Reimagining the Educated Mind presents Student Choice Curriculum, a descriptive argument for a major change in high school education. This is a system where students select topics/subjects of interest and then, in negotiation with teachers, design the curriculum and assessment strategies they will follow. Four hypothetical students serve as models; thus, the reader sees both the overall structure of Student Choice Curriculum and the day-to-day educational practices within schools that might use it. Student Choice Curriculum will help students learn how to learn and how to situate that learning in the real world, something current educational paradigms do not accomplish.
The Educated Mind offers a bold and revitalizing new vision for today's uncertain educational system. Kieran Egan reconceives education, taking into account how we learn. He proposes the use of particular "intellectual tools"—such as language or literacy—that shape how we make sense of the world. These mediating tools generate successive kinds of understanding: somatic, mythic, romantic, philosophical, and ironic. Egan's account concludes with practical proposals for how teaching and curriculum can be changed to reflect the way children learn. "A carefully argued and readable book. . . . Egan proposes a radical change of approach for the whole process of education. . . . There is much in this book to interest and excite those who discuss, research or deliver education."—Ann Fullick, New Scientist "A compelling vision for today's uncertain educational system."—Library Journal "Almost anyone involved at any level or in any part of the education system will find this a fascinating book to read."—Dr. Richard Fox, British Journal of Educational Psychology "A fascinating and provocative study of cultural and linguistic history, and of how various kinds of understanding that can be distinguished in that history are recapitulated in the developing minds of children."—Jonty Driver, New York Times Book Review
This engaging book presents a frontal attack on current forms of schooling and a radical rethinking of the whole education process. Kieran Egan, a prize-winning scholar and innovative thinker, does not rail against teachers, administrators, or politicians
Advance Praise "From his pulpit at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, Alan Jones has influenced for good an entire continent of struggling Christians. In this provoking and helpful new book, he extends his voice to those both within and beyond the Church. A thinking Christian in a thoughtless world is what he is and what he aims to make us. This is a very good start." -- The Reverend Professor Peter J. Gomes The Memorial Church, Harvard University, and author of The Good Book "It used to be that Christian institutions and systems of dogma sustained the spiritual life of Christians. Increasingly, spirituality itself is what sustains everything else. Alan Jones is a pioneer in reimagining a Christian faith that emerges from authentic spirituality. His work stimulates and encourages me deeply." -- Brian D. McLaren, pastor (crcc.org) and author of A New Kind of Christian "This is a bracing breath of spiritual fresh air, an intelligent, witty, and passionate reclaiming of the goal of religious practice-the conversion of the heart to kindness and peace as the common faith in which we can all be believers." -- Sylvia Boorstein, author of Pay Attention, for Goodness' Sake and It's Easier Than You Think "Alan Jones is the best guide I know to lead us on the thorny but promising path that could lead to the renewal of Christianity." -- Sam Keen, author of Fire in the Belly "Compulsively readable, Alan Jones's book is a brave and brilliant attempt to res-cue Christianity from the clutches of the cruel reactionaries into which much of it has fallen. Generous-hearted Christians of all persuasions will cheer him on." -- The Most Rev. Richard Holloway, retired as primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church and Bishop of Edinburgh "Alan Jones combines the power of the mystical, the honesty of the skeptical, and the eagerness of the romantic. His vision of faith and ministry for the time to come will be a gift for many readers." -- Walter Brueggemann, Columbia Theological Seminary, Decatur, Georgia "A daring call to renew our relation to Christianity-and ourselves-through fac-ing the great questions of the heart that today permeate the life of every serious seeker and the life of our whole endangered world." -- Jacob Needleman, author of The American Soul and Lost Christianity
Through a unique combination of critical, posthumanist, and educational theories, the authors engage in a surreal journey into the worlds of feral children, alien reptoids, and faery faiths in order to understand how social movements are renegotiating the boundaries of community.
In the author's words: "This book is an honest attempt to understand what it means to be educated in today's world." His argument is this: No matter how important science and technology seem to industry or government or indeed to the daily life of people, as a society we believe that those educated in literature, history, and other humanities are in some way better informed, more knowing, and somehow more worthy of the descriptor "well educated." This 19th-century conception of the educated mind weighs heavily on our notions on how we educate our young. When we focus on intellectual and scholarly issues in high school as opposed to issues, such as communications, basic psychology, or child raising, we are continuing to rely on outdated notions of the educated mind that come from elitist notions of who is to be educated and what that means. To accommodate the realities of today's world it is necessary to change these elitist notions. We need to rethink what it means to be educated and begin to focus on a new conception of the very idea of education. Students need to learn how to think, not how to accomplish tasks, such as passing standardized tests and reciting rote facts. In this engaging book, Roger C. Schank sets forth the premises of his argument, cites its foundations in the Great Books themselves, and illustrates it with examples from an experimental curriculum that has been used in graduate schools and with K-12 students. Making Minds Less Well Educated Than Our Own is essential reading for scholars and students in the learning sciences, instructional design, curriculum theory and planning, educational policy, school reform, philosophy of education, higher education, and anyone interested in what it means to be educated in today's world.
Students typically lose knowledge and skills during the summer, particularly low-income students. Districts and private providers can benefit from the evidence on summer programming to maximize program effectiveness, quality, reach, and funding.
