Editorial Staff

Susan Wise Bauer on Classical Education & Homeschooling

/0 Comments/in , , /by Editorial Staff
Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter
Share on
LinkedIn
+

This week on “The Learning Curve,” Bob Bowdon & guest co-host Kerry McDonald talk with Susan Wise Bauer – writer, historian, homeschool parent, and author of The Well-Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education at Home, as well as numerous other books. They explore the impact of technological innovation, online tools and social media, and the plethora of resources now available to the increasingly diverse and growing population of American homeschool families. They also discuss Susan’s approach to writing and teaching about major world historical figures and eras, and why classical education’s developmentally appropriate approach to instruction in grammar, logic, and rhetoric is a model worth preserving.

Stories of the Week: Despite widely covered teacher strikes this year, the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ newly released data on union membership shows a decline – but will this reduce organized labor’s power? In Maryland, a school desegregation proposal that would redistrict over 5,000 children to address educational inequity is meeting parent resistance. A tweet-up timed to counter National School Choice Week, using the hashtag #ILovePublicSchools, backfired when 8,000 public school students posted overwhelmingly negative comments about their experiences.

Newsmaker Interview
Susan Wise Bauer is a writer, historian, and educator. She is the author of the ongoing narrative series, “The History of the World,” for W. W. Norton, as well as the author of The Well-Educated Mind: A Guide to the Classical Education You Never Had; The History of Western Science; and with her mother, Jessie Wise, The Well-Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education at Home. Susan was educated at home and went on to earn her B.A. in English (with a minor in Greek), a Master of Divinity from Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, an M.A. in English language and literature at the College of William and Mary in Virginia, and her Ph.D. in American Studies. She taught composition and literature at the College of William and Mary for over fifteen years. Visit her online, and on twitter at: @SusanWiseBauer.

Commentary of the Week
The 74: “Adams: An Open Letter to Families Who Don’t Believe in School Choice — Because They Don’t Realize They Already Have It”

https://www.the74million.org/article/adams-an-open-letter-to-families-who-dont-believe-in-school-choice-because-they-dont-realize-they-already-have-it/

Tweet of the Week

Programming note: Co-host Cara Candal is off this week.

Guest Co-Host:

Kerry McDonald is a Senior Education Fellow at FEE and author of Unschooled: Raising Curious, Well-Educated Children Outside the Conventional Classroom (Chicago Review Press, 2019). She is also an adjunct scholar at The Cato Institute and a regular Forbes contributor. Kerry’s research interests include homeschooling and alternatives to school, self-directed learning, education entrepreneurship, parent empowerment, school choice, and family and child policy. Her articles have appeared at The Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, NPR, Education Next, Reason Magazine, City Journal, and Entrepreneur, among others. She has a master’s degree in education policy from Harvard University and a bachelor’s degree in economics from Bowdoin College. Kerry lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts with her husband and four children. Kerry tweets at: @kerry_edu.

Newslinks:

  • The 74: “Union Report: New Year, Same Old Decline in Union Membership. But the Teachers Unions Are Still Big Fish in a Shrinking Pond”

https://www.the74million.org/article/union-report-new-year-same-old-decline-in-union-membership-but-the-teachers-unions-are-still-big-fish-in-a-shrinking-pond/

  • Associated Press: “Parent resistance thwarts local school desegregation efforts”

https://apnews.com/4e818872210464f07d23fc1259a49ebf

  • ChoiceMedia: “Massive Backfire: #ILovePublicSchools Elicits Everything But Love”

https://choicemedia.tv/2020/01/29/massive-backfire-ilovepublicschools-hashtag-elicits-everything-but-love/

The next episode will air on February 7th, with guest Julie Young, the Deputy Vice President of Education Outreach and Student Services for Arizona State University and CEO of ASU Prep Digital High School.

Receive Our Updates!

Related Posts:

Stanford’s Lerone Martin on the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. & the Civil Rights Movement

In this special MLK Day episode of The Learning Curve, co-hosts Alisha Searcy and U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng interview Prof. Lerone Martin, Martin Luther King, Jr. Centennial Professor at Stanford University and Director of the MLK Research and Education Institute. Dr. Martin offers deep insights into the life and legacy of Dr. King.

ExcelinEd’s Dr. Kymyona Burk on Mississippi, Early Literacy, & Reading Science

This week on The Learning Curve, co-hosts Alisha Searcy and U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng interview Dr. Kymyona Burk, Senior Policy Fellow at ExcelinEd and former state literacy director for Mississippi. Dr. Burk shares insights from her remarkable career in K-12 education reform. She discusses her journey from classroom teacher to leading transformative literacy initiatives in Mississippi that resulted in groundbreaking improvements in early literacy and NAEP reading scores.

Harvard’s Leo Damrosch on Alexis de Tocqueville & Democracy in America

This week on The Learning Curve, co-hosts Alisha Searcy of DFER and U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng interview Leo Damrosch, the Ernest Bernbaum Professor of Literature Emeritus at Harvard University and author of "Tocqueville’s Discovery of America". Prof. Damrosch delves into Alexis de Tocqueville’s historic nine-month journey through the United States in 1831–1832, which inspired his masterpiece, "Democracy in America".

UK’s John Suchet, OBE, on Tchaikovsky, The Nutcracker, & Ballets

This week on The Learning Curve, co-hosts U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng and Dr. Jocelyn Chadwick interview distinguished British television journalist, author, and Classic FM presenter, John Suchet, OBE. Mr. Suchet explores the life and legacy of Pyotr Tchaikovsky, one of Russia's greatest composers. He shares insights into Tchaikovsky’s upbringing, his late start in composing, and the emotional challenges that shaped his career and music.

U-OK’s Dan Hamlin on Emerging School Models & Learning Loss

This week on The Learning Curve, co-hosts Alisha Searcy of DFER and U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng interview Dan Hamlin, an Associate Professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at the University of Oklahoma. Prof. Hamlin offers his insights on the state of K-12 education policy and reform. He shares how his academic experiences and research shaped his philosophy on education and informed his work with Harvard PEPG’s “Emerging School Models” conference.

NYT #1 Bestseller Dava Sobel on Marie Curie & Women in Science

This week on The Learning Curve, co-hosts Alisha Searcy of DFER and U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng interview Dava Sobel, acclaimed author of The Elements of Marie Curie: How the Glow of Radium Lit a Path for Women in Science. Sobel delves into the life of Marie Curie, the “scientific Joan of Arc,” exploring her extraordinary journey from clandestine education in Tsarist-controlled Poland to becoming the first woman to win two Nobel Prizes in different scientific disciplines.

Becket Fund’s Eric Rassbach on Loffman v. CA DOE, Religious Liberty, & Schooling

This week on The Learning Curve, co-hosts Alisha Searcy of DFER and U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng interview Eric Rassbach, Vice President and Senior Counsel at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. Mr. Rassbach discusses the Loffman v. California Department of Education case, where Becket successfully secured a unanimous Ninth Circuit decision ensuring equal access to special education funding for religious school students.

CUNY’s Carl Rollyson on William Faulkner & Southern Literature

This week on The Learning Curve, co-hosts Alisha Searcy of DFER and U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng interview Carl Rollyson, CUNY professor, and acclaimed biographer of William Faulkner. Prof. Rollyson offers an in-depth exploration of Faulkner’s life, work, and enduring legacy.

NH Gov. Chris Sununu on School Choice

This week on The Learning Curve, co-hosts Alisha Searcy of DFER and U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng interview New Hampshire Governor Christopher Sununu. Gov. Sununu discusses his upbringing in a well-known political family and how the influence of his father, a former governor and White House chief of staff, and his brother, a former U.S. senator, has shaped his public service.

Dr. Helen Baxendale on Great Hearts Classical Liberal Arts Charter Schools

This week on The Learning Curve, co-hosts Alisha Searcy of DFER and U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng interview Dr. Helen Baxendale, the chief of staff and vice president of strategy at Great Hearts Academies. Dr. Baxendale discusses how her global educational experiences inform her perspective on K-12 policy and Great Hearts’ mission to integrate the humanities, math, and science for intellectual and character development.

Jeffrey Meyers on Edgar Allan Poe, Gothic Horror, & Halloween

This week on The Learning Curve, co-hosts Alisha Searcy of DFER and Dr. Jocelyn Chadwick interview Jeffrey Meyers, acclaimed literary biographer, about his comprehensive exploration of Edgar Allan Poe’s life and work.

U-TX at SA’s Catherine Clinton on Harriet Tubman & the Underground Railroad

This week on The Learning Curve, co-hosts Alisha Searcy of DFER and Dr. Jocelyn Chadwick interview Catherine Clinton, Denman Professor of American History at the University of Texas at San Antonio, and author of Harriet Tubman: The Road to Freedom. Prof. Clinton discusses her definitive biography of Harriet Tubman, the renowned abolitionist and Underground Railroad conductor.