An (edu) fad's purpose is what it does

Stafford Beer, a systems theorist, regularly claimed that a system's purpose is what it does. There was no point claiming its purpose was what it consistently failed to do. In this post, I want to explore the idea in connection with educational fads: the fad's purpose is what it does (and not what its authors thought it would do).

🚨 Update: I've moved to a new home! You can read the newest, updated version of this article on my new website here: https://christianmooreanderson.com/an-edu-fads-purpose-is-what-it-does/