Show notes
What's broken in our education system? Natalie joins Susan for a provocative talk about her latest book, The Knowledge Gap, and how a knowledge-based curriculum can bring equity into the classroom, and students' futures.Quotes“Kids actually love to learn stuff. They love to feel like they’re experts. It does wonders for their self-esteem.” - Wexler“Once teachers try it and can see what can happen…they’re going to say ‘I’m never going back to what I was doing before.” - WexlerResourcesNatalie Wexler’s books:The Knowledge Gap: The hidden cause of America's broken education system--and how to fix itThe Writing Revolution: A Guide to Advancing Thinking Through Writing in All Subjects and GradeNatalie Wexler’s articles:“Elementary Education Has Gone Terribly Wrong: The Case for Teaching Kids Stuff” (The Atlantic, August 2019)“Why American Students Haven't Gotten Better at Reading in 20 Years” (The Atlantic, April 2018)Additional resources:Cognitive scientist Daniel Willingham’s education blogWant to discuss the episode? Join our Facebook group Science of Reading: The Community.Episode Content Timestamps*2:00: Introduction: Why is Natalie Wexler?4:00: The meaning of "content"6:00: How did the problem of not teaching content evolve? Why do we need to teach content?10:00: Observations from a knowledge-based classroom13:00: Education reform and the current attention on knowledge building17:00: Classroom teachers: Addressing misconceptions and confusion, and insight26:00: The knowledge gap issue beyond just the individual teacher34:00: The connection between content and writing36:00: Top things for listeners to take away from this episode*Timestamps are approximate, rounded to nearest minute