\u201cGive the pupils something to do, not something to learn; and the doing is of such a nature as to demand thinking; learning naturally results.\u201d \u2013 John Dewey (1916, 191)<\/p>\n
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I<\/span>n previous posts, I have argued that (a) the variance in histories of capitalism<\/a> sustains quite different points of view about capitalism today and where the system might be headed; (b) writers and dictionaries do not agree on a definition of capitalism<\/a>, fueling ambiguity about the system; and (c) capitalism, while not broken<\/a>, generates controversy.<\/p>\n What is a teacher to do in the face of capitalism\u2019s histories, ambiguity, and controversy?\u00a0 Most often, it seems that instructors skirt the subject entirely because it is complicated, dynamic, and loaded.\u00a0 There are so many safer subjects to teach.\u00a0 My casual review of the curriculum at major business schools and leading departments of economics and public policy finds considerable attention to the professional practices, models of behavior, <\/em>and outcomes <\/em>in capitalist economies but relatively little about the system itself: what it is, why it exists, and how it is developing.\u00a0 Why and how should teachers aim to fill the void?<\/p>\n This post responds that an approach based on active learning (\u201clearning by doing\u201d) and the discussion of practical case studies is effective in dealing with the challenges posed by teaching about capitalism.[i]<\/a>\u00a0 I take John Dewey\u2019s argument that high engagement of students with a learning challenge can animate the subject and create learning that sticks.\u00a0 Here, I discuss challenges about teaching capitalism, advocate a teaching approach that can help to meet the challenges, and offer two examples of relevant teaching materials.<\/p>\n Capitalism can be hard to teach<\/strong><\/p>\n The objections to teaching about capitalism are straightforward.\u00a0 Critics will say that the subject is:<\/p>\n Why teach capitalism?<\/strong><\/p>\n Capitalism warrants serious curricular commitment because of its material existence in the world, its impact on human well-being, and its claims of moral legitimacy (see my earlier post<\/a>). \u00a0\u00a0Whether an instructor is a critic or adherent of capitalism, this economic system is impossible to ignore for its economic, cultural, and political impact in the world.<\/p>\n Moreover, to prepare students for citizenship and economic agency in the world they will enter must entail building their knowledge about this system. \u00a0Instruction in capitalism will respond to students\u2019 keen interest in vocational preparation.<\/p>\n Current conditions frequently fuel arguments that capitalism is under stress. In the downswing of a business cycle, the headlines will carry reports of layoffs, bankruptcies, and investment losses; the upswing will carry such news in reverse.\u00a0 What is a student to make of such developments?\u00a0 Have we seen them before?\u00a0 What are the consequences for different groups in society? \u00a0Instruction in capitalism can strengthen students\u2019 ability to interpret and learn from current events.<\/p>\n Finally, many students come to the subject with attitudes shaped more by social media, family lore, misinformation and peer pressure than by facts and critical thinking. \u00a0\u00a0As Daniel Patrick Moynihan said, \u201cEveryone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts.\u201d[v]<\/a>\u00a0 At the undergraduate and even graduate levels, the prior grounding of many students in capitalism is mediocre at best.\u00a0 Students tend to hold incomplete or inaccurate definitions of the system and its key attributes.\u00a0 This gap in knowledge is ripe for education.<\/p>\n What must be taught?<\/strong><\/p>\n The scope of the teaching opportunity is broad, including growth in a student\u2019s knowledge, skills, and judgment.<\/p>\n Knowledge, skills, and judgment\u2014\u201cknow what,\u201d \u201cknow how,\u201d and \u201cknow why\u201d\u2014are mutually reinforcing.[viii]<\/a>\u00a0 Knowledge about capitalism helps to direct skillful analysis; in reverse, skills sharpen knowledge.\u00a0 Skills and knowledge inspire wiser judgment; judgment prompts questions for skillful analysis and the enrichment of knowledge.\u00a0 Strengthening one element can help to strengthen the others.\u00a0 Yet the greatest gain comes from strengthening them in combination, by designing learning experiences to promote these three together.<\/p>\n How to teach capitalism<\/strong><\/p>\n The first task of a teacher is motivational, to prompt the student to suspend disbelief, to wrestle with the subject, and to learn.\u00a0 How can the instructor design compelling<\/em> learning experiences that produce sticky knowledge, artful skills, and good judgment?\u00a0 Understandably, instructors find it difficult to introduce students to capitalism without first engaging them in the ideas of venerable and modern writers about capitalism.\u00a0 Surely, no education in capitalism is complete without that exposure.\u00a0 Yet for many students such an introduction can seem remote and abstract.\u00a0 The alternative is to address how students learn best.<\/p>\n Begin with the idea that one learns best that which one teaches oneself<\/em>. The teacher cannot make meaning for the students; only students can do it for themselves. Students are not receivers of knowledge, like vessels waiting to be filled. They are processors of perceptions. This means that you must shape the learning enterprise in a way that enables the students to build upon what they bring to the course, to start from where they<\/em> are. Students make meaning to the extent that they discover ideas themselves. Rote memorization of knowledge simply transferred from others makes little meaning. A teacher\u2019s exhortation and example may help students, but only to the extent that they nudge students through the process of making meaning.\u00a0\u00a0 The meaning you hope to impart to students may not be the meaning they acquire. Given the uniqueness of each person\u2019s filters, the meaning derived from the educational enterprise may vary considerably from one student to the next.<\/p>\n Formal research and teaching experience that a high-engagement <\/em>teaching promotes meaning-making, this approach is defined by at least the following four attributes:<\/p>\n \u201cManagers are not confronted with problems that are independent of each other, but with dynamic situations that consist of complex systems of changing problems that interact with each other. I call such situations messes<\/em>\u2026Managers do not solve problems: they manage messes.\u201d[xv]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n These attributes suggest that students should engage in the messy world of democracy and capitalism through high-engagement instruction around integrative problems.\u00a0 The insights of researchers and the innovations of instructors suggest a vision for learning experiences that begins with narrow framing of issues, methods, and judgments and that grows to expansive framing, that entails classroom discussions rather than lectures, and that focuses these discussions on case studies, problems, and projects.\u00a0 The literature on education in the social sciences offers several models of a course such as this.[xvi]<\/a>\u00a0 For instance, Raj Chetty\u2019s course at Harvard declares that, \u201crather than touring students through the textbook, teachers invited students to participate in the authentic work of the field.<\/em>\u201d\u2026 We seek to apply this approach to teaching introductory empirical economics by discussing frontier research in lectures and having students engage in research themselves in labs and empirical projects.\u201d<\/p>\n Critics of high-engagement teaching assert that the method is inefficient<\/em>, that teaching materials are difficult to use and that such materials quickly lose relevance or seem contrived.\u00a0 Compared to what?\u00a0 If the comparison is to the lecture method of instruction, then is it efficiency that matters most, or effectiveness<\/em>?\u00a0 High-engagement teaching produces learning that sticks, that fosters creativity and innovation, and that promotes growth in knowledge, skills, and wisdom.\u00a0 Good teaching materials are readily available.\u00a0 The lecture method devolves too easily into rote learning, with its attendant problems such as narrowmindedness, rapid decay in retention, and student isolation.\u00a0 High-engagement teaching is effective.\u00a0 It builds the capacity for critical thinking, exercises judgment and action-taking, and models processes of inductive learning-from-experience that adults will employ throughout their lives.\u00a0 And not least, high-engagement teaching affords richer experiences for the teacher.<\/p>\n Much of the art of high-engagement teaching involves asking <\/em>rather than telling.<\/em>\u00a0 We teach this way out of a belief\u2014based on considerable evidence\u2014that learning \u201csticks\u201d when a student makes sense of an idea, as opposed to passively memorizing it.\u00a0 Moreover, high-engagement teaching models leadership by asking questions.\u00a0 My work with senior leaders in both the public and private sectors taught me that leadership by asking questions is an attribute of high performance organizations.\u00a0 For instance, George A.L. David, was CEO of United Technologies for 14 years and was a pre-eminent practitioner of this leadership style.\u00a0 The key idea is that modeling how to ask questions that motivate learning by others, teaches others to do the same.\u00a0 How we teach is what we teach.<\/em><\/p>\n Some resources for teaching capitalism<\/strong><\/p>\n To prepare students for citizenship and economic agency in the world they will enter requires building their knowledge about these systems. Beginning in 2019, several colleagues and I founded the Project on Democracy and Capitalism<\/a> at the University of Virginia, with the aim of promoting the development of a community of research and teaching in the subject.\u00a0 Today, the Project continues under the leadership of Scott Miller<\/a> and Michael Lenox<\/a>.\u00a0 The teaching approach we developed is based on student self-discovery, a powerful method that uses case studies and exercises, the discussion of which is guided by a classroom instructor.<\/p>\n Developing high-engagement instructional materials on capitalism can be a time-intensive demand for instructors.[xvii]<\/sup><\/a> \u00a0However, two kinds of readily-available instructional resources afford a way forward.\u00a0 The first consists of data-analytic case studies and problems.\u00a0 The second are decision-oriented case studies.\u00a0 A case study is a summary of a problem situation that invites the student to recommend action based on analysis.\u00a0 It is teaching material, not a journalistic or historical record.\u00a0 The writer of case studies seeks to create learning experience for students by recreating the problem setting as decision-makers saw it at the time.\u00a0 A case study will throw students into the setting that prevailed historically so that they can wrestle with the same dilemmas, and perhaps even err.\u00a0 Two kinds of case studies are relevant to high-engagement teaching about capitalism.<\/p>\n Learning by hands-on analysis.<\/u>\u00a0 DemCap Analytics<\/a>, a program offers short case studies and easy access to data through which students can explore aspects of capitalism.[xviii]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0 A collection of short cases is available for download from that website without charge.\u00a0 In addition, a web platform and interface for data retrieval and analysis allow students access to data through a single hub, which reduces a common disincentive for instructors, namely the time and effort necessary to structure data analytic projects and cases.<\/p>\n Learning by decision-making.<\/u>\u00a0 A collection of teaching case studies includes materials on 24 major financial crises and five technical notes that support conceptual content in the cases.[xix]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0 These cases are set in the U.S., Britain, France, Germany, and the USSR and extend from 1720 to 2018.\u00a0 All cases place the student in the shoes of one or more protagonists and at a point where the student must analyze the issues, decide, and recommend action.\u00a0 The cases present relatively deep information on the political context of these crises and thus help students to build a frame a reference about democratic development and the interaction between government and voluntary exchange markets.\u00a0 Because of the length of reading assigned, the data analytic tasks mainly focus on the interpretation of graphic and tabular information, though in some cases the student is assigned to manipulate data sets in a spreadsheet for the purpose of testing alternative explanations for the events.\u00a0 The cases aim to serve masters-level university students and upper-level undergraduate students.<\/p>\n Conclusion<\/strong><\/p>\n The instructional challenges posed by capitalism frame a strategic opportunity for educators.\u00a0 Challenges arise from the complexity, dynamism, and the fraught issues it can raise.\u00a0 A high-engagement teaching approach can deal with these challenges because many materials, especially case studies, afford the opportunity for students to<\/p>\n High-engagement teaching enhances not only knowledge, but also skills and judgment\u2014all three of which are interdependent. Research finds high impact from high-engagement class sessions focused on relevant problems and real data. Two kinds of resources can assist the instructor to teach those subjects: decision-oriented case studies and data analytic case studies.\u00a0 Ordinarily, the development of such materials is time-consuming for the instructor.\u00a0 However, the recent publication of new materials can make high engagement teaching more accessible to faculty and students.\u00a0 Ultimately, the aim of instructional strategies should be to promote learning effectiveness–learning that “sticks”–that helps to prepare students for a life of citizenship and agency.<\/p>\n [Note: this post has synthesized and expanded upon some of my previous writings.\u00a0 See Bruner (2022) and Bruner (2025).]<\/p>\n References<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n [i]<\/a> See my book Ask Often, Tell Seldom: Good Practices in Case Teaching for the New Instructor and the Seasoned Colleague,<\/em> 2023 available at SSRN.com, \u00a0https:\/\/papers.ssrn.com\/sol3\/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4112455<\/a>. Also see \u201cTeaching about Democracy and Capitalism: High Engagement and Doing Economics,\u201d forthcoming 2025 in Journal of Economic Education, <\/em>and downloadable at https:\/\/papers.ssrn.com\/sol3\/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4827764<\/a>.<\/p>\n [ii]<\/a> See, for instance, Ulrich, Witt, 2017., \u201cCapitalism as a complex adaptive system and its growth,\u201d Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market, and Complexity,<\/em> 3:12.<\/p>\n [iii]<\/a> Richard Nelson and Sidney Winter (1985) describe firms as evolving through processes of natural selection.\u00a0 Joseph Schumpeter (1942) described capitalism as a constantly changing system owing to forces of \u201ccreative destruction.\u201d<\/p>\n [iv]<\/a> Students will point to the high failure rate of new products and services offered.\u00a0 About a fifth of businesses fail in their first year after opening; by the fifth year, about half of new businesses have failed; and by the tenth year, almost two-thirds have failed.\u00a0 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2024.)<\/p>\n [v]<\/a> 1983 January 18, The Washington Post, \u201cMore Than Social Security Was at Stake\u201d by Daniel P. Moynihan, Quote Page A17, Column 5, Washington, D.C. (ProQuest).<\/p>\n [vi]<\/a> Dewey, (1938) 25.<\/p>\n [vii]<\/a> \u201cGood Judgment Comes from Experience. Experience Comes from Bad Judgement,\u201d philosiblog<\/em>, https:\/\/philosiblog.com\/…<\/a><\/p>\n [viii]<\/a> Bruner (2025).<\/p>\n [ix]<\/a> Brown, Roediger, and McDaniel (2014).<\/p>\n [x]<\/a> Bruner (2022) and Christensen, Garvin, and Sweet (1991).<\/p>\n [xi]<\/a> Erwin (2015).<\/p>\n [xii]<\/a> Dewey (1938).<\/p>\n [xiii]<\/a> Mary Wright (2000), Chew and Cerbin (2000), and Roel, Sent, and De Vries (2017).<\/p>\n [xiv]<\/a> McGoldrick and Garnett (2013) and Singer and Willett (1990).<\/p>\n [xv]<\/a> Ackoff, (1979): 93\u2013104.<\/p>\n [xvi]<\/a> See Behn and Vaupel (1076) for a course at Duke University on analytical thinking; Abowitz (1990) for a course in demography; Dvorak et alia<\/em> (2019) in economics; Conaway et alia<\/em> (2018) for econometrics; Halliday (2019) for a course in economic development; and Chetty (2019) for a course, \u201cUsing Big Data to Solve Economic and Social Problems.\u201d<\/p>\n [xvii]<\/a> Developing materials and data analytic exercises imposes a high cost in time and effort for instructors and maybe students (Dvorak et al. (2019), Singer and Willett (1990), Wright (2000), Mendez-Carbajo (2019) and Mendez-Carbajo and Malakar (2019)).\u00a0 Though data analysis typically employs computing technology, technology is not in itself a panacea (Johnson and Meder (2020))–what matters is what you do with the technology.<\/p>\n [xviii]<\/a> DemCap Analytics <\/em>may be accessed online at demcapanalytics.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n [xix]<\/a> An overview of these materials may be downloaded from SSRN.com.\u00a0 See https:\/\/papers.ssrn.com\/sol3\/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3752061<\/a>.\u00a0 Individual copies of the case studies may be obtained from Darden Business Publishing (https:\/\/darden44.sharepoint.com\/sites\/DBP<\/a>).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cGive the pupils something to do, not something to learn; and the doing is of such a nature as to demand thinking; learning naturally results.\u201d \u2013 John Dewey (1916, 191)…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2118","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n
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\n10.1080\/00220485.2024.2418838.<\/li>\n