I am a concerned parent who is questioning the content of my fourth
grader=E2=80=99s education. My husband and I want to make sure that our
child is getting the best education possible. Specifically, we wonder
if she and other students should be allowed to learn what they want or
if there should be a standardized curriculum for all. What sparked
this concern was a conversation that I had with my child. The other
day, we had a typical exchange when she got home about how her day was
and once again I received her typical answer of =E2=80=9Cboring.=E2=80=9D
=
When I
asked why, her answer sparked a concern in me. She said she never gets
to learn about what she wants to learn in school. In science her class
was learning about fungi and where it grows, but she said she=E2=80=99d
rather learn about plants and how they grow as she loves to watch
flowers grow. I asked her what she had learned about fungi and she
couldn=E2=80=99t tell me much. Clearly, she=E2=80=99s not learning
anything
because she is not interested in the topic.
I=E2=80=99ve done some research on this issue of whether a curriculum
shou=
ld
be standardized for all and have come across an article by John Holt
called =E2=80=9CEscape from Childhood.=E2=80=9D In this article, Holt
cont=
ends
that there should not be a standardized curriculum for all, but that
children should be able to determine all aspects of his/her educational
development (decide what they want to learn, and when, where, how much,
and how fast). He held this position because he said that telling
children what to learn and for how long violates a civil liberty. A
person=E2=80=99s freedom of learning is part of his freedom of thought,
whi=
ch
is even more basic than his freedom of speech. Moreover, adults would
never stand by being told what to learn or what to be curious about,
but the child who resists is treated as a criminal. He also said that
children should not be expected to learn in schools. An argument for
learning in schools is that they are places where children can be
protected against the bad influences of the world outside. However,
Holt claims that this isn=E2=80=99t the case. He said that schools
contain
the envy, fear, greed and obsessive competitiveness that exist in the
outside world. In schools,
=EF=82=A7 people are everywhere and set in competition against each other,
=EF=82=A7 people are subject to authority who tell them what to do,
=EF=82=A7 and children perform for the judgment and approval of others and
=
do
not perform for intrinsic reasons.
I would appreciate it if I could have you=E2=80=99re opinions on this
issue.
I feel that some of Holt=E2=80=99s claims are too extreme. Specifically I
believe that children should learn in schools, but I also believe that
they should have some say in what they want to learn, even if this is
different from what other children want to learn, because I feel that
you will learn more when it is something you are interested in. You're
replies are greatly appreciated!
|
