All posts tagged: Teaching

New LDS curriculum flops in teaching eternal polygamy to children

New LDS curriculum flops in teaching eternal polygamy to children

Published by skeptic

(RNS) — This guest column is from Carol Lynn Pearson, author of “The Ghost of Eternal Polygamy,” reacting to the 2025 curriculum for children of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This year, the entire denomination is studying church history, so it’s not surprising that the issue of plural marriage would come up. But Pearson — and many others — can see major problems with the way it’s handled, especially because the church is presenting it as a good thing that came from the Lord. The curriculum uses Joseph Smith’s decision to practice polygamy as an object lesson that we should all have “faith to obey a law from the Lord, even when it’s hard.” While it may be a step forward for the church to be acknowledging the reality of Smith’s plural marriage instead of trying to sweep that history under the rug, I think Pearson is correct that any theology that tells children to obey even if their conscience says not to is a step backward. — JKR Guest column by …

Creationist teaching advocate appointed to chair Northern Ireland Education Authority

Creationist teaching advocate appointed to chair Northern Ireland Education Authority

Published by skeptic

Northern Ireland Humanists is deeply concerned by the recent appointment of Mervyn Storey, an advocate for teaching creationism in schools, as chair of the Education Authority. This places him at the head of the institution responsible for delivering Northern Ireland’s education services. Mervyn Storey, a member of the Free Presbyterian Church and former vice-chair of the Caleb Foundation, has a long history of promoting creationism and opposing evolutionary science in schools. Mervyn is a former MLA. As chair of the Assembly’s Education Committee, he pushed for intelligent design to be taught in classrooms and objected to evolutionary exhibits at the Ulster Museum. His record raises significant concerns about his ability to uphold the impartiality and inclusivity that education demands. Northern Ireland Humanists Coordinator Boyd Sleator commented: ‘Mr Storey’s track record of pushing for creationism in schools raises serious concerns about his ability to lead an education system that should teach children facts, not pseudoscience. We will be writing to the Education Minister to seek reassurance that creationism will not be taught in schools as scientifically …

2024 Teaching Awards gold winners revealed

2024 Teaching Awards gold winners revealed

Published by skeptic

More from this theme Recent articles Sixteen teachers, leaders, schools, and colleges have been honoured for excellence in education at the 2024 Pearson National Teaching Awards. Dubbed “the Oscars of the teaching profession,” eight ‘gold awards’ were announced for the first time on Saturday at a glitzy ceremony in London, with the rest revealed during the week on the BBC’s The One Show and in The Sunday Times. Categories awarded individuals and institutions from early years, primary, secondary and further education that go above and beyond for their learners, having a lasting impact on their lives, on the profession and in their local communities.  Judges selected the winners from thousands of nominations, revealing shortlisted ‘silver award’ winners in June. Education secretary Bridget Phillipson said: “I want to congratulate all the winners – your unwavering support and dedication to children and young people, giving them the chance to achieve their ambitions and thrive in the process, is hugely inspirational and deserves celebration.” Sharon Hague, managing director of school assessment and qualifications at Pearson UK, added: “It is an honour and a privilege to …

Teaching Philosophy with Thought Experiments, Jabran Amanat-Lee

Teaching Philosophy with Thought Experiments, Jabran Amanat-Lee

Published by skeptic

I am in the business of teaching philosophy and I have taught different kinds of students from many different backgrounds with different kinds of attitudes toward philosophy in my undergraduate classes. As a philosophy teacher, I am curious about philosophy pedagogy in general and have spoken to many in the business about philosophy teaching-related topics. Almost all of these encounters with other philosophy teachers highlight something similar to what I have also observed through my own teaching experience. Many introductory philosophy students often have the attitude that philosophy thought experiments are obviously stupid. This is a common observation among those who teach introductory philosophy courses. The issue is that often we introduce our students to philosophy thought experiments in hopes of facilitating robust in-class discussions; however, instead, we end up spending time and effort explaining to students why the particular thought experiment in question is not stupid, or we end up trying to convince our students that there is a utility and value to thought experiments in general. In any case, our teaching plan ends up working …

Education Manchester head banned from teaching

Education Manchester head banned from teaching

Published by skeptic

A former head who found fame on the television series Education Greater Manchester has been banned from teaching over “failing to prevent” off-rolling and unsafe attendance record-keeping six years ago. A teacher misconduct panel ruled Povey failed to protect pupils from the “risk of potential harm” by causing the amendment of pupil data to show pupils attended school when they had not, and by failing to properly record pupils leaving during the school day. Povey was suspended, and later resigned, from Harrop Fold school over the off-rolling in July 2018. A ruling by the Teaching Regulation Agency, published today, has now banned Povey from teaching “indefinitely”, ruling that his actions “constituted conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute”. Povey said while “administrative mistakes” were made “on my watch”, he will “never accept that I was involved in any deliberate plan to off-roll or to change attendance data”. He is considering appealing the ban to the high court. Head ‘failed to prevent’ off-rolling The panel ruled Povey had “failed to prevent” off-rolling. An investigation found …

Teaching assistant recruitment a struggle for 3 in 4 heads

Teaching assistant recruitment a struggle for 3 in 4 heads

Published by skeptic

Three in four headteachers are struggling to recruit teaching assistants, with most secondary and special school leaders anticipating needing more to cope with rising SEND demand. A government-commissioned report also found low pay was a “key reason why some TAs considered leaving the role”, and that a lack of opportunities for progression is a bugbear for around half of them. The Department for Education commissioned the report from CFE Research, which includes surveys of school leaders and TAs by pollster YouGov in May and June 2023. Seventy-five per cent of leaders surveyed found it fairly or extremely difficult to recruit TAs. This was higher for secondary school leaders (82 per cent). Retention was “less of a concern, but still difficult for under a third (29 per cent) of leaders and the challenges were again greater for secondary leaders (47 per cent) compared to those leading primary schools (25 per cent)”.  Eighty-nine per cent of leaders said they struggled to recruit TAs with the desired level of skills. Low pay is driving TAs away The survey …

Utopia, Dystopia, and Democracy: Teaching Philosophy in Wartime Ukraine

Utopia, Dystopia, and Democracy: Teaching Philosophy in Wartime Ukraine

Published by skeptic

1. Introduction  Why teach philosophy in wartime Ukraine? It’s a fair question. It’s a necessary question. Given the variety and gravity of Ukraine’s urgent needs, few will think to themselves: “But what about philosophy? Is Ukraine getting enough philosophy?” As two scholars committed to teaching philosophy in wartime Ukraine—one American, one Ukrainian—we believe an explanation is in order.  Philosophers sometimes take a defensive stance when the value of their activity is called into question. Like other disciplines that bake no bread, philosophy is perpetually engaged in legitimizing itself to uninterested students, dubious deans, and skeptical trustees. At all but the most well-endowed universities, there is perennial pressure on philosophers to justify the existence of their positions and departments. Yet a discipline that prides itself on questioning fundamental assumptions about reality, knowledge, and goodness has no right to be dismissive or dogmatic when it comes time to question itself. There is a duty to consider not just the role of philosophy in times of crisis, but the role of philosophy in the time of this crisis. …

What Hamster Kombat is teaching us about game marketing | The DeanBeat

What Hamster Kombat is teaching us about game marketing | The DeanBeat

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GamesBeat Next is connecting the next generation of video game leaders. And you can join us, coming up October 28th and 29th in San Francisco! Take advantage of our buy one, get one free pass offer. Sale ends this Friday, August 16th. Join us by registering here.  Game marketing is changing, thanks to Hamster Kombat, a tapping mini-game on Telegram that has been downloaded more than 300 million times since March. It took only 73 days for Hamster Kombat to reach its first 100 million users. Traditional marketing tactics are losing their power when it comes to attracting the attention of target audiences, said Tavia Wong, chief marketing officer at Credbull, a small private credit company in Asia with a dozen employees. The age of the viral game is back, at least on one platform. And many are starting to copy the formula like PiP World, Bondex, Gamee and Liithos. In an interview with GamesBeat, she said that Web3 tap-and-earn games like Hamster Kombat are the unexpected inspiration for marketing professionals, and she believes every …

More Art School Classes Are Teaching AI This Fall

More Art School Classes Are Teaching AI This Fall

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When undergraduate students return to the Ringling College of Art and Design this fall, one of the school’s newest offerings will be an AI certificate. Ringling is just the latest of several top art schools to offer undergraduate students courses that focus on or integrate artificial intelligence tools and techniques. ARTnews spoke to experts and faculty at Ringling, Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), and Florida State University about how they construct curriculum; how they teach AI in consideration of its limitations and concerns about ethics and legal issues; as well as why they think it’s important for artists to learn. Related Articles “Knowing how these tools work and how they don’t work, and what they can do and what they can’t do is, we think an important step in a successful artist standing out, right?” Ringling’s AI coordinator, Rick Dakan, told ARTnews. “There’s a million different ways you can apply AI that aren’t having it write the story or make the art for you.” Ringling’s certificate requires the completion of …

New Series: AI and Teaching

New Series: AI and Teaching

Published by skeptic

Questions about the relationship between information technology and education are among the oldest in philosophy, dating back to Plato’s famous criticisms of writing in the Phaedrus. But they have a renewed importance now that AI dominates the educational landscape. Indeed, the correlation between chatGPT-use and the academic calendar suggests that some of the most pressing issues about AI are precisely those concerning its use in education. Some economists’ predictions suggest the same. According to one analysis, 13 of the top 20 occupations affected by the advent of large-language models are post-secondary teachers of various kinds. (Philosophy and religion teachers ranked 6th, behind telemarketers and our colleagues in English, foreign language, history, and law.) The moment thus calls for thoughtful reflection on the nature of AI and teaching. The issues go far beyond the bane of many instructors’ existence, chatGPT-enabled plagiarism. Yes, the infamous LLM can produce an OK-looking term paper. But it can also be used to generate ideas, edit papers, flesh out an outline, or play devil’s advocate in a dialogue—all of which have …