The 38% of Americans who don't identify as Christian are officially unwelcome in MAGAmerica. (Of course Christians, too, ought to be appalled by this casual contempt for secular democracy.)

The victims of our country's wholesale deregulation of homeschooling: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/14/opinion/home-school-isolation.html?unlocked_article_code=1.-08.pSbA.CEsbTMGhrqSp&smid=url-share

"The campaign against so-called cancel culture...was largely a pretext for placing left-wing speech beyond the protection of the 1st Amendment in order to justify state suppression." Read the whole piece: https://bsky.app/profile/adamserwer.bsky.social/post/3mao7n4vex223

A reminder during this holiday season, courtesy of the late Barbara Ehrenreich, about the "major philanthropists of our society."

We may be heading toward a world in which it seems peculiar or even foolish to read an article or book in its entirety. Incredibly, schools - K-12 & higher ed. alike - seem reconciled to becoming the accomplices of Big Tech by pointing us there.

These two go together like assault and battery. Fear and loathing. Pain and suffering.

Why just prevent government from working for justice when you can force it to actively work for injustice?

When you look at the research, it's remarkable how inefficient deliberate practice and study are for increasing kids' vocabularies. Free reading generally turns out to be more effective than direct, explicit instruction, even for learning academic words […]

The most dire predictions of where we'd be a year into Trump II would barely have captured where we actually are: https://www.thebulwark.com/p/trump-hunger-games-and-the-law-of-merited-impossibility

This is really interesting. Trump's chief of staff Susie Wiles credits the fact that she grew up with an alcoholic father for her *ability* to work for someone like Trump. More important, I think, is that her history may explain her *desire* (or need) to keep […] [Original post on sciences.social]

An important front in the assault on democracy: Krugman offers a lucid account of how authoritarian tech oligarchs are buying up key media properties for political reasons, not because they're profitable. They've already got Twitter, WashPost, CBS, and are […] [Original post on sciences.social]

We all suffer when petty, scummy, vindictive people have this much power. Two examples just today:

Lots of research shows that people of all ages - including students - are happier, healthier, and more productive when they have some meaningful say about what it is they're doing. But what does that look like in a classroom? A new episode of Kohn's Zone: "Who Gets to Decide?" - […]

RE: https://fediscience.org/@petergleick/115733268308907845 From "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead": "There must have been a moment, at the beginning, where we could have said--no. But somehow we missed it."

Raise your hand if you remember "Czechoslovakia is a dagger aimed at the heart of Germany"

Almost 3 in 10 of U.S. teens (and an even higher proportion of Black & Hispanic teens) are now interacting with simulated humans -- that is, using chatbots -- on a daily basis: https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2025/12/09/teens-social-media-and-ai-chatbots-2025/

NY Times notes that fewer whole books are assigned to students partly because teachers are pressured to use curriculum materials that contain only short excerpts in order to raise test scores (not to enhance learning) […]

Because the right is not satisfied with merely *defunding* science

Educators (and conservative psychologists & pundits) have long emphasized the value of teaching kids self-regulation (self-discipline, self-control, deferral of gratification). I've argued this is conceptually and empirically problematic […]

Ponder the difference between a rational, well-functioning country's response and that of, say, the United States: https://n.pr/48UTa7g

I doubt many people on this platform knowingly use AI extensions on their browsers, but we may have friends and relatives who do so: https://www.forbes.com/sites/zakdoffman/2025/12/15/how-your-private-chatgpt-and-gemini-chats-are-sold-for-profit/

How do children learn how to make good decisions? By making decisions. (Not by following directions.) The latest installment of Kohn's Zone is the first of a 2-part episode called "Who Gets to Decide?" - on the benefits of giving students a real voice about their learning and their classroom […]

Must parents control young kids (e.g, with rewards or punitive "consequences") so they can function independently later? No. Research shows that what actually promotes self-regulation (and, with it, school achievement) is a parenting style with toddlers that’s flexible and follows kids’ lead […]

Getting the MAGA GOP out of office will be worth celebrating regardless of how it happens. But in the long run I suspect our prospects will be more hopeful if people vote them out because of their crimes (and their efforts to destroy democracy), not just because of inflation.

It's impossible to imagine a Democratic politician (either very progressive or centrist) pushing for, or even accepting, this kind of ego-driven iconography. Nor would the most enthusiastic admirers of such a politician countenance such creepy cultlike activity.

RE: https://fediscience.org/@petergleick/115708128747527269 My first reaction is to wonder why the moose was crying

Teacher in "doing-to" classroom: "There'll be a test on Friday." Teacher in "working-with" classroom: "What are some ways I could find out what you're able to do and what you still need help with?" Doing-to classroom: assigned seats, even for older students Working-with classroom: Problems with […]

Trump: Do you see yonder cloud that’s almost in shape of a camel? Any member of his cabinet: By th’ Mass, and ’tis like a camel indeed. Trump: Methinks it is like a weasel. Cabinet member: It is backed like a weasel. Trump: Or like a whale. Cabinet member: Very like a whale.

A blatant act of unprovoked aggression that should be instantly and unanimously condemned by the entire world community

Its current far-right, ultrareligious chairman (who clerked for Clarence Thomas) proudly refers to the Federal Trade Commission, hitherto "an independent agency...to protect consumers and police corporate power," as the "Trump-Vance FTC." Its role now is to enforce "Trump's social & political […]

Damn. https://www.reuters.com/world/us-supreme-court-turns-away-appeal-texas-library-book-ban-2025-12-08/

Those who lose a contest often experience resentment and self-doubt. But competition also does ugly things to those who win, this study showed: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120229104746.htm. Ultimately everyone loses when we're pitted against one another.

A thread for anyone who has used Google to do academic research:

How did this happen? One day I was happily pouring myself a bowl of Candy-Coated Sugar-O's, and now, suddenly, I've reached the age where my breakfast cereal is called Fiber Burrs (and, given the ingredients, might as well be sold at Home Depot).

RE: https://mstdn.social/@Strandjunker/115686048166844150 And if you love freedom but actively oppose extending it to certain others, what you actually love is domination.

Yes, AI is unreliable, but the situation we're facing with MAGA in charge is also unbelievable

I, too, have an announcement to make. I hereby resign from the position of Pope (Bishop of Rome, Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church).

An extended cri de coeur about how public universities just "clicked Accept"; they've "drifted from their democratic mission" by uncritically incorporating AI, effectively reducing education to a "franchise of a global tech empire" […] [Original post on sciences.social]

Democrats range from reasonably progressive to remarkably conservative. But if you want to see a real ideological divide, just look at the Republicans in Congress, where the MAGA Christofascists have completely lost patience with the MAGA-adjacent theocratic authoritarians.

From https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/12/trump-cabinet-meeting-racism/685129/

The inclination and ability to rapidly slice a banana upward against the thumb is an X-linked trait. Discuss.

Rank racism + childish pettiness + authoritarian cult = https://www.sfgate.com/national-parks/article/national-parks-change-prioritizes-trump-birthday-21219336.php

So much of conservatives' angry nostalgia for "how simple life used to be" in the good old days confuses a life-cycle effect (what is true of people at a certain age) with a period effect (what is true of everyone at a certain point in history). More here […] [Original post on sciences.social]

RE: https://todon.eu/@b9AcE/115661366337504036 I assume this is located on George Orwell Ave.

I'm not sure this is possible.

As long as you never question whether integrating AI is something we'd want to do at all

My guest on the new episode of Kohn's Zone, Susan Engel, just visited 29 kindergartens around the U.S. for her latest book and found a handful that were sensational. She reflects on what makes a great classroom for little kids (after we examine the nature of curiosity) […]