Is value-free knowledge such a bad thing?

I get what Parker Palmer means when he argues we in education need to “uproot the myth of value-free knowledge.” Palmer argues cold, calculated, emotionally divorced students become cold, calculated, emotionally divorced graduates, emotionally divorced citizens, professionals, etc., and he argues this is not a good thing. Vulcans, Spock, logic over emotion, “needs of the […]

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Sectarian.

In Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Freire identifies sectarian on both right and left of the spectrum as individuals so consumed by their own perceptions of Truth feel “threatened if that truth is questioned. Thus, each considers anything that is not ‘his’ truth a lie.” They … suffer, he quotes, from a deplorable absence of doubt. […]

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Seeking a voice for the end of the world.

Catchy title, right? Before I started teaching classes, instructor-of-record here at VT, I had never thought about teaching. Never gave it serious consideration, never gave thought to a teaching philosophy, making connections with students, creating an environment conducive to learning. As I stumbled through my first semester, I figured it might just be a good […]

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The game.

The idea of teaching history, actively involving students in a game that fosters interest, excitement, active participation inside and outside the classroom is pretty rad. I readMark Carnes’ ‘Setting students’ minds on fire’, found here: http://chronicle.com/article/Setting-Students-Minds-on/126592/ Carnes points out the average graduation rate for students that enroll in higher education is just below 50 percent, […]

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