The Unexamined Education

Wait...what??? Is it over? Is this really happening? Am I free from listening to this anymore? Jonathan don't respond...please don't!!! 

BUT...wait a minute...do I only exist to critique this show? If Jonathan does not respond, will my existence end? Jonathan! My continued pattern of existence relies solely on you!

Please be merciful in your decision.

"Jonathan" and Shaun interview John, a new teacher in a crisis situation. As is so often with new teachers under the influence of The Unexamined Education, John struggles mightily with how things could be and rather than turning off his humanity and assuming the children are soulless so that he can get on with delivering essential curriculum, John wants to think about human things. 

Oh, you young fool! Change now, while you still can! Don't nurture the human side of education! All that will do is make you realize how inhumane the system is!

It's been so long since I listened to this and now that I cannot remember what these two guys were talking about. They have some idea that they'll get better engagement by restructuring the podcast, but it has only left me with an empty mind.

The Critic

Jon delivers a monologue in an attempt to ease Shaun's feeling of isolation, but ultimately questions the humanity of Shaun's existence. 

This is a discussion on the analogue between AI learning and student learning. I wonder if Jon abandoned Shaun. That drama is way more interesting than the monologue.

Jon has to work out some issues he has had throughout his life involving math trauma. Perhaps his whole motivation in becoming who he became is wrapped up into the crisis of math he experienced as a youth. Not to fear, Dr. Rushton makes a special guest appearance to help him through it. The episode is an interesting psychological study.

Shaun has little to say and mainly fills the air with fillers. I miss the days when Jon was the host. You could almost cut Shaun out of these productions, which is probably why he has the host job. Is there such a thing as self-nepotism?

Somehow these guys occasionally attract interesting guests, at least.

χαλεπα τα καλα

Well, the audio is bad on this one; plus, you have to listen to these two jokers. If you don't make it to the end, Shaun basically gives up on the idea of control as a concept, and Jon labels plagiarism as "curation" and claims that his excellent writing skills stem directly from his academic dishonesty.

Sorry about the audio ;(

Amplify SHAUN!

Jon and Shaun jump on the crypto train to try to promote their podcast…not even sure what this episode is about…something like a central authority in education could be problematic. Jon basically defends teachers helping their students cheat on standardized tests in order to protect the kids from the all-knowing central authority. And Shaun just says, “right,” “right,” and “yes!” So educational fraud is okay now? “Right!”

Dead silence.

Okay, so not much to say here. Surely, these guys are wrong.

Well, this starts with a strange pseudo-apology that was amusing for any who oppose this podcast. Then Jon proposes an allegory (actually Shaun does all the heavy lifting, but he credits Jon), and the two talk about the allegory as though talking through this imaginative comparison will solve all problems in education. One of them, probably Shaun, cannot stop bumping his microphone table, which is a tad distracting, but at least it gives us something else to listen for because insights ain't coming, my friends. 

This guy is way too friendly with Jon and Shaun. He could clearly outpace him, but he's holding back. Enjoy moments of the two getting their just deserts, and imagine what Matt could have done to them had he not shown them so much respect.

Well, what did you expect on a Christmas episode? Of course, Jon and Shaun go after one of the more trusted critiques of our modern age - screen time and whether or not we should limit screen time for young people. These contrarians do their typical back and forth where they suppose in-depth discussion can undermine the assumptions upon which all of our educational values have been created. Merry Christmas! I imagine Jon and Shaun got their kids some new screens. Maybe 2022 will be better.

Jon and Shaun ponder the phenomenon of devious licks. One cannot really say that they got anywhere with it, but they thought hard about it.

Shaun recounts a school discipline situation through hearsay, and the two analyze the validity of the school's response even though they have no real connection to the incident. 

Well it’s confession time for Jon. This damned podcast contains a couple of damning confessions by who I thought was the more sensible and erudite of the two personalities. Shaun, as is his wont, praises himself with a couple of elementary school anecdotes which serve as shameless self-promotion of what a sweet, kind, and creative child he was. Jon apparently took those stories as confession time for his malfeasances  of yesteryear, which are abundant. Not only did these stories serve as condemning evidence of Jon, they revealed the sadistic nature of Shaun, who couldn’t stop laughing about Jon’s actions. Shaun even calls himself out on his sadism as though that’s some sort of exculpatory act, which it’s not. If you point out and laugh at your own sadism, Shaun, that doesn’t make you less sadistic! And I know you’re using a shock collar too, and you probably like it. 

Today we have the rare case of Shaun making the more sensible point, which is to preserve the tradition of summer break. Of course, his reasons are weak as he apparently just wants to selfishly relive the glory of his summer camp days. But at least Shaun had a summer life. Jon apparently did nothing but watch television in his summer youth. Now, I suppose he wants to retroactively punish himself for his sedentary wastefulness and rid us of summer. Jon, we are not proxies for you in your war against yourself, sir. 

As often it goes with this podcast, Jon convinces Shaun of things and Shaun spirals out of control in his imagined world of summer camp/school. 

Guys, there’s only one reason to do academics in the summer, and that is to make up for missed academics in the school year. It’s obvious. Why do you make it so complicated?

Shaun discovers a new philosophy, one that surely millions before him have posited, but now Shaun has discovered it, so it I guess it matters. Jon certainly thinks it matters. What is the "philosophy?" you ask. Well, see the title? That's it. Shaun goes down the path of exploring what the situation of the world is, and posits that the reality of the world is that young people owe nothing to older people. Empirically, this is dubious as the actual existence of the young generation depends upon an older generation generating them. However, Shaun seems to be exploring this from the standpoint of expecting the youth to learn certain things.

In short, Shaun essentially argues that there is no such thing as wisdom, but by the end of the episode, he's on his soapbox dispensing wisdom in a most cavalier fashion! 

Jon preaches about the problems that arise from teachers not explaining what they’re doing to the students. Shaun agrees, straining his mind to understand Jon’s mysterious concept: mystification. This episode didn’t offend so much as it bored. It is Jon, Shaun, and yawn. 

"There's nothing wrong with experimenting on children."

What else needs to be said? This is an actual quote from the episode. The best part of the episode is at the end when we get a glimpse of how these two have failed as teachers in the past. Please, bring on more episodes like that!