The Five-Paragraph Fetish

This is a piece I published in Aeon several years ago about the persistence of the five-paragraph essay, which has evolved into the five-chapter dissertation and the five-section journal article.  Formalism reins supreme.  Here’s the link to the original. The Five-Paragraph Essay Writing essays by a formula was meant to be a step on the way. …

Johann Neem — A Usable Past: Providing a Narrative to House the Facts of American History

This post is an essay by one of my favorite historians, Johann Neem, which appeared recently in Hedgehog Review.  Here's a link to the original. His topic is the critically important question of how we can create a shared narrative for the  American people -- one that incorporates the bad parts without denying the good parts.  …

Insights from James Scott about the Conflicting Worldviews of Reformers and Teachers

This post is a reflection on the conflicting worldviews that reformers and teachers use in trying to understand teaching and learning in classrooms.  It draws on the insights from one of my favorite books, James Scott's Seeing Like a State.  The text itself comes from chapter 5 of my book, Someone Has to Fail.  The …

Mintz — Writing Is Thinking

This post is a piece by Steven Mintz that I really like, which was published in Insider Higher Ed.  Here's a link to the original. The essay's focus is on the nature of writing, and his key point is one that I've held to for a long time -- that at its heart, writing is …

Why We Need Histories of Education

This is a piece I wrote a year ago, which had been rattling around in my head for years.  The issue is to figure out what role histories of education should play in the formation of educational policy. My short answer is that we should produce the histories we need rather than the histories we …

Doctoral Proseminar — Introduction to Big Issues in the Field of Education

This post contains all of the material for the doctoral proseminar — Introduction to Big Issues in the Field of Education — that I taught at the Stanford Graduate School of Education for the last four years of my time there. The aim of this class is to give first-year doctoral students in education a …

Cartoons — Playing with Language

This post is a tribute to the flexibility and complexity of language, exploring the fun you can have playing with words.  It consists of seven cartoons, which should be an inspiration to writers everywhere. Enjoy.    

Links to All My Publications and Course Materials — An Updated List

For anyone who’s interested, today I’m posting below an updated list of all my publications and courses syllabi, including links to these works and to full course materials.  Here’s a link to the Word document version, which is more useful. Feel free to share. Links to Publications and Course Materials June 25, 2022 David F. Labaree Lee L. …