Former Employee Comes to Trump University’s Defense, Ed-Tech CEO Has a Message
Here’s the long-delayed fourth edition of my education newsletter, which you can also subscribe to here. For those new to this, welcome. You can catch up here and here. Now let’s get into some notable posts from recent weeks:
Schooled by Trump: The now defunct Trump University has been under attack for allegedly scamming students, some of whom recalled being pressured into giving glowing reviews. Roger Schank, who was the chief learning officer of the “university” from its inception until 2007, wrote a post defending the school—at least the period he was there. “Trump U was trying to do something different,” he wrote. The former Yale and Stanford professor further argued that the school’s lack of accreditation is irrelevant. “The government is hardly the expert on education, and neither I think are faculty members whose interests are typically research.” He penned a follow-up post offering a look into the entrepreneurship courses offered during his tenure there. I’d love some former students of Trump University to weigh in. Write a post using #EdInsights in the body, like this.
Skilled Up for 21st-Century Work: Ed-tech startups have been instrumental in rethinking traditional education models. They also play a key role in training workers for jobs of the future. But what about the workers of today? Udemy CEO Dennis Yang’s message for the tech community. He wrote in his post:
In our eagerness to solve for the needs of tomorrow's workers, let's not forget the people who can keep the economy humming while that next generation skills up.
CS for CS Sake: President Obama wants computer science, or CS, taught in schools. So does New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio, who is pushing for CS education in all the schools by 2020. But is CS as important as reading, writing and arithmetic? That’s the question Influencer Anant Agarwal poses to MIT computer science professor John Guttag. “There is no gigantic rush to turn people into computer scientists,” Guttag, said, cautioning against “computer science for computer science’s sake.”
Impending Teacher Shortage: It’s time to reboot the teaching profession, says educator Sebastien Turbot, who cited this surprising stat in his post:
According to the UN, the world will need to recruit 25.8 million school teachers to provide every child with a primary education by 2030. If the current trends continue, 34% of the world’s countries will not have enough teachers to provide every child with primary education by 2030.
The longtime observer of innovation in education detailed effective lessons he has learned about building an effective and creative workforce, including enabling teachers to go beyond textbook-sourced lessons.
(Photo: Antwan Wilson)
An Answer to Education Reform?: A plan to revise the convoluted enrollment process in Oakland, Calif., has polarized the community. At the center of the fight is Superintendent Antwan Wilson, who was instrumental in working to push through a similar plan in Denver, CO. Here are excerpts from my interview with him:
Maya Pope-Chappell: The New York Times recently wrote about you and the row over enrollment in Oakland. The article quoted Robert C. Pianta, dean of the University of Virginia’s Curry School of Education, as saying, “If he gets it right, it’s a model for moving past the polarized sense of reform that we have right now.” Would you agree with his statement about you?
Antwan Wilson: I would agree with that. I find that the polarization in the arguing is distracting and it’s harmful. What we really need to focus on is quality and getting people access and equity. By moving away from arguing about district versus charter and moving towards giving parents the same opportunities that more affluent parents have to determine where their children go to school, puts parents and families in the driver’s seat.
MPC: Early results from common enrollment systems in Denver and New Orleans show some successes, but parents there have complained that there aren’t enough quality schools to choose from. An enrollment system can’t resolve that on it’s own, so what are some other ways to create more equity and access to quality education—especially among low-income families?
AW: I think funding is a huge piece—giving more money to kids who need it most. Expanding school time, [which] benefits all children. Another strategy is mentoring and tutoring. These are strategies we know work. And then the last thing, you have to address access to rigorous programming in schools.
Read and share the full post here. Weigh in with your own perspective using #EdInsights in the body of the post. Click here to write now.
Photo Credit: Getty/Helen H. Richardson
Board Certified Psychotherapist (LCSW-BCD), Long Beach CoC Board Member, Non-Profit Exec. Director, Disabled U.S. Veteran (Army/Marine Corps)
8 年The Intersection of Donald Trump, Jury Duty and Los Angeles Traffic While driving home from jury duty on Friday, the usual Los Angeles “bumper to bumper” traffic provided me with ample time to contemplate life’s great mysteries and explore our current social challenges. It also allowed me to test my ability to resist primal urges to engage in a traffic induced fit of road rage, but that’s another story. As my mind aimlessly wondered from one topic to the next, I began to think about the second of two days of Jury Duty that I had just endured. While I slowly digested the event s of the day, a radio show’s topic wafted into my car from another Angelino fighting the rush hour congestion. The voice sounded like the unmistakably loose-jowled and often inflammatory rhetoric of Rush Limbaugh. His fiery words had something to do with the Black Lives Matter campaign and unrelated protests related to cancelled Chicago rally for presidential hopeful Donald Trump. As the car moved out of range my mind drifted back to thoughts of Jury Duty. Earlier that day, while waiting to be selected from the jury pool, I was in earshot of many conversations that debated the concept and notion of civic duty as a whole. I began to realize that this was a common topic of conversation, and also that I heard it repeatedly over the course of the two days of Jury Duty. The conversations basically centered on the broad subject of “civic duty” and its relation to each citizen’s real or perceived responsibility to their nation. In general most of the conversations changed to meet the point of view and background of the person that was speaking. These conversations ranged from complaints about the obligatory nature of jury duty to other areas where some jurors felt there should be a compulsory link to civic duty (e.g. voting in presidential elections, military service, etc.). These wide ranging topics varied in their depth, viability, and links to reality; however, they all harkened back to the notion that each of us has some civic responsibility to this nation. Naturally, my next inclination was to seek a definitive answer to the question of what each American’s civic duty to our nation truly is and what it should be. In an effort to explore this topic further, I tried to remember a conversation I had with my Marine Corps recruiter, when I was fresh out of high school, about service and responsibility to our nation. This was because that was my first real thought or notion about what each of us owes to our country. I remember being awe struck by his sense of duty and honor when he described his responsibility to protect the country from those who sought to do it harm. More specifically, I remember a phrase he uttered that I would hear repeatedly throughout my military career. That phrase was “I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic”. This phrase is part of the military enlistment oath, and is extremely fitting in context to the armed services. But what oath or pledge do regular citizen need to follow to guide their individual sense of civic duty? One might naturally point to the pledge of allegiance; however, it is more of a marriage vow between you and your country than a defining statement of your responsibility to your nation. This lead me back to the military enlistment oath and its mention of the U.S. constitution. In my opinion, the constitution has always been a symbol of what my rights as a citizen are and not a symbol of what I must do. In other words, it was not a document specifically prescribing what I owe to my country. But as I pondered on the subject a bit more, the memorable and often quoted stanza “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” began to bounce around in my head. As I looked around at the sea of stalled traffic, I began to take stock of the people locked away in their cars, slowly swimming upstream to destinations unknown. I assume in their own way, each of these people where engaged in the proverbial “pursuit of happiness” and that they were actively exercising their rights to life and liberty. I wondered if they took for granted the blood, sweat and tears that were shed to ensure those rights. If so what do we owe this country for providing that right and the past sacrifices that have been made? This is where the notion of civic duty and the radio broadcast from Rush Limbaugh came full circle. Since there is no true doctrine that states our obligation to our country and fellow citizens, maybe we should look to the constitution as a guide. Just as jury duty is inextricably linked to civic duty, maybe in some way it is also our civic duty to boldly embrace and defend the ideas and actions that foster life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Perhaps we can reframe the conversation to state that it is not only our right to enjoy the benefits spelled out in that great stanza, it is our duty to embrace and defend it as well. If this was the case, maybe Mr. Limbaugh would look at the protesters as defenders of our way of life rather than detractors. He may even begin to see parallels between the founding fathers who were seen as dissidents and political terrorists by the authority of the British Crown before they escaped persecution and left to establish this great nation. With this framing of the notion of civic responsibility and the constitution, he may have drawn a link between civic duty and the need for dissenting voices. In some ways the protests are a manifestation of this reframed idea of the constitution; that is, that we must defend those who are voiceless. Political dissent and protest are the primary tools of the powerless and the marginalized. Accordingly, one could even make the stretch to say that the protests (which were aimed at showing dissent for Donald Trump’s controversial vision for this country) are an extension of our civic duty to speak out against his divisive rhetoric. Additionally, the notion of protest is not just reserved for Republicans. The link between protest and civic duty that I’m suggesting should be equally utilized for Democratic, Socialist and Libertarians alike. Perhaps we could all benefit from a simple exploration of what civic duty means and what we owe to this nation of ours. It is more than likely that there will be more protests, Jury Duty is here to stay and Rush Limbaugh isn’t putting down his gold plated microphone anytime soon. But in these moments of civil unrest, uncertainty and fear of the future, maybe we should all take stock of what life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness really means to the people around us and to our fellow citizens. Far too much time has been spent on our own pursuits, perhaps it is time to harken back to the words of JFK… and ask what we can do for our country. https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/intersection-donald-trump-jury-duty-los-angeles-washington-mba?trk=pulse-det-nav_art
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8 年Total click bailt
Communications and Marketing Program Manager at Villanova University
8 年Total click bait.
Computer Hardware Professional
8 年Hey, MANY Americans get paid U.S.Dollars abroad. So why not, my concept (for those that WON'T learn English) or pledge to this country?