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July 25, 2006
On Line Course -- The First Article
Categories: Classes
I thought it would be a good idea to give my students in this on-line course an initial article to read and discuss in common before turning them loose to generate their own content and disucss whatever each student brought to the table. I was looking for something that got at the central themes of the course -- democracy, schools, teaching -- in an accessible manner. The article would present some interesting ideas that would prompt some discussion.
I think I may use "Teaching Against Idiocy" by Robert Parker (Phi Delta Kappan, January 2005, 344-351). Jenna, I believed, mentioned this article in my summer 670 class. I offers that schools should be about countering idiocy in socoety. Idiocy is defined in its oroginal, Greek sense -- as someone who is selfish and uninterested in communal affairs. The opposite of the idiot is the citizen. Parker goes on to aruge that public schools are the primary places to combat idiocy and cultivate citizens. He then gives ways in which schools can undertake that mission. Although Parker's argument is not especially new, his approach through the use of idiocy is a novel one. I think it will make a good starting point for the course.
Posted by Nakia at July 25, 2006 10:14 AM