Some Classroom Quiddities for People-Oriented Teachers

The schools "socialize" children, shaping them into the role of organization man and student. But the schools do not "educate" children because the process of education is a quest, voluntarily entered into, after meaning, and there is nothing voluntary about participation in most classrooms. Classroom practices are unnatural, unreasonable, and "against nature." Natural tendencies that could be counted on to educate (rather than merely socialize) children are usually ignored and suppressed. Yet these potentially educative tendencies fit together within a coherent, sequential strategy of learning: learning begins with arousal of the individual during a "confrontation"; then interaction in small groups develops the individual's awareness of his thoughts and feelings; comparison of testimony among individuals leads (under guidance of the teacher) into identification of problems or of an agenda for investigation by the class; the experiences of investigation are reported and examined to see what light they throw on the problems and on how to cope with them.