To a Degree

            Plagiarism – what a concept! Plato never gave it even one moment’s thought (and he copied his mentor Socrates’ words and beliefs a lot! ). Josephus carefully explained to his readers all of his people’s religious stories, never giving “credit where credit’s due.” But – and we are amazingly precise about this – modern-day academics insist on footnoting every jot and tittle of any group of words they “borrow” from another’s works. Well...until they get caught not doing this!             The quest for precise, back-scratching, virtue-signaling “clarification” has risen to new heights over the last decade. I remember having a heated exchange with some of my former students when Melania Trump used a catchy political phrase in defense of “children’s welfare”—a phrase that seemed to copy a central idea from a political speech made a decade ago by Michelle Obama. The media, followed by many “academics,” scolded the then-First Lady for her “plagiarism” in the speech – as if cop

            It’s been a year since I wrote Part One of this series of reflections on effective teaching. I really didn’t intend that such a length of time to intervene; it simply happened, and I won’t waste time reporting on what transpired. I will simply continue on this and other topics in this blog. My subject matter will center on the follow remark directed towards me the other day: “Students who are homeschooled don’t get the necessary ‘real-world experience’ they need to navigate their way in [fill in adjective] society.” Taken aback at this glib statement – and hearing this at the end of a very tiring day – I reserved comment until later. Now, it’s “later.”             Let’s unpack this statement. It starts out with fallacious assumptions: 1) Homeschooled students are sheltered in an anti-social manner. 2) Their education lacks exposure to ‘real-world problems.’ 3) They are confined to “homeschool subjects” – as if this severely limits their ability to comprehend and explore