RE, I got a little teary eyed watching this. Professor Zhao's argument that the individual must be respected and that individual interest and passion in learning ought to be valued is dead-on with Montessori pedagogy. Even his thoughts on discipline are similar to Montessori. I wish more people would make this connection.
well my evil computer refuses to allow me to watch this except in skips and jumps, but the first 5 minutes were pretty cool. I like what he said about authoritarian education.
I've admired Professor Zhao ever since I read one of his articles in Education Week several years ago. Once I wrote to him and he was kind enough to respond. I told him how I was tempted to buy workbooks for my children when they were young, but decided against it after getting good advice from a woman who raised five brilliant children. The woman advised me to "keep the joy of learning alive" and to do this by "following the interests of your child." I tossed the workbooks and anything else that bored my sons and was thrilled when they graduated from Harvard and Stanford. Professor Zhao told me that he planned to raise his children the same way. (Discovery, enrichment and experiences; not drill and test prep).
Perhaps Americans have long had "dumb" fourth graders, but we've long been first in terms of adult accomplishments. Are we about to give that up?
RE, I got a little teary eyed watching this. Professor Zhao's argument that the individual must be respected and that individual interest and passion in learning ought to be valued is dead-on with Montessori pedagogy. Even his thoughts on discipline are similar to Montessori. I wish more people would make this connection.
ReplyDeletewell my evil computer refuses to allow me to watch this except in skips and jumps, but the first 5 minutes were pretty cool. I like what he said about authoritarian education.
ReplyDeleteSend this to Arne Duncan.
ReplyDeleteI've admired Professor Zhao ever since I read one of his articles in Education Week several years ago. Once I wrote to him and he was kind enough to respond. I told him how I was tempted to buy workbooks for my children when they were young, but decided against it after getting good advice from a woman who raised five brilliant children. The woman advised me to "keep the joy of learning alive" and to do this by "following the interests of your child." I tossed the workbooks and anything else that bored my sons and was thrilled when they graduated from Harvard and Stanford. Professor Zhao told me that he planned to raise his children the same way. (Discovery, enrichment and experiences; not drill and test prep).
ReplyDeletePerhaps Americans have long had "dumb" fourth graders, but we've long been first in terms of adult accomplishments. Are we about to give that up?