Still don’t know much about history
Why do so many students find history boring? Here’s why, from David Bernstein, a nonprofit executive who lives in Gaithersburg, Md., and has two sons, ages 7 and 15.
By David Bernstein
When I took high school history in the early 1980s, the job of the history teacher was to provide a steady stream of facts, and the job of the student was to commit those facts to memory. Even though I was deeply interested in public affairs, I found both American and World history boring and irrelevant. But later in life, I came to realize, like so many others, that it was impossible to understand modern politics and the interplay of ideas without some grounding in the subject.
When my son reached middle school, I was curious if teaching history had changed. At first, I was pleasantly surprised. In eighth grade, he had a charismatic teacher who
Why arguing is the best way to learn
What's the best way for kids to learn? Here's an argument that the answer is arguing. It was written by Annie Murphy Paul, a book author, magazine journalist, consultant and speaker who helps people understand how we learn and how we can do it better. She is a contributing writer for Time magazine, writes a weekly column about learning for Time.com, blogs about learning for a number of websites and contributes to various publications. She is the author of "The Cult of Personality," a cultural history and scientific critique of personality tests, and of "Origins," a book about the science of prenatal influences. She is now at work on "Brilliant: The New Science of Smart," to be published this year. This post appeared on The Brilliant Blog.
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Why arguing is the best way to learn
What's the best way for kids to learn? Here's an argument that the answer is arguing. It was written by Annie Murphy Paul, a book author, magazine journalist, consultant and speaker who helps people understand how we learn and how we can do it better. She is a contributing writer for Time magazine, writes a weekly column about learning for Time.com, blogs about learning for a number of websites and contributes to various publications. She is the author of "The Cult of Personality," a cultural history and scientific critique of personality tests, and of "Origins," a book about the science of prenatal influences. She is now at work on "Brilliant: The New Science of Smart," to be published this year. This post appeared on The Brilliant Blog.
Read full article >>