The noise of the evolution of education grinding to a bloody and devastating halt.<\/p>\n
\nThis sycophancy is hardly confined to leaders trying to stay in the government\u2019s good graces. It\u2019s a plague in the classroom too. When\u00a0students earn A\u2019s<\/a>\u00a0just by enrolling in a class and handing in assignments, sycophancy reigns. When professors\u2019 jobs\u00a0depend on their<\/a> popularity with those they grade, the incentives align for mutual back-scratching. When teachers are afraid to tell someone \u201cthat\u2019s a really dumb idea,\u201d or even \u201cthat\u2019s wrong,\u201d education gives way to customer satisfaction. This reticence does nobody a favor. Dispensing praise instead of provoking learning may be comical in an AI chat, but it\u2019s poisonous in the classroom. [“The epidemic of toxic flattery is spreading<\/a>,” Michael S. Roth, president of Wesleyan University, WaPo<\/strong>]<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
I recall writing a post, many years ago and apparently unfindable, that concluded one does not buy an education; one merely buys access to that education, and it’s up to the student to utilize it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The noise of the evolution of education grinding to a bloody and devastating halt. This sycophancy is hardly confined to leaders trying to stay in the government\u2019s good graces. It\u2019s a plague in the classroom too. When\u00a0students earn A\u2019s\u00a0just by enrolling in a class and handing in assignments, sycophancy reigns. \u2026 Continue reading