Students Blog about Education Policy and Reform

As part of Lecturer Jal Mehta’s course, Schooling and Society, students blogged about educational issues and policies on a web page entitled “The Future(s) of Education.” This class assignment allowed the students—future leaders in education—to offer their thoughts on the policy world as events unfolded throughout the year.

Mehta required the eight students in the course to contribute to the blog, he says, to provide an opportunity for them to express their views outside of the classroom and engage in a larger debate, to put thoughts on paper for others to read, and to inform policymakers. “I’ve blogged before and it can be empowering and liberating, either from just reading or participating,” he says.

The only rule Mehta had was students must blog about something currently happening in education policy. “We as a professional education community need to get better at interacting with the public,” Mehta says. “Education’s problem is there is skepticism of education research and the quality of education schools. The answer is to participate with the public and show that we have important things to say.”

As the class unfolded, students say that the blog provided insight into their classmates’ opinions, often providing a different type of education.

“Everyone has a different expertise area and this was a way to keep up with all the things going on in education and hear how my classmates felt about it and what they thought,” says Karlo Silbiger, Ed.M.’07. “It was an interesting tool and I think it might be useful for classes, but also the Ed School community and a way for people to keep up with what’s going on.”