Book Chat
October 4, 2009
Not so long ago I chanced upon an interview with Sarah Vowell. Sarah is funny. smart and engaging! She was talking about her new book The Wordy Shipmates and she was so intriguing that I picked up the book. Not only has she written a number of books, she is also the voice of Violet in the animated film The Incredibles and contributes regularly to the This American Life on Chicago Public Radio
Although I was reading for amusement, information and stories, once again I bumped into education!
The Wordy Shipmates is about the Puritans in the 17 century and Sarah Vowell's childhood in the 20th century and life now in the 21st. The book is a delightful flow of ideas and customs that weave through the narrative of American life. Education was there at the beginning.
The Pilgrims who landed at Cape Cod on the Mayflower were Separatists who wanted to sever all ties to the Church of England. But there were Puritans, called Nonseparatists who wanted reform from within the Church of E. They landed in Salem, Mass., which is not far from Boston. These are the Puritans that this book is about.
And when they set voyage from England, the friends they left behind expressed concern not only about the physical hardship they were taking on but also about the "..shocking lack of reading material" they would encounter in their new home.. However the lack of lending libraries in their new country did not stop their reading.
As Vowell says ...(they) and their children and their children's children just wrote their own books and pretty much kept their noses in them up under the day God Created the Red Sox"
(to be continued)
Sept 7, 2009
It’s a new school year and Book Chat starts a new season with a post from Sheila Stewart.She Says:
This may be more like an “author/speaker chat”, but I wanted to share a bit about Gabor Maté, M.D. I attended a full-house presentation of his in the spring which focused on the topic of his national bestselling book he co-authored with Gordon Neufeld, Ph. D. It was called, “Hold On To Your Kids: Why parents need to matter more than peers”.(See Video)
It acknowledges that the structure of the “family” is drastically different than it was twenty years ago. This change has resulted in parents losing contact with their kids and in turn, children are looking more to their peers for their values.
I enjoyed his gentle nature and humour, and I thought he offered some great insight and strategies for today’s parents. And by no means does he, or the title of the book, suggest that we “hold on to kids” in a way that holds them back. Instead, it is more about creating an on-going foundation and support for the parent-child relationship that will only serve to assist and guide children and teens even when they are “out there”, so that peers don’t completely replace parents in shaping values and influencing decisions
. From the book, “The concepts, principals and practical advice contained in Hold on to Your Kids will empower parents to satisfy their children’s inborn need to find direction by turning towards a source of authority, contact and warmth.” I enjoyed what he had to say about relationships as being so key. He extended this to the school environment as well and emphasized the benefit to establishing relationships with kids (e.g. increased motivation, less discipline problems, positive experiences, etc.) The relationship is the basis for positive motivation and engaging students, whereas “external motivators” often are not as sustainable.
I know more recently he has also been on CBC radio talking about his work with addictions. So far, some very interesting perspectives and work in that area as well.
July 13, 2009
I've been reading Consumed…How Markets Corrupt Children, Infantilize Adults and Swallow Citizens Whole, by Benjamin R. Barber.
He is concerned when parents and students are seen not as learners but as consumers or “clients of educational services" . He says that adult activities such as critical thinking and public citizenship were once the “primary objectives of higher education” These are now rejected in favour of “self-involved private choice and narcissistic personal gain”
Harsh words and it is a bit hard to read that “personal betterment, private liberty, and individual empowerment” are not good things.
However the discussion around education becomes more interesting to me when he looks at education as part of a whole cluster of services we are used to seeing as part of the public service in a democracy.
He argues that when these are privatized their functionality is actually reduced. They become less than what we expect or want. “You can not protect a few in the midst of general insecurity…you can not educate a few in the midst of societal ignorance.”
He is critical of those who argue that problems found in public schooling can be addressed through private parental choice.
Here in Canada where private schools are much less common, the issue may centre more on choice within the public system.
Often this is seen as a virtue. We each want the best for our child. I may want to move my child out of ‘failing schools” into "successful ones” or you may want your child in a “…school system where your kid is not slowed down by the less gifted or adequately prepared”. It is natural to want the ‘best’ for our children and we may differ about what that is. Our children may and likely do differ.
But listen to what Barber says about choice: “…aggregating our private choices as educational consumers in fact yields an inegalitarian and highly segmented society.” Our private interest can be at odds with the public interest. You just can’t add up our different and often conflicting private desires and get a coherent equitable whole.
It’s a problem.
June 15, 2009
Last post I start talking about
Consumed…How Markets Corrupt Children, Infantilize Adults and Swallow Citizens Whole, by Benjamin R. Barber.
This is chunky book and I suspect it could be a wee bit shorter. Published in 2007, Barber says “(when) the needy are without income and the well-heeled are without needs, radical inequality is just assumed”. If the poor cannot be made rich enough to become consumers, then those who have wealth but no real material needs will have to be persuaded to shop. Otherwise the system will not grow and, if does not grow, it will die. This is the dilemma and his book looks at the market response to this. At risk is everything, including democracy.
Most damaging is the “infantilist” ethic of consumption, where people no longer value the different stages of life but yearn to be forever young. This refusal to grow old is important because it in part diminishes our adult lives. “Adult cultures are plural and distinctive, but youth culture is remarkably universal”. And it is easier to sell to a broad universal culture. Kid culture.
Well I'm not sure about all this. I quite enjoy lots of different kinds of markets and I've no great desire to be young but I do keep hearing about education as a consumer choice issue.
Next post I’ll talk about the impact of this on education.
May 31, 2009
Another book on play!!
Shelia Stewart has written asking if anyone has read Child's Play
Rediscovering the Joy of Play
in Our Families and Our ...
By Silken Laumann
Random House
Published April 2006
On another note....
Sometimes there just seems to be too much stuff. Even those of us without much cash seem to have clutter problems. Stuff and garbage was on my mind when I started browsing a book called Consumed…How Markets Corrupt Children, Infantilize Adults and Swallow Citizens Whole, by Benjamin R. Barber. Barber is the Kekst Professor of Civil Society at the University of Maryland and a Distinguished Senior Fellow at Demos.
I wasn’t intending to read about education, I was just tired of stuff, but in this book I kept bumping into children and education.
Next post I'll talk a bit about what he said.
May 16, 2009
Sheila Stewart has dropped in and says: " Finally get caught up in "book chat" here! Back to April 27 and the mention of Alfie Kohn--one of my favourites as well! Thought I would post a link about his book, "The Case Against Standardized Testing". Go to:http://www.alfiekohn.org/books/tcast.htm
His site is also informative:
http://alfiekohn.org
May 10, 2009
Last post I commented on The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch, part of an ongoing lecture series at his university however in his case, he really was dying. He talks about his childhood and his dreams.
He was a smart kid, a ‘nerd’; and confident and self-possessed to a fault. It was a college professor who took him aside and cautioned him about his arrogance and the inevitable consequences such an attitude would have for him. This prof gave him honest feedback and that exchange affected how Pausch later taught his own students. To one he said “You don’t listen. You’re hard to get along with. It’s not going well”.
Pausch refers to himself as a recovering jerk and offers this status to the young student. School is more than personal achievement for Dr. Pausch. Working in groups and getting on well with others are part of the deal. What he wants is for students to learn how to judge themselves.
Dr. Pausch also reflects on the current understanding many have, that education is a consumer good which people pay top dollar for and therefore want its value to be measurable.Pausch suggests that if people must use such a model, that they get the industry metaphor right. It’s not retail. Rather it’s more like paying for a personal trainer at an athletic club where the professor is the trainer who makes sure the student is actually putting out the necessary effort and gives the student feedback when they are not. I guess it’s the brain muscle they are building.
Beyond achieving his childhood dreams, Pausch found the greatest satisfaction was in enabling others to achieve theirs. And this was not separate from contributing to the common good which he argues is an essential component of a responsible and joyful life. His specific legacy from his years of teaching is the development of Alice. Ah…what is Alice? Well it is a teaching tool for introductory computing. Kids learn to program computers through creating short 3D animated movies. But they learn the programming almost as an afterthought. Mainly they are having fun, or as he says, millions of kids are having fun while learning something hard. It’s free as a public service from Carnegie Mellon….click here..
I'd be interested to hear if anyone has tried this program.
April 27, 2009
Just in some recommendations by on line member Kate Tagesth who says "One of my favourite authors, Alfie Kohn, has published a wonderful book called, ``What Does it Mean to be Well Educated: And More Essays on Standards, Grading, and Other Follies``. He also has a newer publication on a topic that is getting more press of late and that is homework. The book is called `The Homework Myth: Why Our Kids Get Too Much of a Bad Thing.``In fact, any of Kohn`s books is a worth while read."
And a follow up from the last post on play. John Borst made a post way back in November , where he talks about play and gives a link to some writing he has done about it. He also recommends Children at Play: An American History by Howard P. Chudacoff
Recently I found myself once again browsing the Best Bets sections of our local library. I was looking for inspiration, and came across the book The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch.. Many of you will know of Dr. Pausch and will have seen his video The Last Lecture
I had heard of this lecture given as part of an ongoing series of lectures at Carnegie Mellon University where Dr. Pausch was a professor of Computer Science and Human-Computer Interaction. The series asked professors to reflect on their lives and offer words of wisdom as if it were their last lecture. In Dr. Pausch’s case he really was dying and yet I knew of his talk because of the humour and hope it gave. Called “Really AchievingYour Childhood Dreams” it is clear why he won the Karl V. Karlstrom Outstanding Educator Award from the Association for Computing Machinery, or ACM.Next post I’ll talk about why a lecture from a dying man is something you might enjoy.
3rdPost
After many interruptions I am now back to reading Under Pressure – Rescuing Childhood from the Culture of Hyper-Parenting by Carl Honoré. He makes clear his dislike with the growing pressure on preschool teachers to formally teach the 3R’s. Nursery schools, especially in the private sector, are apparently reducing arts programmes to free up time for literacy and numeracy classes. And not only that, it seems some parents want their children ranked.
Carl suggests we take a look at what’s happening in Reggio Emilia, Italy. In this world renowned preschool programme, developed after WW II, there is no fixed curriculum, the three R’s are not taught and the children are not ranked. Read this bit in his book. It is so encouraging. Apparently the world at large thinks so too. Carl saw hundreds of other visitors where
“like pilgrims visiting the stations of the cross, they shuffle between the local schools, clutching not Bibles but notebooks and folders bearing the logo of Reggio Children, the body set up to handle the international deluge”
What seems to be important is play. He says:"...play is so much more than what happens when we stop working…It is not about winning or losing or reaching a destination …It defies all the tools of our high achieving culture: targets, timetables and measurable outcomes."
So it seems that in some ways play is a threat is two big ways. One is that it looks you are not working and this is rarely seen as a good thing. The other is the uncertainty that surrounds it and its outcomes. In an age of high anxiety, this is likely felt to be not a good thing either.
And yet what would life be without play. Interestingly we just had a new book on play arrive at the office last week. Play Works – Helping Children Learn through Play by Susanne T. Eden. I hope to read it soon.
2nd Post
Just as I was settling into the book I felt a twinge of alarm. Were not the problems he discussed primarily problems of the middle class? But what about everyone else?", I thought.
Mr. Honoré clears that up at the beginning. “Not all childhoods are created equal,” he says, and acknowledges that most “helicopter parents” are from the middle class. He also writes that it is this group, in fact, that sets the tone of a culture: “their hang-ups and foibles trickle up and down the social ladder. Or at the very least they make everyone else feel guilty for failing to keep pace.”
This reminded me of the video Belonging: The Search for Acceptance posted by Jessica Vorsterman. In this short clip Jean Vanier is quoted as saying that the desire to belong is even deeper than the need to be loved.
That is one of the disturbing things about poverty. It is very hard to participate in a culture that is understood to be middle class. It’s hard to buy those after school music/dance/art lessons and hard to buy extra tutorial help. It is very hard to belong.
So this book now becomes, for me, more than just about me and my children or my friends and their children. What were we thinking? What are we doing?
Well some things are really great. For example, Carl (his voice is so friendly in this book I feel I can call him by his first name) takes us to a school in Italy and next post I’ll tell you about a bit about it.
First Post
In the recommended section of my local public library I picked up the newest book by Carl Honoré. It is called Under Pressure – Rescuing Childhood from the Culture of Hyper-Parenting, published by Alfred A. Knopf Canada
Ahh...my not so secret fear that perhaps I was one of those parents and yet at the same time feeling that I was in fact inadequate to the demands of contemporary parenting, I started to browse the book.
It made me laugh, right from the beginning and that is a good start for a tired person, which is generally what I am when I pick up a book at the end of the day. Mr. Honoré points out that this is the first generation to star in its own version of The Trueman Show. We monitor and film and record our children constantly. We are our own paparazzi.
He says I catch myself barking orders from the director’s chair. “just make that face one more time for the camera.” ...”Everybody stop playing for a second and look at me with a big smile”
And he talks about anxiety and the burden that falls on our children. In this book he wants to find a way to “tame” that anxiety and that means “rethinking what it means to be a child and what it means to be an adult---and finding a way to reconcile the two in the twenty-first century.”This includes a great deal on education and the “urge to upgrade our children”. I have only just started the book but it promises to be an enjoyable and informative read. I’ll keep you posted!
Please feel free to add
Not so long ago I chanced upon an interview with Sarah Vowell. Sarah is funny. smart and engaging! She was talking about her new book The Wordy Shipmates and she was so intriguing that I picked up the book. Not only has she written a number of books, she is also the voice of Violet in the animated film The Incredibles and contributes regularly to the This American Life on Chicago Public Radio
Although I was reading for amusement, information and stories, once again I bumped into education!
The Wordy Shipmates is about the Puritans in the 17 century and Sarah Vowell's childhood in the 20th century and life now in the 21st. The book is a delightful flow of ideas and customs that weave through the narrative of American life. Education was there at the beginning.
The Pilgrims who landed at Cape Cod on the Mayflower were Separatists who wanted to sever all ties to the Church of England. But there were Puritans, called Nonseparatists who wanted reform from within the Church of E. They landed in Salem, Mass., which is not far from Boston. These are the Puritans that this book is about.
And when they set voyage from England, the friends they left behind expressed concern not only about the physical hardship they were taking on but also about the "..shocking lack of reading material" they would encounter in their new home.. However the lack of lending libraries in their new country did not stop their reading.
As Vowell says ...(they) and their children and their children's children just wrote their own books and pretty much kept their noses in them up under the day God Created the Red Sox"
(to be continued)
Sept 7, 2009
It’s a new school year and Book Chat starts a new season with a post from Sheila Stewart.She Says:
This may be more like an “author/speaker chat”, but I wanted to share a bit about Gabor Maté, M.D. I attended a full-house presentation of his in the spring which focused on the topic of his national bestselling book he co-authored with Gordon Neufeld, Ph. D. It was called, “Hold On To Your Kids: Why parents need to matter more than peers”.(See Video)
It acknowledges that the structure of the “family” is drastically different than it was twenty years ago. This change has resulted in parents losing contact with their kids and in turn, children are looking more to their peers for their values.
I enjoyed his gentle nature and humour, and I thought he offered some great insight and strategies for today’s parents. And by no means does he, or the title of the book, suggest that we “hold on to kids” in a way that holds them back. Instead, it is more about creating an on-going foundation and support for the parent-child relationship that will only serve to assist and guide children and teens even when they are “out there”, so that peers don’t completely replace parents in shaping values and influencing decisions
. From the book, “The concepts, principals and practical advice contained in Hold on to Your Kids will empower parents to satisfy their children’s inborn need to find direction by turning towards a source of authority, contact and warmth.” I enjoyed what he had to say about relationships as being so key. He extended this to the school environment as well and emphasized the benefit to establishing relationships with kids (e.g. increased motivation, less discipline problems, positive experiences, etc.) The relationship is the basis for positive motivation and engaging students, whereas “external motivators” often are not as sustainable.
I know more recently he has also been on CBC radio talking about his work with addictions. So far, some very interesting perspectives and work in that area as well.
July 13, 2009
I've been reading Consumed…How Markets Corrupt Children, Infantilize Adults and Swallow Citizens Whole, by Benjamin R. Barber.
He is concerned when parents and students are seen not as learners but as consumers or “clients of educational services" . He says that adult activities such as critical thinking and public citizenship were once the “primary objectives of higher education” These are now rejected in favour of “self-involved private choice and narcissistic personal gain”
Harsh words and it is a bit hard to read that “personal betterment, private liberty, and individual empowerment” are not good things.
However the discussion around education becomes more interesting to me when he looks at education as part of a whole cluster of services we are used to seeing as part of the public service in a democracy.
He argues that when these are privatized their functionality is actually reduced. They become less than what we expect or want. “You can not protect a few in the midst of general insecurity…you can not educate a few in the midst of societal ignorance.”
He is critical of those who argue that problems found in public schooling can be addressed through private parental choice.
Here in Canada where private schools are much less common, the issue may centre more on choice within the public system.
Often this is seen as a virtue. We each want the best for our child. I may want to move my child out of ‘failing schools” into "successful ones” or you may want your child in a “…school system where your kid is not slowed down by the less gifted or adequately prepared”. It is natural to want the ‘best’ for our children and we may differ about what that is. Our children may and likely do differ.
But listen to what Barber says about choice: “…aggregating our private choices as educational consumers in fact yields an inegalitarian and highly segmented society.” Our private interest can be at odds with the public interest. You just can’t add up our different and often conflicting private desires and get a coherent equitable whole.
It’s a problem.
June 15, 2009
Last post I start talking about
Consumed…How Markets Corrupt Children, Infantilize Adults and Swallow Citizens Whole, by Benjamin R. Barber.
This is chunky book and I suspect it could be a wee bit shorter. Published in 2007, Barber says “(when) the needy are without income and the well-heeled are without needs, radical inequality is just assumed”. If the poor cannot be made rich enough to become consumers, then those who have wealth but no real material needs will have to be persuaded to shop. Otherwise the system will not grow and, if does not grow, it will die. This is the dilemma and his book looks at the market response to this. At risk is everything, including democracy.
Most damaging is the “infantilist” ethic of consumption, where people no longer value the different stages of life but yearn to be forever young. This refusal to grow old is important because it in part diminishes our adult lives. “Adult cultures are plural and distinctive, but youth culture is remarkably universal”. And it is easier to sell to a broad universal culture. Kid culture.
Well I'm not sure about all this. I quite enjoy lots of different kinds of markets and I've no great desire to be young but I do keep hearing about education as a consumer choice issue.
Next post I’ll talk about the impact of this on education.
May 31, 2009
Another book on play!!
Shelia Stewart has written asking if anyone has read Child's Play
Rediscovering the Joy of Play
in Our Families and Our ...
By Silken Laumann
Random House
Published April 2006
On another note....
Sometimes there just seems to be too much stuff. Even those of us without much cash seem to have clutter problems. Stuff and garbage was on my mind when I started browsing a book called Consumed…How Markets Corrupt Children, Infantilize Adults and Swallow Citizens Whole, by Benjamin R. Barber. Barber is the Kekst Professor of Civil Society at the University of Maryland and a Distinguished Senior Fellow at Demos.
I wasn’t intending to read about education, I was just tired of stuff, but in this book I kept bumping into children and education.
Next post I'll talk a bit about what he said.
May 16, 2009
Sheila Stewart has dropped in and says: " Finally get caught up in "book chat" here! Back to April 27 and the mention of Alfie Kohn--one of my favourites as well! Thought I would post a link about his book, "The Case Against Standardized Testing". Go to:http://www.alfiekohn.org/books/tcast.htm
His site is also informative:
http://alfiekohn.org
May 10, 2009
Last post I commented on The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch, part of an ongoing lecture series at his university however in his case, he really was dying. He talks about his childhood and his dreams.
He was a smart kid, a ‘nerd’; and confident and self-possessed to a fault. It was a college professor who took him aside and cautioned him about his arrogance and the inevitable consequences such an attitude would have for him. This prof gave him honest feedback and that exchange affected how Pausch later taught his own students. To one he said “You don’t listen. You’re hard to get along with. It’s not going well”.
Pausch refers to himself as a recovering jerk and offers this status to the young student. School is more than personal achievement for Dr. Pausch. Working in groups and getting on well with others are part of the deal. What he wants is for students to learn how to judge themselves.
Dr. Pausch also reflects on the current understanding many have, that education is a consumer good which people pay top dollar for and therefore want its value to be measurable.Pausch suggests that if people must use such a model, that they get the industry metaphor right. It’s not retail. Rather it’s more like paying for a personal trainer at an athletic club where the professor is the trainer who makes sure the student is actually putting out the necessary effort and gives the student feedback when they are not. I guess it’s the brain muscle they are building.
Beyond achieving his childhood dreams, Pausch found the greatest satisfaction was in enabling others to achieve theirs. And this was not separate from contributing to the common good which he argues is an essential component of a responsible and joyful life. His specific legacy from his years of teaching is the development of Alice. Ah…what is Alice? Well it is a teaching tool for introductory computing. Kids learn to program computers through creating short 3D animated movies. But they learn the programming almost as an afterthought. Mainly they are having fun, or as he says, millions of kids are having fun while learning something hard. It’s free as a public service from Carnegie Mellon….click here..
I'd be interested to hear if anyone has tried this program.
April 27, 2009
Just in some recommendations by on line member Kate Tagesth who says "One of my favourite authors, Alfie Kohn, has published a wonderful book called, ``What Does it Mean to be Well Educated: And More Essays on Standards, Grading, and Other Follies``. He also has a newer publication on a topic that is getting more press of late and that is homework. The book is called `The Homework Myth: Why Our Kids Get Too Much of a Bad Thing.``In fact, any of Kohn`s books is a worth while read."
And a follow up from the last post on play. John Borst made a post way back in November , where he talks about play and gives a link to some writing he has done about it. He also recommends Children at Play: An American History by Howard P. Chudacoff
Recently I found myself once again browsing the Best Bets sections of our local library. I was looking for inspiration, and came across the book The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch.. Many of you will know of Dr. Pausch and will have seen his video The Last Lecture
I had heard of this lecture given as part of an ongoing series of lectures at Carnegie Mellon University where Dr. Pausch was a professor of Computer Science and Human-Computer Interaction. The series asked professors to reflect on their lives and offer words of wisdom as if it were their last lecture. In Dr. Pausch’s case he really was dying and yet I knew of his talk because of the humour and hope it gave. Called “Really AchievingYour Childhood Dreams” it is clear why he won the Karl V. Karlstrom Outstanding Educator Award from the Association for Computing Machinery, or ACM.Next post I’ll talk about why a lecture from a dying man is something you might enjoy.
3rdPost
After many interruptions I am now back to reading Under Pressure – Rescuing Childhood from the Culture of Hyper-Parenting by Carl Honoré. He makes clear his dislike with the growing pressure on preschool teachers to formally teach the 3R’s. Nursery schools, especially in the private sector, are apparently reducing arts programmes to free up time for literacy and numeracy classes. And not only that, it seems some parents want their children ranked.
Carl suggests we take a look at what’s happening in Reggio Emilia, Italy. In this world renowned preschool programme, developed after WW II, there is no fixed curriculum, the three R’s are not taught and the children are not ranked. Read this bit in his book. It is so encouraging. Apparently the world at large thinks so too. Carl saw hundreds of other visitors where
“like pilgrims visiting the stations of the cross, they shuffle between the local schools, clutching not Bibles but notebooks and folders bearing the logo of Reggio Children, the body set up to handle the international deluge”
What seems to be important is play. He says:"...play is so much more than what happens when we stop working…It is not about winning or losing or reaching a destination …It defies all the tools of our high achieving culture: targets, timetables and measurable outcomes."
So it seems that in some ways play is a threat is two big ways. One is that it looks you are not working and this is rarely seen as a good thing. The other is the uncertainty that surrounds it and its outcomes. In an age of high anxiety, this is likely felt to be not a good thing either.
And yet what would life be without play. Interestingly we just had a new book on play arrive at the office last week. Play Works – Helping Children Learn through Play by Susanne T. Eden. I hope to read it soon.
2nd Post
Just as I was settling into the book I felt a twinge of alarm. Were not the problems he discussed primarily problems of the middle class? But what about everyone else?", I thought.
Mr. Honoré clears that up at the beginning. “Not all childhoods are created equal,” he says, and acknowledges that most “helicopter parents” are from the middle class. He also writes that it is this group, in fact, that sets the tone of a culture: “their hang-ups and foibles trickle up and down the social ladder. Or at the very least they make everyone else feel guilty for failing to keep pace.”
This reminded me of the video Belonging: The Search for Acceptance posted by Jessica Vorsterman. In this short clip Jean Vanier is quoted as saying that the desire to belong is even deeper than the need to be loved.
That is one of the disturbing things about poverty. It is very hard to participate in a culture that is understood to be middle class. It’s hard to buy those after school music/dance/art lessons and hard to buy extra tutorial help. It is very hard to belong.
So this book now becomes, for me, more than just about me and my children or my friends and their children. What were we thinking? What are we doing?
Well some things are really great. For example, Carl (his voice is so friendly in this book I feel I can call him by his first name) takes us to a school in Italy and next post I’ll tell you about a bit about it.
First Post
In the recommended section of my local public library I picked up the newest book by Carl Honoré. It is called Under Pressure – Rescuing Childhood from the Culture of Hyper-Parenting, published by Alfred A. Knopf Canada
Ahh...my not so secret fear that perhaps I was one of those parents and yet at the same time feeling that I was in fact inadequate to the demands of contemporary parenting, I started to browse the book.
It made me laugh, right from the beginning and that is a good start for a tired person, which is generally what I am when I pick up a book at the end of the day. Mr. Honoré points out that this is the first generation to star in its own version of The Trueman Show. We monitor and film and record our children constantly. We are our own paparazzi.
He says I catch myself barking orders from the director’s chair. “just make that face one more time for the camera.” ...”Everybody stop playing for a second and look at me with a big smile”
And he talks about anxiety and the burden that falls on our children. In this book he wants to find a way to “tame” that anxiety and that means “rethinking what it means to be a child and what it means to be an adult---and finding a way to reconcile the two in the twenty-first century.”This includes a great deal on education and the “urge to upgrade our children”. I have only just started the book but it promises to be an enjoyable and informative read. I’ll keep you posted!
Please feel free to add
7 Comments
-
Comment by Sheila Stewart on January 9, 2009 at 10:40pm - I read this book last spring--loved it! I recommended it to many friends who, like me, were trying to navigate their kids through childhood based on their own family values, even if it meant standing in the way of what was "popular". This book encompases so much, but the overall theme is: Let kids be kids. I think it illustrates how parenting pressure affects our children. If we believe that we are the best experts of own children, we can stop comparing and let go of the pressure to 'keep up". It covers many areas of parent and childhood pressure--preschool, play, technology, homework, extracurricular activities, consumerism, safety, and birthday parties! It offers interesting perspectives in education in other countries as well: From Finland to Japan to a small town in Italy. Plenty of food for thought for parenting and education!
-
Comment by Jan Sugerman on January 11, 2009 at 10:01am - What a great comment Shelia. Actually you have given us an excellent summary of the book. I haven't finished it yet in part because it is such a pleasure to read and I don't want it to be over. Aside from the content, which is very rich, I enjoy his use of language and the inclusive nature of how he writes. By the way, do you have any books to recommend?
-
Comment by Sheila Stewart on January 14, 2009 at 12:06pm
- The last book I read (summer!) was, "Bringing Up Geeks" by Marybeth Hicks. For this author, GEEKs mean, "Genuine, Enthusiastic, Empowered Kids. Sub title: How to protect your kid's childhood in a grow-up-too-fast world. The author often refers to today's "culture of cool" changing the way kids grow up. I really enjoyed this book and related to many of the author's perspectives (a parent!). She refers to "Character Development' as well. This book could also very well be a good Character Education guide in itself! The author also has a website, and I believe does guest speaking. The book pairs well with "Under Pressure"!
-
Comment by ZS Worotynec on January 22, 2009 at 6:25am -
I found Honore's book to be a bad imitation of David Elkind's "The Hurried Child". Honore's text reads very pop-psychology to me and I felt he was trying too hard to be funny, with so many pithy phrases. Maybe every ten years or so, this kind of book needs to hit the culture, but for me, it pails to Elkind's original text/thesis.
ZS
-
Comment by Jan Sugerman on January 22, 2009 at 3:22pm
- I wondered about that, having a faint memory of Elkind's "The Hurried Child". Still sometimes I enjoy being entertained and sometimes humour gives us access to points of view that we wouldn't normally encounter. Sometimes I need to hear the same thing many different ways before I can actually integrate it into my life.
-
Comment by Sheila Stewart on May 15, 2009 at 9:26pm
-
Finally get caught up in "book chat" here! Back to April 27 and the mention of Alfie Kohn--one of my favourites as well! Thought I would post a link about his book, "The Case Against Standardized Testing". Go to: www.alfiekohn.org/books/tcast.htm
His site is also informative: alfiekohn.org
-
Comment by Sheila Stewart on July 21, 2009 at 3:22pm
-
That is interesting stuff with "Consumed.....", Jan. Thanks for sharing. “Choice” seems very complex at times! It is great to exercise our choice, but often a lot of choice can be stressful! The choices we make as consumers vary in the impact on others and on our surroundings. I am not sure I could be comfortable with the idea of “consumers” of education services for the under 18 group! How much choice is healthy to a system? In many areas in our lives there is opportunity for choice/option, but there are also limits and boundaries to those choices which serve to protect public interest. I would hope that an education system would be focused on providing equitable services for all of our young citizens. I would worry about the variable of choice thrown if it is wide open….e.g. your school of choice…transportation provided, kind of thing. There will likely always be ways to exercise choice/preference for a school, but even if a majority is choosing “x” because of “y”, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it is right or better.
I have also thought about “ARCs” here. How would they proceed in planning if school choice was an open option? Would a well-thought out accommodation plan meant to support the community and “public interest” still unfold as such still? Now I have confused myself thinking about this! Maybe I better read the book!
Add a Comment
About
Groups
-
SEAC Members Meetup at...
2 members
-
online meet-up at conf...
13 members
-
21st Century Schools @...
71 members
-
Less Testing: Educati...
13 members
-
Special Education
13 members
Consultations, curriculum, confusion and conferences
There are many things happening on the education front - some better publicized than others.
The province wants to hear from parents and community members about the elementary curriculum (they just forgot to publicize the consultation); Bill 177 is going to undergo two days of public hearings in Toronto; and the Ministry hired a market research company to survey parents about the School Information Finder on the Ministry of Education website.
There have also been some fairly cranky meetings with the Provincial Education Partnership Table about the Information Finder, and all four provincial parent groups wrote a letter to the Minister of Education clarifying their concern about the Finder being described as a tool for "parent engagement."
Next week - more consultations on the Information Finder, maybe there will be news about the province's plans for all day early learning and child care and we'll be putting the finishing touches on the agenda for our November 7th provincial conference.
The province wants to hear from parents and community members about the elementary curriculum (they just forgot to publicize the consultation); Bill 177 is going to undergo two days of public hearings in Toronto; and the Ministry hired a market research company to survey parents about the School Information Finder on the Ministry of Education website.
There have also been some fairly cranky meetings with the Provincial Education Partnership Table about the Information Finder, and all four provincial parent groups wrote a letter to the Minister of Education clarifying their concern about the Finder being described as a tool for "parent engagement."
Next week - more consultations on the Information Finder, maybe there will be news about the province's plans for all day early learning and child care and we'll be putting the finishing touches on the agenda for our November 7th provincial conference.
THINGS WE LEARNED
By reading the news. Send Gay news from your part of the world to post here too!
Hugh Mackenzie, economist and People for Education board member, has written a wonderful column: Can we have an adult conversation about taxes.
Debate flourishes in Toronto over idea of new all boys school. Read the news:
Research shows single-sex schools are not the answer.
Single-sex classes score big, Toronto Star.
All-boys schools foster ‘achievement culture' , Globe and Mail.
School plan calls for boys-only classes, Toronto Star.
Oct 1st:
Happy World Teachers' Day!
To read about some wonderful teachers, click here.
Hugh Mackenzie, economist and People for Education board member, has written a wonderful column: Can we have an adult conversation about taxes.
Debate flourishes in Toronto over idea of new all boys school. Read the news:
Research shows single-sex schools are not the answer.
Single-sex classes score big, Toronto Star.
All-boys schools foster ‘achievement culture' , Globe and Mail.
School plan calls for boys-only classes, Toronto Star.
New research shows the value of work-experience programs in Canadian high schools.
Oct 1st:
Happy World Teachers' Day!
To read about some wonderful teachers, click here.
Latest Activity
Thanks for posting, Deborah! Yes, it relates well to some of the topics/questions we heard at the conference!
I think it is critical to frame discussions of success around some of the themes that Annie suggested in an earlier post - students, parents, teachers, etc. I also think that it is important to find places where this can be wedded to existing oppo...
A bunch of us from the online community are planning to "meet-up" at the conference at York University on Saturday Nov. 7th.
We can chat at lunch!
So let us know if you are coming... we'd like to meet you!
Help us to design a broader vision for education in the 21st century!
Hello everyone,
It's Sunday morning after the conference. I had a great sleep last night and woke up so excited about our group. I loved meeting you all, and I look forward to staying in touch as you explore some of these communication tools! And ...
This morning I was working on a blog entry for the Toronto Development Community Institute. I got on Youtube to search for a piece on Paolo Freire on literacy and oppression. I ended up watching this piece. I think it continues on beautifully with...
Good points Mike. I have also noticed that many of the parent groups and organizations around the province are made of of mostly parents who are over 40 years old.
Where are the younger parents who will take over for the more "seasoned" parents(n...
Everyone is welcome: this group begins at our conference on Saturday. It's a support group for people who want to learn more about using technology to communicate. How to do stuff here, or to start an e-news listserv, or group & more!
I concur.
What a good idea to engage the media.
In our area, Special Education planning committees (SEAC) are supposed to "engage" and consult via "invitation to respond" to "all parents receiving special ed services" but none of the special ed pa...
After living over 11 years in this province with school councils and governments of all stripes propping up their speeches with the usual parent platitudes, it's a real shame that parents need to chase down and impress upon a minister the importan...
Call me cynical, but is it possible that the email coming out from the Ministry and the extension of the deadline could have something to do with the opinions expressed in this discussion?
Thanks to People for Education for supporting this dialogue.
Badge
© 2009 Created by People for Education on Ning. Create Your Own Social Network
You need to be a member of People for Education Online Community to add comments!
Join this social network