Teaching with Integrity!
I’m re-reading an ancient book–”Surely You’re Joking, Mr Feynman”. Well, its 27 years old and some readers weren’t born yet. None of my grandchildren, in fact. But I didn’t remember it’s wonderful final chapter–on what science vs junk science is. All the data we collect these days re school deform is clearly of the latter variety. But I’m reminded that so is a lot of what my side promotes too. Not everything good, I used to say, has to be labeled science. But Richard Feynman is making a different point and it fits well with our “five habits of mind”–for all subjects, including those we shouldn’t have to defend as science. He even specifically mentions–in 1985–what passes for science in the field of Education. “They’re doing everything right. The form is perfect…But it doesn’t work.” What’s missing he calls “scientific integrity.” (Maybe just plain integrity?) “In summary,” he says, “the idea is to try to give all of the information to help others judge the value of your contribution. ” “Not to fool yourself” is the first essential says Feynman. While some subjects aren’t susceptible to scientific analysis, all subject matter shares that with science: don’t fool ourselves. “The long history of learning how to not fool
