Yay, mighty John Holt! Y'know what, I first read How Children Fail in about 1967, because my parents had it (on account of me) and I kiped it. (I always kiped all their Child Psychology books, so I'd know what they were up to.) I was in 4th or 5th grade at the time, attending a real prison-camp of a New Jersey public school, and it totally validated my perception that School was Seriously Fucked Up.
I'd had that perception for several years, actually - in third grade I'd determined to become a teacher because I was certain I could do a better job than was being done to me - but John Holt was the first grown-up who ever admitted it was true, and explained why. He's up there on my Childhood Heroes list, along with Vance Packard, Thomas Szasz, Robert A. Heinlein and Henry David Thoreau.
Of course, when I actually became a teacher, I quickly found out that I couldn't do a much better job than was done to me, because the system was set up to herd children, not to teach them. So I jumped ship, went over to Alternative Education, found it not much better but at least with room for improvement. LOL, here in my 'advanced late youth' I guess I've become an UnSchooler in principle, though in practice I acknowledge that UnSchooling only works well in an enriched environment.
What would really work would be if we could provide every child with an enriched environment, and there certainly has been some progress made in that direction, but a lot more is needed.
Ever think, if we could get just one generation of children reared on this planet, who had all had their primary needs adequately met, we'd be good to go for the rest of our species' lifespan.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2010-06-04 10:23 pm (UTC)I'd had that perception for several years, actually - in third grade I'd determined to become a teacher because I was certain I could do a better job than was being done to me - but John Holt was the first grown-up who ever admitted it was true, and explained why. He's up there on my Childhood Heroes list, along with Vance Packard, Thomas Szasz, Robert A. Heinlein and Henry David Thoreau.
Of course, when I actually became a teacher, I quickly found out that I couldn't do a much better job than was done to me, because the system was set up to herd children, not to teach them. So I jumped ship, went over to Alternative Education, found it not much better but at least with room for improvement. LOL, here in my 'advanced late youth' I guess I've become an UnSchooler in principle, though in practice I acknowledge that UnSchooling only works well in an enriched environment.
What would really work would be if we could provide every child with an enriched environment, and there certainly has been some progress made in that direction, but a lot more is needed.
Ever think, if we could get just one generation of children reared on this planet, who had all had their primary needs adequately met, we'd be good to go for the rest of our species' lifespan.