Archive for March 2009
There’s No Telling What Your Kids Could Do
There’s no telling what your own kids could do. After a long life and 30 years in the public school trenches, I’ve concluded that genius is as common as dirt. We suppress our genius only because we haven’t yet figured out how to manage a population of educated men and women.
So says John Taylor Gatto in an Ode Magazine piece that laments the current educational system (emphasis mine).
People are wells of potential waiting to be realized. Anyone who has ever sat down and had a discussion with a child comes face to face with this fact at its most resplendent. Take a moment and think about the children in your life. They may be cousins, younger siblings, children, grandchildren, students, nieces or nephews. ”There’s no telling what your own kids could do”. Those words have a powerful ring to them!
What Does Philosophy for Kids Look Like?
The idea of young children having philosophical discussions isn’t always the most intuitive one! What does that kind of conversation look like?
This is one of the first questions I’m asked when I go in to teach philosophy at an elementary school. What will the first class look like? How will you introduce philosophy to the kids?
Introduction
How do you teach citizenship? One of the formative truths of our educational system is that it was built to create the ideal worker, not the ideal citizen. Children learn its time to go when the bell sounds, that following instructions is more important than finding solutions or taking a stand, and that we are separated by ability (athletic or academic). So what would an educational system built to create citizens look like?
Citizenship isn’t simply knowing how to find out who your state representative is. Its knowing how to convince them to change their position on gay marriage or zoning laws. Its knowing what to do when they say no (or refuse to meet with you). Citizenship is about empowerment. Its about helping children grow into adults who have the strength and understanding to make an effective stand for what they believe in.
The root of this strength is found in the ability and confidence to reason and communicate effectively. That’s where Philosophy for Children comes in. Philosophy provides a method of teaching that helps students work on their communication and reasoning skills in tandem. It also works wonders for confidence, and helps bring academic and social outliers back into the fold.
A blog is, in a sense, an extended discussion. My goal in starting this particular blog is to narrate and explore the grand adventure of working to change education. Please make yourselves at home, I’m looking forward to our conversation.
