Content-type: text/html Downes.ca ~ Stephen's Web ~ Fact Checking Whatever It Takes (Or: The Trouble with Heroes)

Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community
When what you know of the world comes from movies, you get very mistaken impressions of the world (aka the Disney Effect). Like this: "This is American education's favorite past-time - find inspirational principal/teacher and tell an uplifting/touching story about how kids from tough backgrounds beat the odds. Preferably, someone easy on the eyes like Hilary Swank or Morgan Freeman plays the lead." Of course, the whole idea that the whole weight of poverty and desperation is overturned (usually in one semester) by an inspiring teacher is absurd. And it is also unfair to expect teachers to make the sacrifices depicted in these movies as a part of their job. And the problem with such a mythology is that proponents are not above manipulating the facts to discover putative 'real world' examples.

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
stephen@downes.ca

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Last Updated: Apr 18, 2024 11:58 p.m.

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