychological and scientific work has been done to help us gain a clear understanding of the

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Bloom's Taxonomy

Breaking Down the Bad of Bloom’s: The False Objectivity of Education as a Modern Social Science

In the first two posts of this series (which I am reviving after a 6 months long hiatus) I proposed replacing Bloom’s Taxonomy of educational objectives with Aristotle’s intellectual virtues. The major flaw in Bloom’s taxonomy, which is a hierarchical categorization of educational goals in the cognitive domain, is that it privileges the bare intellect over the heart, like so much of modern education. Even if Bloom and his university examiner colleagues proposed an affective and psychomotor domain as well, and had the modest goal of improving clarity and communication among teachers, curriculum planners and educational researchers, still they codified

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Educating for Resilience in a Coddling Culture

In The Coddling of the American Mind (Random House, 2018), authors Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt make a forceful critique of the way Americans today go about raising and educating their children. Their point isn’t complicated: parents and teachers, in general, overprotect children from the challenges and rigor of everyday life. As a result of such coddling, the majority of youth today are soft and fragile students, easily perturbed, anxious, and intimidated. The key to raising strong, independent young people, the authors argue, is not to shield boys and girls from these challenges, but instead to allow for situations in

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target

Bloom’s Taxonomy and the Importance of Objectives: 3 Blessings of Bloom’s

“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?”“That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” said the Cat.“I don’t much care where–” said Alice.“Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,” said the Cat.“–so long as I get SOMEWHERE,” Alice added as an explanation.“Oh, you’re sure to do that,” said the Cat, “if you only walk long enough.” Lewis Caroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, 71-72 The case of Alice may be considered a good cipher for that of many modern educators. We have a vague awareness in all our modern ‘subjects’

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