The world does not need another fanboy post about Radiohead. I get it. But my recent experience with 1997’s OK Computer has me thinking about some pretty trenchant education topics, so here I go. (Plus, many of my students were six years old – six! – when it dropped, so I wonderContinue reading “Okay, computer.”
Author Archives: Chris Osmond
A Tale of Three Divas
My head’s buzzing after last night’s Grammys. To wit: 1 – I do not dig The Arcade Fire. I respect them, I get them, and I am thrilled to see Merge Records get this big boost, but the band itself leaves me cold. The thing is, they seem so serious about NOT leaving me cold. TheirContinue reading “A Tale of Three Divas”
Gunning Down the Dream
My students and I had such interesting talks yesterday about Nathan Heller’s meditation on the career of Natalie Portman, especially as it’s illuminated by Ray McDermott and Herve Varenne’s monster 1995 essay “Culture as Disabiity.” Why are we (or at least Heller) uncomfortable with Portman’s maintenance of so many identities, so many role positions? IsContinue reading “Gunning Down the Dream”
Privatization, Teach For America, and “Common Sense”
Thanks to Rob Helfenbein at IUPUI for sharing this via Facebook. http://seattleducation2010.wordpress.com/2011/02/04/why-i-am-not-a-defender-of-the-status-quo-in-education-because-the-status-quo-is-failed-ed-reforms/ I am grateful for the bright line it draws between competition and privatization, which so many students don’t see initially. And why would they? We are easily dazzled by the idea that “competition encourages innovation” when it is divorced from its free-market roots.Continue reading “Privatization, Teach For America, and “Common Sense””
audit culture in Charlotte-Meck
Check out this broadcast of WFAE’s “Charlotte Talks,” which discusses upcoming funding challenges in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools but along the way gives some insight into the “audit culture” as it looks in school right now. I only heard the first 15 min live but imagine the rest of the hour is also time well-spent. http://wfae.org/wfae/19_100_0.cfm?id=6878&action=display What mostContinue reading “audit culture in Charlotte-Meck”