More Than One Way to Judge Education
Dear Eric,
I appreciate the clarity of our differences! I hope I can be as clear.
In education—like many other subjects—it's hard, if not impossible, to separate ends from means. What I think it means to be well-educated will influence the means I use, of course. So turning ends over to the president, Department of Education, and/or Congress is a far more critical act than I think you view it, Eric. Even if I had a far higher opinion of all three bodies. (Do you think more than half a dozen congressmen read the No Child Left Behind Act or the new common standards?)
At one extreme are parents who do not want schools that teach their children to question authority, be critical about the truth as laid out by their church or private beliefs, etc. At the other exteme, those who see schools as preparing the young for the coming revolution. I was always impressed by Jehovah's Witness families who sent their children to our progressive school. They valued our efforts to respect their beliefs while also respecting our right to expose their children to ours. We made compromises with them (offering alternatives to some books, trips, etc.), but not to the underlying five "habits of mind" which required being open to consider alternate views, for example. But obviously in part they were choosing us because their alternatives were few. But I think we learned a lot by having them in our community—the parents and their children.
We all of us, as parents, have strong reasons to concern ourselves with the "ends," the "values" that the school
I appreciate the clarity of our differences! I hope I can be as clear.
In education—like many other subjects—it's hard, if not impossible, to separate ends from means. What I think it means to be well-educated will influence the means I use, of course. So turning ends over to the president, Department of Education, and/or Congress is a far more critical act than I think you view it, Eric. Even if I had a far higher opinion of all three bodies. (Do you think more than half a dozen congressmen read the No Child Left Behind Act or the new common standards?)
At one extreme are parents who do not want schools that teach their children to question authority, be critical about the truth as laid out by their church or private beliefs, etc. At the other exteme, those who see schools as preparing the young for the coming revolution. I was always impressed by Jehovah's Witness families who sent their children to our progressive school. They valued our efforts to respect their beliefs while also respecting our right to expose their children to ours. We made compromises with them (offering alternatives to some books, trips, etc.), but not to the underlying five "habits of mind" which required being open to consider alternate views, for example. But obviously in part they were choosing us because their alternatives were few. But I think we learned a lot by having them in our community—the parents and their children.
We all of us, as parents, have strong reasons to concern ourselves with the "ends," the "values" that the school
