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Poem: None! Can you believe it? Jason has been slacking.
Statement of the Whole: Metaphor can help understanding. In this episode, Jason and Steve extend out the metaphor of a game show as it applies to the classroom and learning. In particular, they take on the currency of grades and the prize behind the curtain, a sure-fire big paycheck through a college degree. Surprises with every spin of the game wheel, to be sure.
Resources:
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The compulsory schooling issue
Poem: Something For Hope, by Robert Frost
Statement of the Whole:
The common notion is that a democracy demands a well educated populace, thus all American kids must go to school. Given that they won’t show up on their own, we have made it compulsory so as to ensure a good voting citizenry. Has that logic held? Is compulsory education even possible? Jason and Steve run down the many issues of this challenging question of compulsion in education.
Resources:
Macdonald, Kerry. “Compulsory Schooling Laws: What If We Didn’t Have Them?” Intellectual Takeout, 8 Oct. 2018, www.intellectualtakeout.org/article/compulsory-schooling-laws-what-if-we-didnt-have-them. Accessed 8 Sept. 2019.
Ravitch, Diane. Left Back: a Century of Battles over School Reform. Simon & Schuster, 2001.