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wfryer's review against another edition
5.0
One of the best books on learning, teaching and education I've ever read. Highly recommended!
kvreadsandrecs's review against another edition
2.0
Although he makes fair points and provides adequate research, it is impossible to read as fact. He uses such unnecessary hyperbolic language to shove his argument down readers throats.
rachelhelps's review against another edition
2.0
I feel a love-hate thing going for the way this guy presents ideas. I am all for the ideal of effortless learning and making learning fun. But his demonization of technology and science really annoys me. I agree that psychological testing heavily influenced educational theory--but I don't think that means we need to disregard everything from psychology.
I like the idea of effortless, student-driven learning, but it would have been nice to see some evidence, even anecdotal.
I like the idea of effortless, student-driven learning, but it would have been nice to see some evidence, even anecdotal.
kentclarkpearl's review against another edition
5.0
This book really makes one think about the role of education in the United States. As a K12 teacher, the book offered a chance to deeply reflect and reevaluate various things I do as a teacher. I recommend for anyone in K12 education or parents. A lot of you will be uncomfortable reading this book, but I hope that discomfort leads to positive reflection. Our K12 system (current and before Covid) is not designed for learning: it's designed to produce results.
starcrunch's review against another edition
5.0
I would recommend this book to anyone who is going into teaching or involved in the profession. My professor Terry Jo suggested it to us, for which I am grateful. The book has a lot of really good insights and makes a lot of sense from my experience as a student and the time I've spent teaching so far. It is a short book, quickly read and makes a LOT of sense.
courtofsmutandstuff's review against another edition
2.0
I read this in a Philosophy of Education class and while I share Smith's primary thesis (that the classic view of learning- that it is easy and natural- has been subverted in favor of the official view of learning -that it is hard, requires tests, and if you don't learn it's because you're lazy), I could not get over his hatred of psychology. It is informative and provides a solid inquiry into our view of teaching as educators, but my distance from Smith's approach (especially his sections on psychology) prevented me from enjoying his book further.
adamfortuna's review against another edition
5.0
There’s a lot to this one. Education is broken, and this book looks into one reason why. The premise? There is a “classic theory of learning” that we all grew up with and a historical theory.
We’re all familiar with the classic theory. You go to class with others of your age, your teacher goes over a set curriculum, you take a test on the subjects and are left feeling great or like you failed. Repeat this process to “learn”.
This process hasn’t been around that long. Look back 200 years ago and people learned completely differently. It seemed to work well, as it led to enlightened artists and ancient philosophers. This book looks into what led to this change in education, and what we can do to get back to the old ways.
Many of the concepts of the old ways connected with me. Leaning towards hands on learning, favoring fun and mentor ship over assessments, mixing up groups to include people of different skill levels and more. It left me wanting to figure out what a curriculum would look like and just how much fun it would be to learn with an excited group of learners in this way.
We’re all familiar with the classic theory. You go to class with others of your age, your teacher goes over a set curriculum, you take a test on the subjects and are left feeling great or like you failed. Repeat this process to “learn”.
This process hasn’t been around that long. Look back 200 years ago and people learned completely differently. It seemed to work well, as it led to enlightened artists and ancient philosophers. This book looks into what led to this change in education, and what we can do to get back to the old ways.
Many of the concepts of the old ways connected with me. Leaning towards hands on learning, favoring fun and mentor ship over assessments, mixing up groups to include people of different skill levels and more. It left me wanting to figure out what a curriculum would look like and just how much fun it would be to learn with an excited group of learners in this way.
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