The Pathological Altruist's Guide to Education: How to Help Without Hurting
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Holiday Inn Portland, Pendleton Room, Lower level
Altruism is often seen as a positive trait, but it can sometimes lead to harmful consequences—this is known as pathological altruism. Pathological altruism can occur in education when well-intentioned teachers' attempts to help students end up harming them or others. This can happen in a variety of ways, such as by enabling students' bad behaviors, doubling down on unproven methods to diminish bullying, or sacrificing the needs of other students for the sake of one student. Teachers can also inadvertently harm themselves and their loved ones through their focus on the demands of the teaching profession. In this talk, I will discuss the concept of pathological altruism and how it can manifest in education. I will also discuss some of the potential consequences of pathological altruism for students, teachers, administrators, and parents. Finally, I will offer some tips for teachers on how to avoid pathological altruism and how to help students in a way that is genuinely beneficial. This talk is intended for teachers who are interested in learning more about pathological altruism and how to avoid it in their classrooms. It will provide teachers with the knowledge and skills they need to help students in a way that is truly beneficial and that does not harm them in the long run.
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Holiday Inn Portland, Pendleton Room, Lower level
Session
Presented by
Distinguished Professor of Engineering
Oakland University
Barbara Oakley, PhD, PE is a Professor of Engineering at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan; a Visiting Scholar at the University of California, San Diego; and Coursera’s inaugural “Innovation Instructor.” Her work focuses on the complex relationship between neuroscience and social behavior. Dr. Oakley’s research on altruism bias and pathologies of altruism have been described as “revolutionary” in the Wall Street Journal—she has published in outlets as varied as the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the Wall Street Journal, and The New York Times. She has won numerous teaching awards, including the American Society of Engineering Education’s Chester F. Carlson Award for technical innovation in engineering education. Together with Terrence Sejnowski, the Francis Crick Professor at the Salk Institute, she co-teaches Coursera – UC San Diego’s “Learning How to Learn,” one of the world’s most popular massive open online courses with millions of students. Her book A Mind for Numbers: How to Excel at Math and Science (Even If You Flunked Algebra), (Penguin, 2014) is a New York Times best-selling science book that has sod over a million copies worldwide.
Dr. Oakley has adventured widely through her lifetime. She rose from the ranks of Private to Captain in the U.S. Army, during which time she was recognized as a Distinguished Military Scholar. She also worked as a communications expert at the South Pole Station in Antarctica, and has served as a Russian translator on board Soviet trawlers on the Bering Sea. Dr. Oakley is an elected Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering.
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Holiday Inn Portland, Pendleton Room, Lower level
Session