Jigsaw Topics for Postman

A “jigsaw” means that students will each be responsible for a single research topic (a “puzzle piece”) that will later be combined with other students to form a whole.

Jigsaws work best when students try to use the research to enrich the reading of the text. For that reason, students should spend roughly 15-30 minutes researching the topic and at least 15 minutes thinking about how this background information will clarify Postman’s argument. Writing about these connections is, of course, encouraged, but jigsaws work well even when they are informal.

Some potential topics students might research for Postman:

·         Neil Postman (biography, credentials, etc.)

·         The End of Education (relationship of chapter to the whole argument)

·         E. D. Hirsch, Jr. (key figure in the text)

·         I. A. Richards (key figure in the text)

·         Metaphors for education (Paulo Freire’s “banking concept of education”)

·         Semiotics/Semantics

·         The definition of “truth”

·         Technology education

Students research an assigned topic for homework, bring their writing to class, and then in groups share their research and what it tells us about Postman’s argument. Each group should assign a speaker and then report back to the class.

Ideally, each jigsaw “piece of the puzzle” should create a better framework for understanding the argument. Students are compiling the general context in which the work was written, some of the background information on key elements of the text, as well as philosophical ideas that the text discusses.