Neil Postman & Charles Weingartner (1969) Teaching as a Subversive Activity - Chapter 5

What's Worth Knowing?

"Suppose all of the syllabi and curricula and textbooks disappeared. Suppose all of the standardized (cont) http://tl.gd/731ukgless than a minute ago via Twittelatoranderscj
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Why do we have to suppose? Can't we just decide to do this in our classrooms?

"suppose that you decide to have the entire 'curriculum' consist of questions...What questions would be on your list?" Postman & Weingartnerless than a minute ago via Twittelatoranderscj
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"Very often children make declarative statements about things when they really mean to elicit an (cont) http://tl.gd/7320mrless than a minute ago via Twittelatoranderscj
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My page of ? worth asking: What would you add? http://moby.to/hemi6kless than a minute ago via Twittelatoranderscj
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Here is what my colleague Scott Schwister contributed to his page 61 and what he wrote on his blog about this when he read the book last spring.


Also, there is a page61 Flickr group:


What would you add to this list?

"The new education is a process and will not suffer from the applied imaginations of all who wish to be a part of it." Postman & Weingartnerless than a minute ago via Twittelatoranderscj
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"we have all become accustomed to a conception and a hierarchy of standards that, in our opinion, is (cont) http://tl.gd/732hcnless than a minute ago via Twittelatoranderscj
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I feel Postman's critique of Hirsch's "Cultural Literacy" in this interview is clearly addressing his views on this topic. Since this interview was done later in his life I think it also addresses and clarifies for Stuart Buck and I what his view on this matter really was (see transcript of our conversation below).

"[on 'basic fundamentals'] we find that the essential portion of the word 'fundamental' is the word (cont) http://tl.gd/732jubless than a minute ago via Twittelatoranderscj
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I absolutely love this quote!

"If your goals are to make people more alike, to prepare them to be docile functionaries in some (cont) http://tl.gd/732lf9less than a minute ago via Twittelatoranderscj
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@anderscj had to add this: http://j.mp/9oFWmPless than a minute ago via Twitter for iPhoneJustin McFadden
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"One must be centrally concerned with the hearts and minds of learners—in contrast to those merely (cont) http://tl.gd/732m7hless than a minute ago via Twittelatoranderscj
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"Any talk about high standards from teachers or school administrators is nonsense unless they are talking (cont) http://tl.gd/732nisless than a minute ago via Twittelatoranderscj
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Let me repeat that in full:

"Any talk about high standards from teachers or school administrators is nonsense unless they are talking about standards of learning (as distinct from standards for grading, which is what is usually meant)." Postman & Weingartner

"Focusing on the asking of questions leads directly to the probing of relationships among 'subjects,' (cont) http://tl.gd/7333auless than a minute ago via Twittelatoranderscj
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"Alfred North Whitehead made the point that taxonomy is the death of science. And, we would add, the (cont) http://tl.gd/733745less than a minute ago via Twittelatoranderscj
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Again, another jab at E. D. Hirsch.

"the art and science of asking questions is the source of all knowledge." Postman & Weingartnerless than a minute ago via Twittelatoranderscj
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@anderscj I just wrote a book about that.... but its in danish though :-) Ill get the abstract translatet..... "the asking teacher"less than a minute ago via webPer Havgaard
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"There is no learning without the learner. And there is no meaning without a meaning maker." Postman & Weingartnerless than a minute ago via Twittelatoranderscj
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I am real curious what @dianeravitch & @stuartbuck think about Postman & Weingartner's (1969) 'Teaching as a Subversive Activity.'less than a minute ago via Twitterrificanderscj
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@anderscj Read "Left Back" (2000).less than a minute ago via webDiane Ravitch
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@anderscj I think it's a book that Postman outgrew with age and wisdom.less than a minute ago via webStuart Buck
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@stuartbuck But, in End Of Education (1995) he gave no indication of substantial change in position.less than a minute ago via Mobile Webanderscj
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@anderscj Title of his 1979 book is a disavowal. Plus, I recall "Subversive" being hostile to schooling/teachers--very different from laterless than a minute ago via webStuart Buck
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@stuartbuck schooling yes, seems he always was a hostile to schooling...I wouldn't say he was toward teachers though.less than a minute ago via Twitterrificanderscj
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@anderscj That book ridiculed "transmission of our cultural heritage"; seems totally opposite to "Building a Bridge to the 18th Century."less than a minute ago via webStuart Buck
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@stuartbuck you assume all teachers see "transmitting our cultural heritage" as their role. I suppose it is fair to say hostile to some.less than a minute ago via Twitterrificanderscj
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@anderscj The point isn't hostility to teachers, but what teachers should be doing -- what he ridiculed in 1969 is what he demanded in 1990sless than a minute ago via webStuart Buck
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@anderscj My previous post is what I recall . . . it's been probably 15 years since I read "Subversive."less than a minute ago via webStuart Buck
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@stuartbuck I wouldn't say he took a full 180 turn though. Any honest and intelligent person changes perspective over time...less than a minute ago via webanderscj
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@stuartbuck ...but I see your point. Very interesting observation. I wonder what @irasocol and @jerridkruse think of this Postman shift.less than a minute ago via webanderscj
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@anderscj @stuartbuck @irasocol I don't think it is a shift in postman's thinking-i think it is his proclamation that this is very complexless than a minute ago via Twitter for iPhoneJerrid Kruse
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@anderscj @stuartbuck @irasocol I assume you are comparing subversive to conserving. We need both. Postman knee that, others want 2 polarizeless than a minute ago via Twitter for iPhoneJerrid Kruse
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@jerridkruse @anderscj Postman viewed things through varying lenses. "Subversive" is heavily Weingartner's work. His influence. Yet...less than a minute ago via webIra Socol
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@jerridkruse @anderscj ...there's a Postman thread that balances the forces playing on schooling. He was a complex guy with complex viewsless than a minute ago via webIra Socol
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@anderscj 1969 Postman loved modern culture & mocked trad. curriculum; later he hated modern culture and wanted schools to balance it out.less than a minute ago via webStuart Buck
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@stuartbuck is that because of gained wisdom or did he just become crotchety?less than a minute ago via Twitterrificanderscj
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@anderscj My bias: totally the former. I loved "Amusing Ourselves to Death," which was my first Postman book to read.less than a minute ago via webStuart Buck
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