Re: NOW(-ish): Education

Jocelyn Brown (jocelynb@mindspring.com)
Wed, 31 Mar 1999 13:48:55 -0600

>I'm interested, Jocelyn.
>But - something that has struck me a bit - (because I've often thought of
>freeing children in schooling) is that children don't know what their
>options are - another good thing is that they don't know their limits - but
>sometimes there are opposites and grey areas to this. For instance, some
>children have heaps of limits and do know a few of their options. Anyway,
>basically the adults and teachers (they should morph into ONE group) should
>do two things: Facilitate and allow. Allow the children to be the active
>part in their own education and facilitate them by ensuring that they are
>not "blocked" and are free in every way and at the same time given all the
>resources and knowledge about the subject that they can.

Children cannot learn their limits unless they are allowed to freely explore them. They cannot learn their options unless they are allowed to find them. I think we basically agree. The Sudbury Valley School has plenty of teachers and resources available; all the child has to do is come to them, rather than vice versa. Overall, the facilitating is more of a passive process rather than an active one. I suggest you read the books I listed in my reply to Michael Wiik. As a friend recently told me, these books will convince you better than I ever could.

Jocelyn Brown
jocelynb@mindspring.com

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