Questions, questions, questions

Cheery Friday Greetings from Barb Oakley!

Roger Partridge on the roots of education decline

Roger Partridge, chair and co-founder of The New Zealand Initiative, has written one of the clearest, most unsparing accounts yet of how modern school systems lost their way. Drawing on New Zealand’s experience — but relevant far beyond it — he shows how a shift in philosophy hollowed out the curriculum, sidelined knowledge, and left too many students unable to read fluently, write clearly, or handle basic maths.

What makes this piece stand out is its refusal to hide behind euphemism. Partridge names the ideas that failed, tracks how they took hold, and explains why they persist — even as the evidence of their damage piles up. He’s also clear about what better looks like: structured literacy, coherent curricula, and assessment that values mastery over fragments.

If you work in education, policy, or just care about what children are actually learning, this is essential reading. It’s not a culture war. It’s about whether schools work — and for whom.

A Basket, a Siege, and the Real Reason Minds Don’t Change

This week I joined Bonni Stachowiak on the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast, and the conversation took an unexpected turn—beginning with a medieval scholar literally being lowered over a city wall in a basket to negotiate with a conqueror. That scene becomes a surprising lens for understanding today’s campuses: why people insist they value open debate yet shut down the moment it touches their own views; how the basal ganglia quietly hard-wires biases we think we’re reasoning our way through; and why narcissistic leadership can smother dissent even inside world-class institutions. We also explored something I wish more people talked about openly: how metaphors can unlock difficult ideas, and how tools like Sway help learners navigate disagreement across cultures and generations with far more clarity and courage. If you’re curious about why learning feels hard—and why open inquiry is even harder—this conversation offers a fresh, unexpectedly gripping way in.  And remember, the “Speak Freely, Think Critically” MOOC is available for free through this link!

Memory is everything. Without it we are nothing. —Nobel Prize Winner Eric Kandel

My friend Nelson Dellis just opened enrollment for his Everest Memory Masterclass for Black Friday. It’s his signature, step-by-step training on the techniques he uses to compete and teach around the world. He only opens this course once or twice a year, and this will be the last time he offers this edition of it before he shifts his focus to new projects next year. If you’ve ever wanted to learn memory the right way, now’s the moment to jump in! He’s given us a special $50 off code for us to use at checkout “BLACKFRIDAY”: https://www.everestmemory.com/sales-page-2025.”

Dopamine, Declarative Pathways, and a Psychologist from Chile Walk into a Zoom…

What do a slow-learning engineering prof, a visionary Chilean psychologist, and an octopus with four arms have in common? Turns out—quite a lot. In this week’s conversation with my old friend Matías Rojas Torres of Aptus, we explore why some ideas in education stick (and why others really shouldn’t), how metaphors sneak complex neuroscience into your brain, and what makes a hiker-style learner quietly powerful. Oh—and we also debuted the Spanish edition of Uncommon Sense Teaching. If you’ve ever wrestled with math, memory, or misconceptions about both, you’ll want to hear this one.

AI Challenge: Teaching Students to Question the Machine

My friend Adriana Henriquez from the Center for Independent Thought reached out to share something that caught my attention: Stossel in the Classroom’s AI Student Challenge. This pilot contest is designed to help high school students move beyond passive AI use—instead, they’ll learn to probe, question, and think critically about what AI tells them. Students will identify bias, test accuracy, and reflect on responsible AI use while competing for cash prizes. It’s free, it’s national, and it’s exactly the kind of critical thinking practice our students need. Check it out at https://stosselintheclassroom.org/ai-challenge/  

A Thoughtful Conversation on How We Really Learn

I had the chance to join Dr. Joe Sebestyen on his SupportED Learning Podcast for a conversation that went deeper than most. We talked about the science behind how we actually learn, why practice and structure are so often overlooked, and what needs to shift in teacher preparation programs. We also got into the promise and peril of AI in education—something I’ve been thinking a lot about. Joe brought thoughtful questions, and I think the episode turned into something genuinely useful for anyone working to support learning, whether in classrooms or at kitchen tables.

That’s all for now. Have a happy week in learning!

Barb Oakley

• Uncommon Sense Teaching—the book and Coursera Specialization!
• Mindshift—the book and MOOC
• Learn Like a Pro—the book and MOOC
• The LHTL recommended text, A Mind for Numbers
• For kids and parents: Learning How to Learn—the book and MOOC. Pro tip—watch the videos and read the book together with your child. Learning how to learn at an early age will change their life!