The hottest Education Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
Category
Top Education Topics

I Didn't Teach the "I Have a Dream" Speech

The View from Rural Missouri by Jess Piper • 537 implied HN points • 15 Jan 24
🚌 Education Teaching History Equality Civil Rights Social Issues
  1. Dr. King's 'Letter from Birmingham Jail' is an important text to study, offering a different perspective than his 'I Have a Dream' speech.
  2. Dr. King's legacy and messages have been whitewashed; it's crucial to revisit his work with fresh eyes to truly understand his stance against racism.
  3. In light of current challenges like book bans and whitewashing of history, it becomes even more critical to engage with Dr. King's radical ideas to push for change.

How to argue?

kamilkazani • 550 implied HN points • 08 Jan 24
🚌 Education Debate Argumentation
  1. To argue effectively, avoid a frontal assault and be smarter with your approach.
  2. Contrarianism, as a common tactic in debates, is often inefficient and unproductive.
  3. Understanding that opponents may not fully believe in all their premises is crucial in successful arguments.

Ali Abdaal Featured This Medium Writer and Substacker — Here’s the Secret Way to Attract Ali (and Others)

Kristina God's Online Writing Club • 779 implied HN points • 10 Nov 23
🚌 Education Learning Writing Self-help Personal Growth Content creation
  1. Building in public can really open up opportunities, like attracting people you admire. It's about sharing your journey and showing your work to the world.
  2. Luck and unexpected moments can play a big role in success. You never know when a chance encounter might lead to something great.
  3. Engaging content and a positive attitude can inspire others, just like Ali Abdaal does with his blend of education and entertainment.

Deep vs fast thinking

inexactscience • 79 implied HN points • 08 Jul 24
🚌 Education Learning Styles Teaching Strategies Student Engagement
  1. There are two types of thinking: fast thinking, which is quick and reactive, and deep thinking, which involves careful analysis and time. Both are important in different situations.
  2. Exams and job interviews usually test fast thinking, but this method can overlook those who excel at deep thinking. Just because someone isn’t fast at answering doesn’t mean they aren’t smart.
  3. We need to create spaces in education and workplaces that value both fast and deep thinkers. Not everyone fits into the same box, and that's okay.
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The plan for meta-rationality

Meaningness • 359 implied HN points • 04 Mar 24
🚌 Education Philosophy Science Fiction Literature Health & Wellness
  1. The book being written focuses on meta-rationality, with previous parts discussing rationalism and reasonableness.
  2. The author plans to release the book in separate paperbacks/Kindle editions before putting it online for free.
  3. The concept of meta-rationality emphasizes caring for the situation more than abstractions, questioning what the situation needs, and understanding when rationality is relevant.

using your memory to strengthen your memory: retrieval practice

Brain Pizza • 331 implied HN points • 19 Aug 25
🚌 Education Memory Learning Teaching Cognition Psychology
  1. Retrieval practice is a powerful way to improve memory. Instead of just reading or highlighting, try recalling information from memory to really reinforce learning.
  2. Many people think they are learning effectively when they aren't. Simply rereading or practicing a skill over and over doesn't help as much as we think.
  3. Feeling some discomfort while learning is okay! It can actually lead to better memory and understanding when we push ourselves out of our comfort zones.

The Best Cybersecurity Certifications to Pursue in 2024

Rod’s Blog • 575 implied HN points • 28 Dec 23
🚌 Education Cybersecurity Certifications Training IT
  1. To succeed in cybersecurity, having the right certifications is crucial to showcase your knowledge and stand out in the job market.
  2. Choosing certifications that align with your experience, specialization, and career goals is important as all certifications are not equal.
  3. Popular cybersecurity certifications like CompTIA Security+, ISACA Cybersecurity Fundamentals, and GIAC Security Essentials offer diverse benefits and job opportunities with varying prerequisites, costs, and exam formats.

My School Experimented with ‘Education Equity.’ It Failed.

Common Sense with Bari Weiss • 1381 implied HN points • 10 Dec 24
🚌 Education Equity Teaching Learning STEM
  1. Mixing high-achieving and low-performing students in the same classes didn't work as intended. It led to negative outcomes for students who were doing well.
  2. The idea behind the 'multilevel classrooms' was to help students transition easily between different levels of difficulty. However, it was challenging to teach when students had very different skill levels.
  3. Though the mixed-class approach had some success in certain subjects, it struggled in STEM and language classes where a strong foundation is needed. Teachers found it hard to meet everyone's needs.

On unproductive struggle

Rebecca Birch - On Education • 511 implied HN points • 13 Jan 24
🚌 Education Teaching Strategies Literacy Writing Skills Student Engagement
  1. Productive struggle is a methodology in mathematics to enhance conceptual understanding.
  2. In the field of English, there are practices that lead to unproductive struggle, like cold writes and advising students to only write about what they know.
  3. Group work can be beneficial, but jigsaw teaching might hinder rigorous quality control or understanding checks.

Increase the Odds of Getting Boosted by Submitting Your Stories to These 60 Medium Publications

Kristina God's Online Writing Club • 739 implied HN points • 13 Nov 23
🚌 Education Writing Marketing Self-Improvement Publishing Content creation
  1. Submitting your stories to Medium's Boost-eligible publications can greatly increase your chances of getting noticed. It's like giving your work a better chance to shine.
  2. When a story gets Boosted, it can earn significantly more money and engagement than a non-Boosted story. Getting Boosted really can make a big difference.
  3. There are many active publications on Medium, so you just need to find the right fit for your writing. Once they see your amazing stories, you'll have a better shot at success.

Open Thread 319

Astral Codex Ten • 3166 implied HN points • 11 Mar 24
🚌 Education Discussion Contest Opportunity
  1. Updates on the 2023 Forecasting Contest were shared, including progress on showing everyone's score, correction on commenter performance, potential prize donation, and interactive analyses by Jordan Breffle.
  2. A comment on race and lived experience sparked discussion on Roma heritage and the challenges faced by different groups, revealing complexities in language and identity.
  3. The Center for Effective Altruism is seeking a new head of communications, offering a significant remote position with a salary up to mid-6-figures.

Weekend Listening: From McDonalds Drive-Through to Star Harvard Professor

Common Sense with Bari Weiss • 3292 implied HN points • 18 Feb 24
🚌 Education University Research Challenges Academia Personal journey
  1. UATX, a new university founded by Pano Kanelos, has proven to be a real institution set to accept its inaugural class of students in 2024.
  2. Harvard economist Roland Fryer embodies academic excellence, emphasizing the pursuit of truth, admitting his mistakes, and overcoming obstacles.
  3. Fryer's life story showcases resilience, determination, and the importance of staying true to one's mission in the face of controversies and challenges.

The Map is not the Territory

do clouds feel vertigo? • 59 implied HN points • 20 Jul 24
🚌 Education Mental models Cognitive Science Learning Strategies Critical Thinking Decision-making
  1. Understanding the difference between perception and reality is important. Different people have various ways to see the world, and it helps to have multiple perspectives.
  2. Mental models are valuable thinking tools that can help us make sense of complex situations. Organizing these models by subject can guide our decision-making.
  3. Learning about complex adaptive systems can provide a solid foundation for understanding how different parts of a system interact. It's a good starting point for anyone new to the topic.

How to (and How NOT to) Mandate Phone-Free Schools

After Babel • 1103 implied HN points • 30 Jan 25
🚌 Education School Policy Child development Mental health Legislation Technology impact
  1. More schools are going phone-free, which means students won't use phones during the whole school day. This helps them focus on learning and connecting with friends.
  2. Total phone bans can improve students' grades and attention in class. Teachers also feel less distracted and more engaged with their students.
  3. Policies are being created to guide schools on how to effectively limit phone use. This is often driven by parents who see the negative effects of phones on children.

Why You Should Be A Control Freak

Zwischenzug • 432 implied HN points • 03 Feb 24
🚌 Education Chess Learning Strategy
  1. Control in chess means knowing what your opponent can do and being ready for it.
  2. Maintaining control is crucial, especially in winning positions.
  3. The engine's evaluation may not reflect the full complexity of a position, so human perspective is key in strategic decisions.

Faster

ASK MOLLY • 471 implied HN points • 21 Jan 24
🚌 Education Writing Workshop Learning
  1. The post is about writing faster and not delaying
  2. The focus of the workshop is on the importance of not burying the lead
  3. The session is part of a paid seminar for writing

What makes a woke theory "Critical?"

Keep your Wokal_distance • 845 implied HN points • 30 Mar 23
🚌 Education Theories Critical Thinking Social justice Knowledge Philosophy
  1. Critical Social Justice Theorists focus on being 'critical' to analyze concepts and theories within the realm of wokeness.
  2. The term 'critical' holds different meanings in the enlightenment liberal tradition of critical thinking and the woke social justice tradition of critical theory.
  3. Woke activists view truth and knowledge through the lens of power dynamics and social inequalities, rather than objective reality.

The 1915 AAUP Warned the AAUP Not to Become the AAUP of 2025

Unsafe Science • 109 implied HN points • 21 Nov 25
🚌 Education Higher education Academic Freedom Campus politics University Governance DEI Policy
  1. A major faculty organization has shifted from defending academic freedom to taking partisan progressive positions. Examples include endorsing DEI-based faculty evaluations, permitting academic boycotts, and supporting divestment actions.
  2. A century-old warning said academic freedom should not be used as a shelter for uncritical partisanship, because that breeds outside intervention and damage to universities. Current policies show that warning coming true by inviting controversies that harm internal order and public standing.
  3. These partisan moves carry real risks: DEI criteria can be vague and unevidenced, boycotts are likely to be applied selectively, and divestment campaigns can be hypocritical and damaging to a university's reputation. Such outcomes may undermine, rather than protect, academic freedom.

Why I can no longer pursue a career in academia

David’s Substack • 19 implied HN points • 20 Sep 24
🚌 Education Academia Philosophy Career Research Personal Growth
  1. You don't need to fully understand the brain anymore to create advanced AI. Recent advancements in machine learning have made it possible to develop useful AI without deep knowledge of neuroscience.
  2. Just knowing things isn't enough; building and creating is important too. The academic world focuses too much on understanding without encouraging actual creation, which feels unfulfilling for some people.
  3. Academic culture often discourages ambition, leading to a focus on small, safe projects rather than bold, innovative research. This can make talented individuals feel stuck and unmotivated.

Student Assessment in the Age of AI

In My Tribe • 501 implied HN points • 12 Jun 25
🚌 Education Assessment AI Integration Student learning Teaching Methods Critical Thinking
  1. AI can help monitor student assessments and make cheating harder. By having someone supervise, universities can ensure students aren't using AI to cheat during tests.
  2. Interviews can be a better way to assess students than traditional exams. They allow professors to see how well students understand important concepts and let students explain their reasoning.
  3. Using AI to conduct these interviews can be efficient and consistent. This way, professors can evaluate a large number of students fairly without getting overwhelmed by grading.

Austerity for Fertility

Bet On It • 301 implied HN points • 21 Aug 25
🚌 Education Higher education Economics Libertarianism Government spending
  1. Lower birth rates are a big concern, and some economists now think we need policies to raise them. They believe reducing government spending on education could help with this issue.
  2. Educational austerity suggests that cutting funding for non-STEM majors may lead to women finishing their studies sooner and starting families earlier.
  3. The idea is not about opposing education but rather focusing financial support on areas that might boost birth rates while reducing wasteful spending.

The Rise of the Homeschool Brigade

The Recovering Academic • 673 implied HN points • 14 Nov 23
🚌 Education Public Schools Community Impact Global Perspectives
  1. Homeschooling is growing rapidly in the United States, with nearly 400 districts reporting 1 in 10 children homeschooled.
  2. Public schools provide diverse experiences for children, allowing them to interact with different people and cultures.
  3. Concerns about safety and academic quality drive some parents to homeschool, impacting trust in public institutions like schools and universities.

Morphology and History

The Oswald Spengler Project • 339 implied HN points • 26 Feb 24
🚌 Education History Philosophy
  1. History presents unique challenges as it lacks a universal framework like the natural sciences.
  2. Schopenhauer argues that historical events are too diverse to fit into generic categories or types, making a true science of history difficult.
  3. One approach could be to focus on studying specific types of historical phenomena rather than trying to encompass all of history.

Open Thread 314

Astral Codex Ten • 3097 implied HN points • 05 Feb 24
🚌 Education Articles
  1. Weekly visible open thread for posting anything.
  2. Clarifications on prediction markets and schizophrenia genetics.
  3. Announcement of new subscriber-only post about Democratic Socialists' budget crisis.

I am offering mentoring

DYNOMIGHT INTERNET NEWSLETTER • 1062 implied HN points • 16 Jan 25
🚌 Education Mentoring Self-Improvement Academia Personal Development Statistics
  1. A mentoring program is being offered to help people achieve their goals. It's open to anyone, regardless of age or career stage.
  2. The mentor will have three 30-minute video sessions with chosen participants, focused on helping them with their specific challenges.
  3. This program is free and based on an application process to select three people that the mentor believes they can assist most effectively.

This week in the science of learning, August 25, 2024

The Bell Ringer • 19 implied HN points • 25 Aug 24
🚌 Education Teaching Learning Pedagogy Research Curriculum
  1. Teaching reading is a mix of art and science. Teachers need to use research but also rely on their own experience to help students learn.
  2. Meaningful knowledge helps students connect what they learn to related ideas. This makes learning more useful and encourages deeper understanding.
  3. Building strong relationships between teachers and parents can help support students. Parents should talk to their kids about learning and current events to strengthen this connection.

Announcing the "No BS Political Science Newsletter"

Never Met a Science • 66 implied HN points • 21 Dec 25
🚌 Education Higher Ed Research Conferences Digital Platforms
  1. A new monthly newsletter will gather political science announcements, calls, publications, and job openings from microblog platforms so scholars can spot opportunities they might otherwise miss.
  2. Microblogging concentrates attention and creates networked inequality and parasocial weirdness, so scholars should use more transportable, resilient communication channels like email lists, newsletters, and self‑hosted tools.
  3. Open, scrapeable platforms made this digest possible but relying on for‑profit closed platforms is risky; the academic community should build and maintain its own infrastructure and language models for long‑term independence.

New Ways of Knowing: Nora Bateson, John Vervaeke, Sophie Strand, Jim Rutt, Trish Blain, Jonathan Rowson and Minna Salami

The Bigger Picture • 778 implied HN points • 21 Sep 23
🚌 Education Cognitive Science Complexity Theory
  1. We are currently facing a 'meta-crisis' with multiple interconnected challenges, presenting both overwhelming circumstances and opportunities for transformation.
  2. To thrive in today's world, we need to develop a new relationship with complexity, encompassing not just external systems but also our inner worlds.
  3. The online course 'New Ways of Knowing' offers live tuition, small group interactions, and personal growth practices to help navigate complexity, gain new perspectives, and respond to the meta-crisis.

Assorted Links

In My Tribe • 470 implied HN points • 10 Jun 25
🚌 Education Higher Ed Academic Freedom Student outcomes
  1. Colleges, especially elite ones like Harvard, have been criticized for not being open to conservative ideas and for having a biased hiring process. Many believe they aren't likely to change on their own.
  2. There's a call for breaking up large universities into smaller entities to focus on research and education more effectively. This might help reduce their political activism and improve academic standards.
  3. New societal trends are shifting the way people view knowledge and expertise, often valuing common sense over traditional authority. This can create a space for new types of knowledge systems to emerge.

Taking a New Direction

In My Tribe • 486 implied HN points • 04 Jun 25
🚌 Education Higher education AI Technology Software Development Teaching Methods Digital learning
  1. The focus is shifting towards developing an AI-assisted seminar, which aims to improve higher education through new technology. This will involve creating a learning environment where students can interact with AI characters instead of traditional lectures.
  2. The project is driven by concerns that current universities are not equipped to innovate or improve their practices, especially after past mistakes. The hope is that AI can help create a better educational model without the need to build completely new institutions.
  3. The developer is learning about modern software development and working step-by-step with a software partner to create a functional product. They plan to share progress updates and insights from this journey, showcasing both the potential of AI and the seminar format.

Who Needs a Professor?

UnfairNation by Ehsan Zaffar • 6 implied HN points • 24 Feb 26
🚌 Education Higher Ed K-12 Teaching EdTech Assessment Academic Integrity
  1. AI can answer many questions, so traditional lectures and the professor-as-knowledge-delivery model are becoming obsolete. Teachers now need to change how they assess and teach.
  2. AI democratizes access to tutoring and expertise, giving students without elite resources personalized, always-available help.
  3. Humans still matter for mentoring: teachers can push students, model changing your mind, and evaluate real understanding in ways AI can't. That makes mentoring, judgment, and assessment design the new core roles for educators.