The Lesson of the Monkeys I was first told of this experiment* by a former work colleague, and later discovered this illustration of it. It’s both illuminating and disturbing. There is a clunky word that describes this phenomenon: filiopietism, or the reverence of forebears or tradition carried to excess. But I prefer another term for it: the tragic circle. I believe many of these tragic circles exist, mostly unseen, in across all cultures and societites, causing untold harm. When discovered, they should be terminated. HISTORICAL NON-FICTION The Dutch East India Company was the first company to issue stocks and is the “granddaddy” of all corporations. During the Han Dynasty, in the first century BCE, Liu Xun was imprisoned from infanthood because his grandfather was accused of practicing witchcraft. Therefore, despite being of royal blood, not many wished to associate with him. Zhang He, one of his grandfather's subordinates, looked after Liu Xun and even provided him with education using his own money.
The Flipped Classroom Guide for Teachers As technology becomes increasingly common in instruction at all levels of education from kindergarten to college, the modern classroom is changing. The traditional teacher-centered classroom is falling away to give students a student-centered classroom where collaborative learning is stressed. One way educators are effectively utilizing online learning and changing the way they teach is by flipping their classrooms. What is a Flipped Classroom?
An expansive photo record of Native American life in the early 1900s Born on a Wisconsin farm in 1868, Edward Sheriff Curtis grew up to become a commercial photographer in Seattle. In 1895 he photographed Princess Angeline, the daughter of the Duwamish chief Seattle, for whom the city was named. That encounter sparked Curtis' lifelong fascination with the cultures and lives of Native American tribes. He soon joined expeditions to visit tribes in Alaska and Montana. In 1906, Curtis was approached by wealthy financier J.P. Morgan, who was interested in funding a documentary project on the indigenous people of the continent.
Unschooling Philosophy[edit] Children are natural learners[edit] A fundamental premise of unschooling is that curiosity is innate and that children want to learn. From this an argument can be made that institutionalizing children in a so-called "one size fits all" or "factory model" school is an inefficient use of the children's time, because it requires each child to learn specific subject matter in a particular manner, at a particular pace, and at a specific time regardless of that individual's present or future needs, interests, goals, or any pre-existing knowledge he or she might have about the topic. Many unschoolers believe that opportunities for valuable hands-on, community-based, spontaneous, and real-world experiences may be missed when educational opportunities are limited to, or dominated by, those inside a school building. Learning styles[edit]
Nova Classical Academy A classical education teaches children the art of learning and trains their minds to think well. Classical education has a long and distinguished history, beginning in ancient times, maturing in the Middle Ages, and becoming prominent in this country until the early 20th century, when progressive, child-centered education became the dominant model. Classical education is not, however, a nostalgic desire to return to the past. It has endured so long and is now enjoying something of a renaissance precisely because it is adaptive and equips students with the skills and knowledge to go forward and live interesting, thoughtful, and productive lives.
The Case for Preserving the Pleasure of Deep Reading When a minaret dating from the twelfth century was toppled in the fighting between rebels and government forces in Aleppo, Syria, earlier this spring, we recognized that more than a building had been lost. The destruction of irreplaceable artifacts—like the massive Buddha statues dynamited in the Bamiyan Valley in Afghanistan in 2001 and the ancient texts burned and looted in Iraq in 2003—leaves us less equipped to understand ourselves and where we came from, less able to enlarge ourselves with the awe and pleasure that these creations once evoked. Which is why we should care about the survival of a human treasure threatened right here at home: the deep reader. “Deep reading”—as opposed to the often superficial reading we do on the web—is an endangered practice, one we ought to take steps to preserve as we would a historic building or a significant work of art. None of this is likely to happen when we’re scrolling through TMZ.com.
Every Single Cognitive Bias in One Infographic View the high resolution version of today’s graphic by clicking here. The human brain is capable of incredible things, but it’s also extremely flawed at times. Science has shown that we tend to make all sorts of mental mistakes, called “cognitive biases”, that can affect both our thinking and actions.
Sandi Toksvig's top 10 unsung heroines Sandi Toksvig is well known for her TV and radio work as a broadcaster, writer and actor, and currently chairs Radio 4's News Quiz and presents Excess Baggage. Her numerous books for children include Hitler's Canary, based upon her family's experiences in Nazi-occupied Denmark, was published in 2005 to considerable acclaim. Her latest, Girls Are Best, is a knockabout look at the overlooked achievements of women down the ages. Buy Sandi Toksvig books at the Guardian bookshop "When I was a student at Cambridge I remember an anthropology professor holding up a picture of a bone with 28 incisions carved in it. "This is often considered to be man's first attempt at a calendar" she explained.
The rise of travelling families and world-schooling World-schooling, edventuring, life-learning, whatever you call it, more parents are doing it – if the proliferation of blogs and books by families on round-the-world trips is anything to go by. Driven by a desire to spend a greater amount of time with their children, escape the pressures of work and discover new cultures and lifestyles, a growing number of parents are jacking it all in, taking the kids out of school and setting off on an adventure. Take Jo and Jamie Robins, who are two weeks into a four-month South America trip with their daughters, aged 10 and seven. “We want to take some time to step back from life, the treadmill of working hard to pay a mortgage, not having enough time for family or to follow our interests,” says Jo. The Robins have only just begun their adventure and are planning to come back home later this year – maybe. However, many parents find that once they are on the road, they can’t imagine going back to their old life.