About this item
Highlights
- In Schoolishness, Susan D. Blum continues her journey as an anthropologist and educator.
- About the Author: Susan D. Blum is Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Notre Dame.
- 426 Pages
- Education, Teaching Methods & Materials
Description
About the Book
"An anthropological analysis of the intertwined structural dimensions of "schoolishness," institutional control over learning, which contrasts with the ways human beings learn "in the wild," showing that they are often ineffective, harmful, and alienating. Each schoolish dimension is followed by less-schoolish variants that lead to more authentic, meaningful, and joyful learning"--Book Synopsis
In Schoolishness, Susan D. Blum continues her journey as an anthropologist and educator. The author defines "schoolishness" as educational practices that emphasize packaged "learning," unimaginative teaching, uniformity, constant evaluation by others, arbitrary forms, predetermined time, and artificial boundaries, resulting in personal and educational alienation, dependence, and dread.
Drawing on critical, progressive, and feminist pedagogy in conversation with the anthropology of learning, and building on the insights of her two previous books Blum proposes less-schoolish ways of learning in ten dimensions, to lessen the mismatch between learning in school and learning in the wild. She asks, if learning is our human "superpower," why is it so difficult to accomplish in school? In every chapter Blum compares the fake learning of schoolishness with successful examples of authentic learning, including in her own courses, which she scrutinizes critically.
Schoolishness is not a pedagogical how-to book, but a theory-based phenomenology of institutional education. It has moral, psychological, and educational arguments against schoolishness that, as Blum notes, "rhymes with foolishness."
Review Quotes
Blum offers a well-evidenced critique of "schoolishness," her term for the "unchangeable structures" in school systems that impede innovation, authenticity, and joy in learning. This text is an essential read for anyone interested in the state of education, teaching, and learning.
-- "Choice"About the Author
Susan D. Blum is Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Notre Dame. She is the author of I Love Learning; I Hate School, and My Word!, as well as the editor of Ungrading.