Long Way Home
Going round the bend works. Sometimes.
It’s been a couple of weeks since last we spoke, mostly because life has been more than crazy for me and my little family. My wife and daughter have been ill, the Ohio Valley suffered a historic flood (again), and I’ve been wrapping up this little work known as my qualifying exams (essentially, chapters 1 and 2 of my dissertation).
When one of my doctoral buddies asked me how I felt after hitting send on that particular email, the best response I could manage was to call up memories of Cool Runnings and the following GIF…
Now that I’ve bored you with my whining and tales of not-so daring-do, let’s get on with this week’s newsletter with 10 things I feel are worth your time exploring…
A few weeks ago, Zane Lowe from Apple Music got the chance to enter creative genius Brian Eno’s studio. Eno talks about his creative process, including the custom software he runs to piece together different pieces of his compositions constantly. They share some tea and look at the lights Eno works on when he’s not writing music, which are just as creative as his music. Looking into the future of education, as we ask students to solve real problems and not just take tests, they’ll need exposure to creative folks to fill their minds with inspiration. Oh, and teachers could use a bit of this inspiration, too.
John Lithgow gives voice to Timothy Snyder’s “20 Lessons on Tyranny,” ideas we need right now, especially here in the US.
“The rapid rise of generative artificial intelligence is exposing a glaring disconnect in teacher preparation. While forward-thinking superintendents are rolling up their sleeves to build AI literacy among teachers, college programs tasked with preparing the next generation of educators are largely absent from the conversation. This isn’t just a missed opportunity; it is an existential crisis for teacher prep programs.”
That’s the lead for an article on how teacher prep programs are failing to bring AI into conversations with budding teachers. Ignore it or embrace it, we can’t avoid the subject, lest we repeat the ignorance and apathy of the past two decades as many teacher prep programs avoided talking about any technology advances, save for PowerPoint.
““Disengaged,” “unmotivated,” “fragile,” “behind.” These are just a few of the negative labels applied to young people today. We read stories about how they’re suffering from pandemic learning loss and an adolescent mental health crisis. “Kids are addicted to their phones” is a common complaint. It all adds up to an even less helpful label: “the anxious generation.””
How about we try something different in education? Maybe we should try focusing on what students do really well, leaning into their passions and skills, rather than constantly label them by their faults or simply throwing up our hands and blaming the phones for our struggles? (Don’t get me started on the fear-mongering luddite that is Jonathan Haidt…)
“Even suggesting civil discourse today can feel naïve. Some have written it off entirely. And yet, I remain desperate to find examples of thoughtful, intelligent people engaging across ideological divides—people who wrestle with difficult issues, challenge each other’s thinking, and explore the real-world consequences of policy decisions. If such models exist, they are marginalized, unsupported, or invisible in today’s media landscape.” - this article on the loss of civil discourse.
Back to thinking about creativity, can we agree that one of the prime culprits in deadening the spark of creative genius in our students is the “five-paragraph essay?” Let’s provide space for students to give themselves permission to be creative, whether writing or any other creative act.
NewsHour asks Alton Brown for his advice for home cooks wanting to improve their cooking, and Brown responds with "read the recipe," which is optimal advice for anyone wanting to learn something; start by reading about it before you do anything else.
Wanna combat misinformation? Start with great history instruction:
Since context is key to critical thinking, learning to analyze information about current events likely requires knowledge about politics and history, as well as practice at scrutinizing sources. Fortunately, that is what social studies classes are for. Social studies researchers often describe this kind of critical thinking as “historical thinking”: a way to evaluate evidence about the past and assess its reliability. My own research has shown that high school students can make relatively quick progress on some of the surface features of historical thinking, such as learning to check a text’s date and author. But the deep questioning involved in true historical thinking is much harder to learn.
Somehow, childhood media influences came up in conversation with a colleague. I mentioned how influential the Muppets were in my early years (they’re the gateway to good comedy) and then we went down the bunny trail that is public television. You may never have heard of it, but a series called “Tomes and Talismans” is a core memory for me. Here’s the first episode (the entire series on available through Mississippi Public Broadcasting):
Finally, in what might be one of the finest examples of project-based learning, Ewan McGregor and his buddy Charley Boorman reunite once again for another epic motorcycle journey. Their first trip, Long Way Round, took them from London to New York, heading east for around 19,000 miles. Further adventures took them from the top of Scotland to Cape Town, South Africa, and from Cape Horn to Los Angeles. The kicker on each of these trips is that, for long stretches, it’s just the boys and their bikes, wheeling their way through some of the worst road conditions known to man. Oftentimes, there are no roads. Creativity happens on the fly.
This time, the boys travel around Europe, doing their best to survive and thrive on classic motorcycles that don’t always cooperate. The show premiers on AppleTV+ in May, with all previous series available to watch there now.
That’s it, starfighters. See ya next week!