Tag: philosophy

Stiegler on Automaticity and Autonomy

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July 6, 2023

12:00 pm

9 Comments on Stiegler on Automaticity and Autonomy

philosophy

Gather ’round, Kiddies. It’s French Philosopher Story Time.

This is not really my kind of thing, but it’s good, I think. While pondering the Californian nitwits’ denigration of memorisation, I talked a bit to my brother Dan, who, as a philosopher and security guard, is very knowledgable on Kant and such fellows. I asked Dan if he had any “strong, pithy references on the importance of memory”. Predictably, Dan reached for Bernard Stiegler, a French philosopher who wouldn’t have known pithiness if he had been run over by a B-double stacked with pith.* But, what Dan threw at me is good. It is an excerpt from an interview Stiegler gave in 2015, after the publication of his book, Automatic Society.** Continue reading “Stiegler on Automaticity and Autonomy” →

A Bita Crap

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April 3, 2022

11:23 am

7 Comments on A Bita Crap

ACARA

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We’ve been trying to tone down the language on this blog. Honestly. But education reporters make it so damn hard.

To be fair, most of the reports of the passing of ACARA’s curriculum have been ok. Not good, not exhibiting much in the way of thought or memory or reflection, but ok. Sure, the reporters could have pointed out that the Wonderful New Curriculum is still secret, meaning nobody really knows whether the media releases are remotely accurate. They could have reported that the participants in ACARA’s final charade are still bound by ACARA’s insidious NDA and so have been cowed into not commenting. They could have reported that AMSI and AustMS have been silent, and most definitely have not signalled endorsement of the new mathematics curriculum. They could have pointed out that ACARA had screwed up royally, for years, and that the alleged improvements to the mathematics curriculum, if real and meaningful, only came about because of a massive campaign, a campaign which, until the very end, ACARA treated with utter contempt. But, after all, they’re education reporters; you can’t expect too much. Continue reading “A Bita Crap” →

ACARA, Annotated

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April 2, 2022

3:45 pm

5 Comments on ACARA, Annotated

ACARA

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Yesterday, ACARA’s draft curriculum was approved by the Ministers, as it was always going to be. The draft is, of course, still secret, since when did ACARA ever give a stuff about what anybody thinks? The draft is due to appear in a couple weeks. We shall be ready.

Until the draft is released, there is not a lot upon which to comment. We know some details of the reprehensible process of the last month, and we have been given some vague hints of the nature of the new curriculum. But, because of ACARA’s insidious NDA, and out of a respect for sources, there is little we have to write and less we are permitted to write. We know, however, what to be watching for, and we’ll be waiting. Continue reading “ACARA, Annotated” →

And Thus it Ends

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April 1, 2022

4:49 pm

3 Comments on And Thus it Ends

ACARA

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As it was always going to. The fix was always in. It just took time to fix the fix. Below is Minister Robert’s media release, grammar and all. UPDATE (01/04/22) Plus ACARA’s Media release, below below.

 

Minister Robert:

Education Ministers agree a new Australian Curriculum

Australian schools will have a new curriculum to teach after Education Ministers today endorsed the revised Version 9.0 of the Australian Curriculum.

Continue reading “And Thus it Ends” →

WitCH 78: Seeing Through De Carvalho’s Prism

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April 1, 2022

11:20 am

8 Comments on WitCH 78: Seeing Through De Carvalho’s Prism

WitCH

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Happy April Fools’ Day everyone. Guess which gang of fools is gonna get fooled, and guess which gang of fools is gonna do the fooling.

There’s not a whole lot of point to this any more, but it’s niggling. So we’ll post again on ACARA‘s thoughtful and classy CEO, David de Carvalho.
Continue reading “WitCH 78: Seeing Through De Carvalho’s Prism” →

ACARA is More Dangerous than Boaler

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March 23, 2022

9:46 am

4 Comments on ACARA is More Dangerous than Boaler

ACARA

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Yeah, it’s Godzilla versus Mothra. Either is sufficiently destructive to lay waste to a city. But, at the moment, Jo Mind-Set-In-Stone Boaler is less likely than ACARA to cause lasting damage. Really.

About a year ago, the California Department of Education (CDE) came out with its draft mathematics curriculum. The work of the inevitable maths ed types, including Slow Boaler, and seemingly without a mathematician within cooee, the draft was, of course, very bad and consequently it was very hammered. The draft was rewritten and, just recently, rewritten again. It is still very bad. It will presumably remain so. Continue reading “ACARA is More Dangerous than Boaler” →

David de Carvalho Wrecks the Joint

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March 15, 2022

9:56 am

15 Comments on David de Carvalho Wrecks the Joint

ACARA

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Recently, we decided to look a little at the writings of ACARA’s CEO, David de Carvalho. There’s not a lot to see. De Carvalho’s writings exhibit the calm smugness typical of a Catholic intellectual lightweight, and without any proper consideration of how the ideas expounded might play out in practice. There is some discussion of the nature of the Australian Curriculum (and NAPLAN), but not a lot. There is little acknowledgment of criticism and essentially no attempt at rebuttal. Nonetheless, there are some excerpts worth noting and worth hammering.
Continue reading “David de Carvalho Wrecks the Joint” →

David de Carvalho Inquires into the Australian Curriculum

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March 13, 2022

10:23 pm

34 Comments on David de Carvalho Inquires into the Australian Curriculum

ACARA

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One of the notable aspects of the Curriculum farce has been ACARA’s silence in the face of contempt. There has been no serious attempt, by ACARA or anyone, to publicly rebut the many pointed and strong criticisms of their draft curriculum. Evidently, ACARA has seen no need to pretend that “public consultation” has any meaningful role, seemingly comfortable in the knowledge pretence that ACARA is following some formal process, and critics be damned. ACARA seemingly believes they can mule their way into having their awful draft approved. They are probably correct. Continue reading “David de Carvalho Inquires into the Australian Curriculum” →