Philosophy
In difficult financial times, schools tend to carry an undue amount of of the burden of cutbacks. Art and music often get cut quickly because we view education through such a utilitarian lens that anything that enriches children intellectually, but not likely to enrich them monetarily is deemed useless. We train workers instead of creating interesting people.
But what of our more intellectually endowed students? These are kids who generally are going to excel no matter what we do. With educational resources limited should we spend less on gifted education since we know they will get good, if not maximal educations without the spending while others need it more than they? Or are these kids special in that they are more likely to play a greater role in the culture and therefore it is a societal investment that would pay increased dividends? Or are both of these warped ways of looking at the question?
- Education
A couple of education questions: Thongor! asks, What are your thoughts on K-12 math education in the United States?This is something I think about quite a lot as I not only have children, a deep passion for science and science education, but am working...
- Are Advanced Degrees More Than Intellectual Masters-bation?
A Stranger (who in fact is not at all a stranger, although he is stranger than most) asked me to comment on this a while ago. Many of the writers contend that a Masters degree is a waste of time and money, a meaningless degree propped up by institutions...
- Nursing And Private Colleges
Let's start of the week with our first two questions. Annie asks, Why is nursing excluded from health care media reportage, health policy decisions, and from all discussions and major decisions about health care?The only time we hear about nursing...
- When Is Philosophy Appropriate?
There was an interesting discussion over at The Nonsequitur, one of my favorite blogs out there, a couple weeks ago about teaching philosophy before college. Certainly, it is not a good thing that we wait until university-level education to begin people...
- How Do You Change A Culture?
A wonderful piece over at Mad Melancholic Feminista the other day wherein Aspazia argues for the value of female only colleges. Her significant other is a biology prof at an all-female institution and Spaz was marvelling at an assignment his students...
Philosophy
How Important is Gifted Education?
In difficult financial times, schools tend to carry an undue amount of of the burden of cutbacks. Art and music often get cut quickly because we view education through such a utilitarian lens that anything that enriches children intellectually, but not likely to enrich them monetarily is deemed useless. We train workers instead of creating interesting people.
But what of our more intellectually endowed students? These are kids who generally are going to excel no matter what we do. With educational resources limited should we spend less on gifted education since we know they will get good, if not maximal educations without the spending while others need it more than they? Or are these kids special in that they are more likely to play a greater role in the culture and therefore it is a societal investment that would pay increased dividends? Or are both of these warped ways of looking at the question?
- Education
A couple of education questions: Thongor! asks, What are your thoughts on K-12 math education in the United States?This is something I think about quite a lot as I not only have children, a deep passion for science and science education, but am working...
- Are Advanced Degrees More Than Intellectual Masters-bation?
A Stranger (who in fact is not at all a stranger, although he is stranger than most) asked me to comment on this a while ago. Many of the writers contend that a Masters degree is a waste of time and money, a meaningless degree propped up by institutions...
- Nursing And Private Colleges
Let's start of the week with our first two questions. Annie asks, Why is nursing excluded from health care media reportage, health policy decisions, and from all discussions and major decisions about health care?The only time we hear about nursing...
- When Is Philosophy Appropriate?
There was an interesting discussion over at The Nonsequitur, one of my favorite blogs out there, a couple weeks ago about teaching philosophy before college. Certainly, it is not a good thing that we wait until university-level education to begin people...
- How Do You Change A Culture?
A wonderful piece over at Mad Melancholic Feminista the other day wherein Aspazia argues for the value of female only colleges. Her significant other is a biology prof at an all-female institution and Spaz was marvelling at an assignment his students...