What is a good education? What is an educated person? Who is responsible for education? Each of these questions are fundamental to our thinking about education, guiding and shaping our thoughts and ultimately our educational practice and policy. In this work, I explore these fundamental questions and look to the thoughts of scholars throughout history to shape my analysis. I discovered that our thinking about education today is, in many ways, very different than the view that scholars have held for millenia. I argue that we have lost sight of what makes education a uniquely human enterprise, and as a result we often fail to truly educate our students.

During a semester observing first-grade math instruction, I call into question how math is taught to younger children. I explore the idea of “developmental readiness” for abstract concepts, while exploring methods that might make these concepts more accessible for K-2 students. While evaluating the appropriateness of common core standards for mathematics, I try to define what good teaching looks like in a classroom with pressures from states, parents, and students.