Stories About Education: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

Today's episode begins with a story in the news about a teacher who resigned from teaching because "I can't stand to make children cry anymore" and because she could not tolerate the idea that her own child would have to attend her school. We will discuss the plight of good teachers faced with giving endless standardized tests and the plight of children whose individualities are strangled in a life long quest for grades and degrees. We will tell the stories of Jean Piaget, Lev Vygotsky and other developmentalists and what we know about learning that could shape a "good" educational system. We will spend some time on the role politics plays in shaping an educational process in which classes are too large, teachers are paid wages such that they often cannot live in the communities in which they work and have to supplement their incomes outside of school and most importantly have little or nothing to say about the educational process itself. Finally, we can share stories about the love of learning and the development of creative citizens.