Bubbles Bursting All Over

The Wall Street Journal reported this morning that 45% of students at private colleges are now getting significant financial aid, as enrollments have dropped 10-20%. And here's a useful graphic about how schools compare in terms of return on investment.

Business Becomes More Personal as Education Becomes Less So

I found it ironically interesting to read "The Science of Serendipity in the Workplace" in the Wall Street Journal this morning; it recounts how high tech companies like Google and Salesforce are working hard to engineer more incidental personal encounters between employees. They're redesigning buildings, rooms, and floor plans.

Why?

Because remarkably innovative developments result from these chance encounters. Like Gmail and Streetview on Google Maps. "'The most productive relationships are difficult to engineer,' says Jason Owen-Smith, a University of Michigan sociologist who studies employee collaboration."

Why is it ironic? While these tech leaders, whose employees are connected six ways to Monday via electronic tools and the Internet, are carefully engineering in-person interactions, education is moving faster and faster towards online learning and classes.

I don't want to downplay the extraordinary educational value to be had from the Internet and technological tools - the sheer amount of information and skill instruction available is mind-boggling. Here's a link to 700 free courses online!

But maybe one of the reasons education is moving more and more online is that in-person instruction is often so dismal. Many classes don't involve real interactions, as students sit and listen to lectures or professors explaining stuff. Are students getting the benefit of learning from other people? Of learning to work with others?

It's something to wonder about.

Soviet-Style Education in the U.S.

Did the Soviets win the Cold War?

Considering the rampant support these days for Collectivist doctrine and policy here in the U.S., it's almost as if they did. And the Collectivists have an even more dangerous attempt at thought control in the works.

It's called the Common Core Standards. 

"Common Core proponents advocate a single set of standards--and inevitably a single curriculum--implemented throughout the nation and controlled by experts in Washington," says Jane Robbins of the National Association of Scholars (NAS).

Just what you want for your children, no? A single curriculum imposed by government bureaucrats, under the guise of "higher standards." Yes, the Soviets had that too, and look what it did for them.

"Common Core Standards" might sound like a return to real, classic education, but the Deweyian Progressives behind the program have made sure that any classics are studied only in bits.

No complete literary works are read. Rather than real knowledge, the focus is on "critical thinking," a Deweyian concept meant to replace reasoning skills.

The Feds have incentivized states to adopt the Common Core system and 45 states have already signed on to this frighteningly dangerous program.  

Why? The Feds are offering waivers from No Child Left Behind (NCLB) requirements (what my teacher friends call No Child Left Standing).  NCLB demands constant testing, which has turned schools into testing mills as adminstrations try to maintain their Federal funding. The opportunities for real learning are minimal. Any wonder so many students are arriving at college utterly unprepared?

Remember: who pays the Piper, calls the tune. Do we want to hear the Internationale or the Star Spangled Banner?

How can you fight against collectivist brain-washing?

If you ever wonder why the U.S. is in the fight for its life against Collectivism, wonder no further: collectivist control of education is the key.

How has the Progressive Left influenced our youth from grade school to graduate school? Read Jane Robbins article, referenced above, for the concise details.

You are key in this fight against Collectivism. How? Send a student to The Great Connections Seminar, where we study classic works of world-changing import crucial to defending and advancing liberty, and students learn how to reason well. You can see complete details, including a link to the week's schedule, here.

If you don't know a worthy student to send, there's still a way you can help. Right now, students are applying from around the nation and world (including Brazil, Argentina, Guatemala, and Ethiopia). You can enable them to attend our transformational program by contributing to our scholarship fund at this link, by calling us at 773-677-6418, or by sending a check to the RIF Institute, 9400 S. Damen Avenue, Chicago, IL 60643.

Thank you.

"Liberating Education"

Christopher Nelson, president of St. John's College in Annapolis, the all-Great Books program, expands on what a liberal arts education means.

After describing an experience his son had fixing a car, he said:

""You have now had an experience in liberal education," I suggested...Why do I call this experience liberating? Because my son had to make do without the manual or the expert. He was led to find for himself the answer by a series of questions alone."

Good research from the American Council Of Trustees and Alumni on the rising costs of tenure: about $2,300 per student at public universities, $3,400 at private institutions! 

"Binge Learning" = "Follow the child"

"Binge Learning Is Online Learning's Killer App"  has a wonderful analysis of the benefits of interest-led learning. Just exactly what we do in authentic Montessori programs.

The author's account of what can happen online reminded me of my childhood, being led from one article to the next in the encyclopedia - actually, this happens to me in Wikipedia and I'm very grateful for all the links for that reason!

Hattip Reena Kapoor

The Practicality of the Liberal Arts

Excellent, well-articulated statement about the immense value of the liberal arts from my friend and co-instructor, Andrew Humphries:

The Con of the Common Core Standards

          Good post by veteran teacher R.D. Hughes, "Common Core Standards and the Destruction of Mind and  Freedom."  Now, I'm a big proponent of teaching the classics, because these books are mostly so well-written, with such great examples of thinking, and so influential, that knowing them deeply teaches and informs the reader. Broadly speaking, I think it's a good idea to use these works as central to the curriculum.

On the other hand, I know that each individual learns differently, and has different needs and interests, so that good teaching requires the subtle art of taking this into account while presenting the student with a rich array of important knowledge. This individualism is one of the reasons I'm a major proponent of the Montessori method and have worked to bring that educational philosophy up to higher education.

I've thought for years that the No Child Left Behind program was a Soviet-style, top-down system, which has wreaked havoc on education. Ironically, this program was pushed by conservatives who wanted to correct the frightening mess caused by progressive education, which had no apparent standards (if you've ever read "The Comprachicos," you realize progressives do have "standards" or shall we say goals, but they're not to enlighten and inform.) Unfortunately, as traditionalists, the conservatives didn't seem to understand how to individualize what they wanted to see happen and their program is now dovetailing with this new turn.

So, it's awful to read about how a basically good idea, i.e. that there is a core body of knowledge and skills which are important to learn, is now being used in this Brave New World style. But the details he discusses here! Couldn't agree with him more.

Unfortunately, the bureaucratic nature of centralized education leads even the most well-intentioned to this kind of system. See this post by Michael Strong, an expert on Socratic Practice and individualized education, for a searing story of his attempts to work with the education bureaucracy and an analysis of what's wrong.