On the crisis in literacy.

Poet, podcaster and teacher, C. Derick Varn – who has taught in Mexico, Korea, Egypt and the US, at various levels – joins Alex and George to interrogate the coming "post-literate society".

What do we mean when we say 'post-literate'?

This seems a global problem – so is it a problem of the education system?

Is it as simple as blaming smartphones?

How else has education become degraded? How have progressives and conservatives combined to do this?

Are we becoming on oral culture again? What are the consequences?

For the full episode, subscribe at patreon.com/bungacast

Links:

Are we becoming a post-literate society?, Sarah O'Connor, FT

Have humans passed peak brain power?, John Burn-Murdoch, FT

Visible Learning (synthesis of meta analyses), John Hattie

Why Knowledge Matters, ED Hirsch, Harvard

Seven Myths about Education, Daisy Christodoulou

Insensitivity Readers!, Nina Power