This paper considers critical reflection as a pedagogical strategy in UK higher education at a moment of an amplification of populist, reactionary discourses. It draws on written reflections of foundation-level students in a case study cohort and offers insights into their lived learning experiences and perceptions of the value of reflection. This…

In this article, the author reports on an awareness of controversial incidents on campuses around North America surrounding "politically correct" speech codes and thought control measures instituted at the behest of faculty and students of this ideological persuasion. It seems that critical theory is going beyond "critical…

Analyzes a number of situations that reveal students' disinterest in learning about events and people from the past; traces possible causes of this disinterest. (RL)

Maintains that anti-intellectualism threatens intellectual freedom when thinking is regarded only as an activity that experts and specialists do and when judgments of value are not regarded as central to library work. Intellectuals are seen as making discriminating judgments while anti-intellectuals discriminate against them. Six references are…

It is argued that negative portrayals of the professoriate in popular culture stem from growing anti-intellectualism in American society. College faculty are often derided as those whose work is primarily or entirely theoretical, too esoteric for practical use. Faculty are also portrayed as foolish or eccentric. Popular culture and public opinion…

Anti-intellectualism and negative public attitudes about the professoriate are traced to four sources: (1) unquestioned supremacy of economic over cultural capital in the United States; (2) lack of organizational vehicles for faculty to contribute to social change and public debate; (3) unfair competition from policy institutes and foundations;…

This article discusses signs that America has adopted a negative view of gifted children, including the undermining of the Jacob Javits Act, grade inflation, and a shift in funding and legal mandates from the gifted toward students with disabilities or low achievement. Reasons for this trend and suggestions for responsive action are discussed. (PB)

Parents know adolescents can be cruel. They do not want their child rejected by peers. What is it like to be denigrated by one's middle school classmates? How common is a predatory anti-teacher peer culture in junior high school? Does it typically last into high school? How do peer norms of different crowds in a school get established? Who sets…

Presents a humorous speech given to high school English teachers on two serious subjects: externally imposed standards and standardized testing, and anti-intellectualism in the classroom and in the culture. Argues that English teachers themselves are responsible for some of the anti-intellectualism they encounter by teaching literature in an…