Meet the Cynic
Most educational biographies begin with a list of accomplishments.
Mine begins with a confession.
I'm deeply suspicious of certainty.
Especially when it arrives wrapped in educational jargon, accompanied by a glossy strategic plan, and announced as the revolutionary idea that will finally fix schools.
I've spent more than fifty years in education.
That qualifies me to recognize a revolutionary new idea when it returns wearing a different tie.
During those decades I've taught in classrooms, led educational organizations, built companies, advised governments, worked with universities, spoken on international stages, and helped shape learning initiatives on several continents. Along the way I was honoured to receive Québec's Ordre d'excellence en éducation.
Those experiences taught me something that many educational conferences conveniently overlook.
Every few years another miracle solution arrives promising to transform learning forever. It comes wrapped in glossy brochures, inspirational slogans, expensive consultants, and enough fashionable vocabulary to convince everyone that history has officially begun again.
Some innovations deserve the applause.
Many deserve cross-examination.
That's why The Cynical Educator exists.
Not because I'm cynical about teachers.
I'm cynical about educational dogma that survives because questioning it has become politically inconvenient.
Most of all, I'm cynical about ideas that continue to consume millions of dollars long after the evidence has quietly slipped out the back door.
I began as a high school English teacher because I believed education could change lives. I still do.
But curiosity eventually carried me into business.
Over the next two decades I founded companies, led manufacturing operations, built international partnerships, and learned lessons that rarely appear in educational leadership textbooks.
Employees aren't inspired by mission statements alone.
Results matter.
The other rewarded outcomes.
Education deserves both.
Too often it settles for neither.
Every article begins with one simple belief:
If an idea is good, it should survive scrutiny.
If research supports it, I'll defend it.
If evidence contradicts it, I'll say so.
If an educational sacred cow wanders into the middle of the road, I reserve the right to ask whether it's actually producing any milk.
You'll find research here.
You'll find evidence.
You'll also find sarcasm.
Humour has an extraordinary ability to expose uncomfortable truths that polite conversation politely ignores.
Some readers will nod.
Some will disagree.
A few may become slightly irritated.
That's perfectly acceptable.
Agreement has never been my objective.
Thinking has.
If you're looking for motivational posters, fashionable buzzwords, or another article explaining why every new initiative is "transformational," you're probably on the wrong website.
If you're looking for evidence, uncomfortable questions, sharp humour, and arguments strong enough to survive a spirited debate...
Welcome.
Pull up a chair.
The coffee is terrible.
The conversation won't be.
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