Questioning My Dogma

While tracking down a copy of Living and Learning: The Report of the Provincial Committee on Aims and Objectives of Education in the Schools of Ontario (known popularly as the “Hall-Dennis Report”) yesterday at Robertson Library I found, helpfully catalogued beside it, a copy of Education or Molasses: A critical look at the Hall-Dennis Report.

Given that the former has been at the core both of how I experienced education as a child and how I regard it as an adult, the latter provides me an opportunity to examine some of my deeply-held beliefs in a new light.

It’s a delightfully acerbic read.

Comments

Joshua Biggle's picture
Joshua Biggle on April 26, 2016 - 15:31 Permalink

I love that comment at the bottom -- "To asset that people learn because they are happy is to fly in the face of common knowledge..."

I'm sure that is open to interpretation but I believe that a combination of happiness and curiousity are the ingredients necessary to drive learning. Some people can be happy doing absolutely nothing while others can learn while in the wallows of misery. However, I believe that it is the joy of learning that we must instill in our children and that burden falls to a partnership between parents and educators.

Charles Tassell's picture
Charles Tassell on April 26, 2016 - 17:24 Permalink

If you haven't seen it yet, I'd highly recommend checking out Michael Moore's "Where to Invade Next." It has a section on the education systems in Finland and France that is really quite interesting. They do it much differently than we do, and get better results.

Oliver Rukavina's picture
Oliver Rukavina on April 26, 2016 - 17:43 Permalink

Before Your Days at Trent
And After Your Days at Trent.