Margaret Wente writes a very good column in the Globe and Mail today:
Jan Howlett has seen this scene before … She has another diagnosis for kids like these. NBT: Never Been Taught. “They spend all their time talking about the kid instead of teaching the kid,” she said tartly.
The Howlett Academy … offers a radical alternative to the public-school approach. Its teaching methods are heavily discouraged in today’s public schools. It stresses penmanship and spelling, accuracy and focus. Every mistake in every essay is corrected – in red ink…
…“This would be a no-no with the board of education,” said Ms. Howlett. “It’s called direct instruction.” In the age of “child-centred” education, direct instruction is thought to stifle children’s inherent creativity. They’re supposed to discover math and spelling, not memorize the times tables.
This is EXACTLY what is wrong with the public school systems across this country. Child-centric education doesn’t educate; it coddles.
3 comments
Nicola Timmerman says:
29 September 2009 at 12:53 (UTC -7 )
Actually Montessori schools are “child-centred” but in a scientific way. The child use the didactic materials and can progress at their own pace so you can have several different ages in the same “casa”. Children are not expressing themselves aimlessly, but are learning in a very researched manner which matches the periods in life when they are most open to various learning tasks.
Taliesyn says:
29 September 2009 at 15:07 (UTC -7 )
That may be the case for these private/charter schools, but it is still necessary to ensure the child is actually learning the material via measurement of performance at a skill or knowledge area. This is that key failing of the public system today.
fern st albert says:
29 September 2009 at 13:31 (UTC -7 )
I thank my Jr/Sr high English teachers for their perseverance and strict adherance to detail. Although I let them done on occasion, they were absolutely the best for instilling a love of language and words. Cheers. PS they were drill instructor tough and threw students out of class if you were not paying attention.