Educating The Whole Child
The "whole child" view implies that the whole child is influenced by everything, and interacts with everything, with the whole world. In turn, the whole world is interacting with the child. Our children are aware of far more than they can express, and they are learning all the time.
Is Education Work Or Play?
Do you remember being scolded for playing? Perhaps you were told to straighten up and sit still, or to stop "being silly" or stop "fooling around" (demeaning terms for play). These are common experiences in a society where grown-ups hardly play at all. It is as if we have forgotten how to play, and play is reserved only for the very young, often only at recess, or only in sports.
Adults are mostly game watchers instead of game participants. Yet we remain aware that the spirit of play, which often has no obvious purpose or goal, is a magical ingredient that makes every experience more alive, and makes learning memorable.
If play is so elusive for adults, when does it stop for us as children? Does it stop with school?
Traumatized By School (Book Review)
How many of us are walking around scarred by our school experiences?
In an article entitled Seven Sins of Our System of Forced Education, Peter Gray referred to school as prison. He's not the only one to make this comparison, having heard school referred to this way by students themselves! In his article, Dr. Gray explains that the school system is guilty of seven sins, including: the denial of liberty, the fostering of shame and hubris, interference with self-direction, linking learning with fear, and more.