This August leaves much for us to reflect on. In this last month of summer vacation, many children are gearing up for the upcoming school year. Cultural events in the coming year have the potential to set the US education sector ablaze. As the temperature of school-centered debates rises along with those of the outdoor climate, I’m returning to historical arguments against institutionalized education, with a special emphasis on homeschooling.
This month also marks a special anniversary of one of my favorite writers — prolific civil rights writer and novelist James Baldwin. This August 2nd marks Baldwin’s 100th birthday, an event sure to be celebrated worldwide. To state the impact of Baldwin’s life and legacy in as small a space as this would be a disservice to a man who so accurately identified the pulse of race relations in the United States and whose radical love for his fellow man inspires me to live up to the weight of my heritage.
This month’s reading list kickstarts my next phase of research reading. It also includes various works of fiction, including those by the aforementioned James Baldwin.
Education
Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses by Richard Arum & Josipa Roksa
Anti-Education by Friedrich Nietzsche, edited by Paul Reitter & Chad Wellmon
The Case Against Education: Why the Education System Is a Waste of Time and Money by Bryan Caplan
The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America by Richard Rothstein
Education in America by Kimberly A. Goyette
Experience and Education by John Dewey
Homeschooling: The History & Philosophy of a Controversial Practice by James G. Dwyer & Shawn F. Peters
John Dewey: The Political Writings edited by Debra Morris & Ian Shapiro
New Deal Thought edited by Howard Zinn
Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Freire
Savage Inequalities: Children in America’s Schools by Jonathan Kozol
Fiction
Erasure by Percival Everett
Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin
Going to Meet the Man by James Baldwin
James by Percival Everett
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins
Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson