A few years ago an excellent book by Naomi Schaefer Riley, “The Faculty Lounges: and Other Reasons Why You Won’t Get the College Education You Paid For” elicited an apt book review by Stanley Fish. In his New York Times review, Fish described Riley’s book as bringing together “two subjects that are usually treated separately in the literature.” “The first is the increasing tendency, on the part of students, legislators, administrators and...
So much ignorant discourse is taking place in our country today. Purposeful lying by our nation’s elected leaders and their blindfolded followers are the soup du jour. I’m 85 and have witnessed such a shameless time once before. When I was 21, we gathered around our small b&w televisions watching the Joe McCarthy hearings. A scary time for America. So, here we are again. A dark time to live through. And, yet,...
“I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.” ― Albert Einstein Imagination is the single catalyst that drives creativity. One of twentieth century America’s leading scenic artists, Robert Edmond Jones, defined that process most appropriately when he wrote, “Imagination is the faculty for realization.” No one can create anything meaningful unless their imagination can already...
Training in the process and manufacturing industries has grown in importance as equipment and processes within the plants have become more and more complicated. Consequently, the training necessary to meet these new challenges usually falls into one, or more, of the following three broad categories: Total Training — an in-depth approach, from basics to advanced topics, covering the “why’s,” as well as the “how to’s.” An apprentice program would be an example....
An article (“Private Schools are anti-democratic. Can they be redeemed?” by Jack Schneider) in a July issue of AEON caught my attention as it dealt with an education subject that is certainly out of the mainstream. Schneider is a scholar of education history and policy at the University of Massachusetts Lowell and the author of several books. In addition, he is a regular contributor to The Washington Post and The Atlantic. Here...
According to the latest Speexx Exchange survey findings: “Just 8% of L&D (Learning & Development) professionals believe their vision and mission are fully aligned to and actively contribute to long-term company strategy.” As trainers, we often spend an inordinate amount of our time with implementation. Yet, choosing the “right training” for our trainee population should be our major focus. With that thought in mind, today’s blog will examine a series of “planning...
The majority of current “reading tests” are primarily constructed to measure vocabulary recognition. But, does vocabulary recognition mean very much? Of course not! The ability to form opinions from what individuals read is the only valid test of reading ability — and, that depends upon reading comprehension. What are the facts today? Only about one quarter of this nation’s fourth graders are able to form opinions from what they read, and only...