Tobin Quereau suggested:
>If we modeled our education system more on the lines of a good pre-school
>setting--rich environment, lots of free choice, time for play and
>interaction, support for imagination and creativity, laughter and song,
>music, dance, room for physical activity as part of learning instead of
>only at one time in the day, guidance in place of control, (and occasional
>dishwashing), we would, perhaps, see some of the incredible progress in
>learning continue beyond the pre-school years and even into late
>elementary school levels!
Back in the mid-50s I dropped out of college three times, even though I
was a relatively high-achieving high school student from one of the
leading high schools in the country (Bx Science). At one point I took off
on a wanderjahr, visiting friends at various colleges around the country,
crashing in the dorms, auditing classes and hanging out in the various
unions, commons, and ordinary hangouts where students congregated.
When I arrived at Bard College I thought I had entered another world.
This was '55: the place had contracted to its smallest size (a community
of less than 200, including students, faculty, and administration) and was
still heavily influenced by Black Mountain and other college experiments
of the time. Tobin's paragraph above captures it perfectly. Not an "if
only", it really was that way. Much of the learning was designed as
collaborative (as in Barry Mallis's posts) and there was never any doubt
that the core experience was learning how to learn, and living the good
life of the mind.
Needless to say, I tarried awhile, eventually getting a degree from the
place. It has gone through a number of changes since then, and I've only
been back once -- in the late 60s, when the entire campus seemed to be
painted with day-glo spray paint -- and a lot of the people I ran across
seemed to be very spaced out. I know it's different today, having
flourished in a different way under Leon Botstein's talented leadership,
and I'm not such a nostalgic fool as to believe that it could be
recaptured -- but what an experience that was!
Yes, Tobin,
>If we modeled our education system more on the lines of a good pre-school
>setting--rich environment, lots of free choice, time for play and
>interaction, support for imagination and creativity, laughter and song,
>music, dance, room for physical activity as part of learning instead of
>only at one time in the day, guidance in place of control, (and occasional
>dishwashing), we would, perhaps, see some of the incredible progress in
>learning continue beyond the pre-school years and even into late
>elementary school levels!
... and beyond! --> --> -->
--Jack Hirschfeld Do figures of authority just shoot you down? jack@his.com Is life in the business world a drag?
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>