​In this third segment from ClassCast Episode #005, teacher and philosopher Jim Dunning and host Ryan Tibbens discuss how we do school, how we should do school, and how students' goals and agency affect the morality of our educational institutions. Starting off with how schools operate and why reading and lecture may (or may not) offer value, they move on to the differences between teacher and student goals, exam scores, and student agency. Ultimately, the question is this: Is school, as it currently functions, moral?

ClassCast Episode 005 features a wide-ranging discussion between teacher and philosopher Jim Dunning and our host, Ryan Tibbens.  With a focus on schools and how they support (or fail to support) effective education, these accomplished teachers address everything from purpose to data to unschooling while citing their expansive personal and professional experiences as well as a variety of research.  Dunning's ideas about parent and student choice are bound to challenge, and perhaps intrigue, even the most progressive educators, students, and policymakers. Leave your questions and responses in the comments below because, after Tibbens catches up on his reading, we hope to host a second conversation with Dunning to dig deeper into unschooling, homeschooling, and the future of parent and student choice in education. 

Related Readings and Recommendations from Episode 005

In this segment from ClassCast Episode 005, teacher and philosopher Jim Dunning and host Ryan Tibbens discuss data in schools, the purpose of schools, and the morality (or possible immorality) of schools.  Schools collect a lot of data -- do they use it? If so, how and why?  What is the purpose of public school? Do schools achieve or fully live up to that goal? Are schools moral? If you had to redesign education from the ground up, would you create anything that looks like schools today?  Each of these topics is addressed in earnest both in this clip and in other parts of the full conversation.  Watch for the full release of ClassCast Episode 005 later this week!