Bev: I can't help but recall fondly the work of the primary teachers in British
Columbia. Those folks generously allowed Nebraska and Iowa to develop and
publish their version of B.C.'s Primary Program. Nebraska-Iowa's publication
is called The Primary Program: Growing and Learning in the Heartland. All of
the work done around these publications centered on the issue we're discussing:
the incurious. (I've actually heard Lilian Katz use the word, so I'm thinking
it's a word.??) There is a wonderful videotape from B.C. called "Time of
Wonder" - much footage of kids "wondering" and learning deeply. It's a
life-changer. The "organizer" for these folks is the Project Approach,
developed in the U.S. largely by Sylvia Chard and Lilian Katz. It can keep
children's wonder alive and revive the wonder of teachers at the same time.
Aaaaah, if only I were the King~
If you think of Bonita and Jennifer on this list serve, you know that one of
their greatest passions is Lesson Study. You probably can think of
"identifiers" of other names that appear here and hook up other passions.
Suffice it to say that my greatest passion is probably the project approach and
the primary program which celebrates the whole child. And probably my greatest
professional heartbreak is that the approach was just taking off (and John
Dewey enjoying a rebirth) when we met Dubya and NCLB which is leaving all our
children behind, especially the ones who come to us curious. And, just as
heartbreaking to me, killing the spirit of the professional.
I would LOVE to have a split screen with a day in the life of a child-centered
primary program playing on the left (of course, the left!) and a day in the
life of Reading Mastery on the right (a heartbreaking double entendre). My
husband says if all parents were able to sit through a half day shown like this
in real time, we would have immediate education reform in this country. And
he's a middle school principal, which probably explains a lot.
In my opinion, this part of To Understand especially shows what makes Ellin
radically different from today's educational scene. And we need to think
deeper and deeper and deeper about why.
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Bonita: I generally start my fifth grade science unit by telling students
I would feel very successful as a teacher if I can return them to their 3
year-old selves. They look at me like I am out of my mind and then I talk about
how they had a natural curiosity back then that annoyed their parents and
caregivers enormously. Usually, someone in the class knows a three-year-old,
starts laughing and calling out, "Why? Why? Why?" Then we talk about how why,
how, and what if can take us to wonderful learning places. When students ask
fabulous and impossible questions in my class, I get very excited. I often have
a posting for fabulous questions. If they ask me to answer them, I offer to
help them know where to look. It is the start of rebirthing curiosity, but it
takes time and patience. Some students will go overboard to begin with. Others
will not see the value initially.
_________________________________________________________________
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