THE BECOMING RADICAL
Radical Scholarship
the becoming radical
A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness
by
Supporting Common Core Is Supporting Entire Reform Machine
Supporting Common Core is supporting either an increase or diversion of education tax dollars for funding CC-aligned textbooks, CC-aligned materials, CC-based high-stakes tests, CC-related teacher inservice and workshops, and expanded analysis of CC-based test data. Supporting Common Core is supporting a continuation (at least) or an expansion (likely) of high-stakes testing for children, despite
YESTERDAY
DEC 19
Our Dystopia Is Now: The Circle
For twenty-first century readers and students, George Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984 poses, I think, a temporal paradox. 1984, George Orwell Orwell’s “other world” appears simultaneously a horrifying totalitarian future possibility for humanity as well as a technological mutt of what someone in the past speculated about the future (consider the pneumatic tubes). As I read The Circle by Dave Eggers,
DEC 18
Two-Headed Dragon of Education Policy
Recently, I posted a chart highlighting that current “No Excuses” Reform (NER) claims and policies are no different than traditional problems and policies in public education.* The great ironies of NER include that NER perpetuates the inequities of society and the current education system and that NER does not seek a reformed and revolutionary public education system but a dismantling of public sc
AlterNet: Why Charter Schools Are Foolish Investments for States Facing Economic Challenges
Why Charter Schools Are Foolish Investments for States Facing Economic Challenges
DEC 17
VAMboozled by Empty-Suit Leadership in SC
Rep. Andy Patrick, R-Hilton Head Island (SC), has made two flawed claims recently, one about leadership and another about teacher evaluation (“S.C. lawmaker proposes teacher evaluation plan,” Charleston Post and Courier, December 10, 2013).* First, and briefly, Patrick asserts that SC needs leadership for superintendent of education, discounting the importance of experience or expertise. As I will
DEC 15
GUEST POST: Literature, Young Adult Fiction, and the Common Core, Lauren Girouard
Lauren Girouard is a student in my first year seminar (writing intensive). Lauren is an avid reader—a Neil Gaiman fan—and when she chose to write about Common Core, I asked her permission to post this as a rare voice of a student. I hope you enjoy this fine essay by a student who has come to love reading in the way we often claim we are seeking. Literature, Young Adult Fiction, and the Common Core
DEC 14
remnant 44: “I make my own announcements. Into the garbage can, so it echoes.”
remnant 44: “I make my own announcements. Into the garbage can, so it echoes.”.
Faith-Based Education Reform: Common Core as Standards-and-Testing Redux
Let’s start with irony: Compelling research suggests that the public in the U.S. is unique in its commitment to belief, often at the expense of evidence—leading me to identify the U.S. as a belief culture. Additionally, while I remain convinced that the U.S. is a belief culture, I also argue that, below, the political cartoon posted at Truthout captures another important dynamic: Many committed to
NCTQ’s Free Pass in an Era of Press-Release Journalism
NCTQ’s Free Pass in an Era of Press-Release Journalism.
Our Dystopia Is Now: The Circle
Our Dystopia Is Now: The Circle (Eggers) and Feed (Anderson)
DEC 18
AlterNet: Why Charter Schools Are Foolish Investments for States Facing Economic Challenges
Why Charter Schools Are Foolish Investments for States Facing Economic Challenges
DEC 17
DEC 14
Faith-Based Education Reform: Common Core as Standards-and-Testing Redux
Faith-Based Education Reform: Common Core as Standards-and-Testing Redux
NCTQ’s Free Pass in an Era of Press-Release Journalism
NCTQ’s Free Pass in an Era of Press-Release Journalism