Sir Ken Robinson works with critiquing and improving education systems and their priorities. In his first TED talk, the most watched of all TED talks, he discusses the important role of making mistakes in order to keep creativity alive. He states that schools educate children out of their creative powers by rebuking students for every mistake they commit. In his most recent … [Read more...] about The Book Is on the Table: School Is a Creativity Killer
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One Nation Under Who?: Americans Don’t Understand Free Speech
Recently, the Supreme Court of the United States has been hearing arguments on whether the state of Massachusetts forces abortion protesters (whether pro-choice or pro-life) to stand too far away from abortion clinics. The justices questioned whether the 35 feet mandated by Massachusetts was too far--it could be potentially infringing on protesters’ First Amendment rights, … [Read more...] about One Nation Under Who?: Americans Don’t Understand Free Speech
The Book Is on the Table: Where Do Children Learn Not to Steal?
In junior high, I remember studying with classmates who disrespected and treated their peers and teachers rudely. To them, harmful jokes sounded funny, dishonest acts were appealing, and disobeying a teacher seemed brave. Student who didn’t look up to these actions were seen as too serious, boring, silly. Many teachers spoke against this sort of behavior, but their lectures … [Read more...] about The Book Is on the Table: Where Do Children Learn Not to Steal?
The Book Is on the Table: Monolingualism in America
As the world becomes more bilingual because of globalization, among other reasons, Americans remain monolingual, falling behind on foreign language studies in high schools and universities. Only 18% of Americans speak a second language while 53% of Europeans speak more than one language. This discrepancy is worrisome for several reasons: Americans do not gain the intellectual … [Read more...] about The Book Is on the Table: Monolingualism in America
Girls on Film: The Infamous Chick Flick
The genre of a "Chick Flick" is very confusing to me. This category is almost always linked with another one. More often than not, a chick flick falls into the "romantic comedy" genre as well. If not comedy, at least some aspect of romance must be involved as well. But then what are the qualifications for a romantic comedy to fall under the category of chick flick as … [Read more...] about Girls on Film: The Infamous Chick Flick