The “what if” habit of mind for all.
I just had a fun conversation based on one of the old CPESS/Mission Hill “habits of mind”. We began by arguing about whether it’s really possible or useful to teach a “subject” called World History. How demanding can one be in such a course in honoring our First Habit: “What’s the evidence? And how credible is it?” Or, for the one I like best: “What if? supposing that?” I like that one because it forces us to at least pretend that things could have been different, that human will and opinion matters. It set me off on one of my favorite run of “what ifs”–what if we had not fought the Revolutionary War or if we had won it but ceded the south to Britain and then joined with Canada to create the USA? ? What if we hadn’t had the Civil War? What about if we hadn’t had World War I? The three together would create quite a different picture facing the 20th century!. Conquering Texas and southern California might also be skipped!
When folks argue about the need for a different kind of education based on the needs of the 2lst century I like to
When folks argue about the need for a different kind of education based on the needs of the 2lst century I like to