Reading his essay was a disconbobulating experience. In the chain of his thinking from data to facts to interpretation to diagnosis to prescription, I found myself frequently in profound disagreement. And yet he writes passionately, well and with insight. I liked:
Children and old people are penned up and locked away from the business of the world to a degree without precedent - nobody talks to them anymore and without children and old people mixing in daily life a community has no future and no past, only a continuous present. In fact, the name "community" hardly applies to the way we interact with each other. We live in networks, not communities, and everyone I know is lonely because of that.
But for all my disagreement, disconcertingly, I also find myself in committed agreement with some of his thoughts.
Family is the main engine of education. If we use schooling to break children away from parents - and make no mistake, that has been the central function of schools since John Cotton announced it as the purpose of the Bay Colony schools in 1650 and Horace Mann announced it as the purpose of Massachusetts schools in 1850 - we're going to continue to have the horror show we have right now. The curriculum of family is at the heart of any good life, we've gotten away from that curriculum, time to return to it. The way to sanity in education is for our schools to take the lead in releasing the stranglehold of institutions on family life, to promote during school time confluences of parent and child that will strengthen family bonds.
In this last quote I recognize exactly what we are advocating for at Through the Magic Door. Opening the door of reading occurs within the family environment - teachers and librarians can help and sometimes, in some instances, even be the primary agents; but they can never replace the respect for and love of reading that is inculcated within the family.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment