Testing, grades, homework, learning by rote: these are the foundations of our conventional educational system -- and Alfie Kohn argues that they are as good as worthless. The maverick education critic discusses the deep-seated problems with traditional schooling and explores the alternative approach of progressive education. He also talks about the pitfalls of competition and national rankings.

The US is shifting a substantial portion of its military resources to the Asia-Pacific region. This “Pacific Pivot” initiative rests on a perception of China as a major threat. Koohan Paik describes what the new initiative entails; she also considers the impact of militarization on local communities and ecosystems. Also, Part Two of an interview with Ron Glass about the radical thinker and educator Paulo Freire. (Part One is here.)

Many people want to reform education. Paulo Freire sought to revolutionize it; he wanted to put learning in the service of liberation and social justice. The Brazilian educator and thinker laid out many of his ideas and strategies in the classic volume Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Ron Glass has studied and written about Freire; he also collaborated with Freire in the mid-1980s.

It seems logical: if you don't have enough education your economic prospects will be diminished, while those who have a lot are able to succeed in our purportedly knowledge-based economy.  But what if that's only partially accurate? John Marsh posits that economic inequality and poverty are not causally connected to differing levels of education. He argues that we need to reject the appealing notion of education as a cure-all and look deeper at class power and structural inequality.

Testing, grades, homework, learning by rote: these are the foundations of our conventional educational system -- and Alfie Kohn argues that they are as good as worthless. The maverick education critic discusses the deep-seated problems with traditional schooling and explores the alternative approach of progressive education. He also talks about the pitfalls of competition and national rankings.

What role do colleges and universities play in the global capitalist order? How does escalating student debt fit within broader political-economic trends and tendencies? What does the Edu-factory Collective mean when it claims that "what was once the factory is now the university"? Max Haiven navigated these issues in a recent talk.