The Mattering Instinct

What if everything in education could matter? (book club!)

As promised, Alessandro and I got together to discuss Rebecca Newberger Goldstein’s new book The Mattering Instinct: How Our Deepest Longing Drives us and Divides Us. It’s good! And, we think, it has huge ramifications for how we think about education.

We talk about how the book’s ideas can help us understand where progressivist & traditionalist education go wrong, and how we can explain Egan education as a bridge between them. Along the way, we find that the book also elucidates how competition (done in a particular way) can make schools better, and how Hogwarts should have really structured its houses.

Maybe we’ll make this viewable to everyone at some point! For the time being, if you’d like to see it, just become a paid subscriber. (And throw any questions into the comments!)

00:00 Introduction to the Mattering Instinct
01:36 The Role of Education in Finding Meaning
06:39 Connecting Mattering with Egan's Educational Philosophy
11:58 Teaching Strategies for Mattering in Education
18:58 The Dialectic of Progressivism and Traditionalism
25:46 Re-enchanting the Curriculum
30:34 The Importance of Wonder in Education
36:32 Tools for Engaging Students in Learning
47:51 Emotional Engagement and the Quest to Matter
50:32 The Essence of Mattering
56:11 Exploring Mattering Projects
01:01:47 The Role of Competition in Education
01:10:01 Noble Competition and Its Educational Value
01:19:55 The Complexity of Mattering in Education