The Whole Child
Co-Creationism: The Pedagogy of Interiority
Posted April 30th, 2008 by Peter HenryThe act of knowing is a function of the imagination. All knowing has an imaginative element in it. We don't see the world as it is at all. Our consciousness always co-creates everything we see. So what you are seeing is not just out there, on its own. You are always seeing it through the lens of your own thinking. Therefore, you are co-creating the world, whether you like it or not. --John O'Donohue, Irish Poet
As an educator, I greatly appreciate reading in other fields, discovering perspectives of thinkers very different from myself.
read more »What About the Children?
Children today face a number of obstacles that stand in the way of a complete education. The US government is pushing conformity in a nation that has so many different regions, people, and cultures. Do they really think that high stakes tests and strict regulations are going to better our country?
read more »By Design: How You Can Tell America Neglects Its Children
Posted April 10th, 2008 by Peter HenryI came across this article by David Orr, an ecology prof at Oberlin in Ohio. His analysis struck a chord in me as an educator—how modern society seems to devalue human experience at the most basic, and therefore, most profound level.
Look how little time is spent these days with children—40% less than in 1965. The average American spends nine minutes shopping for every one minute playing with a kid.
read more »Educating the Whole Child
Posted March 1st, 2008 by AnonymousThere is a long history of debate as to the goal of education. In essence, it comes down to whether the learner, as a human being, has a right to fully develop all different aspects of their humanity, or whether, because that individual is receiving an education at state expense, must restrict their learning to what the state chooses or mandates.
This group is dedicated to the principal that the only real goal of education is to develop the whole person. That, in fact, by developing the whole person, we are creating a better student, a better citizen, and yes, as limiting as it may sound, a better worker.
So, have at it. What is the whole child? What makes the child whole? And how does a teacher play a role in that?
