Although this is the title of our next Vimarsh reading, it applies to today's deliberation. We read "The Best Schools" by Thomas Armstrong. It was a much livelier conversation compared to last time, particularly as we had differing opinions on this topic.
A few questions came up more than once and I would like to ask you three:
1. Can we totally divorce school from society? When success is defined mainly through monetary terms in our society, can a school that doesn't really focus on this even exist? The question is not whether a school like this SHOULD exist because that is covered by Thomas Armstrong. Rather, can a school based on the ideals of human development 'succeed' in a society over run by academic achievement? If you know of examples of such schools, we would love to hear about them.
2. How can we define the role that a school plays on 'developing' a human being when there are so many other factors influencing and shaping the development of that person? Is that even something a school should be doing? Of course, I have my own opinion but I think we deliberated on that enough this evening. What do you, our readers think?This question goes back to the aims of education. Is the aim of school to make their students (a) literate, score good marks, get a good job and earn good money (b) become independent and resourceful, develop a strong identity and sense of self, learn disciplined ways of thinking and be happy? We actually started the entire discussion by asking whether the two can co-exist and we had members who agreed and members who didn't.
3. Is the human development discourse one that applies only to upper class students? This argument is very well countered in the book and for me it was the most powerful argument made by Dr. Armstrong. Would you send your own children to a school that does not speak the academic achievement discourse but hesitate to do the same for the students in an inner city because you feel that academic achievement is their only option?
I am really looking forward to reading your responses. Please let your thoughts flow freely :)
Also we would like to expand our circle of members to those with very different experiences and opinions because that is one way in which we can all grow and learn. If you are interested in joining Vimarsh, please email me.
A few questions came up more than once and I would like to ask you three:
1. Can we totally divorce school from society? When success is defined mainly through monetary terms in our society, can a school that doesn't really focus on this even exist? The question is not whether a school like this SHOULD exist because that is covered by Thomas Armstrong. Rather, can a school based on the ideals of human development 'succeed' in a society over run by academic achievement? If you know of examples of such schools, we would love to hear about them.
2. How can we define the role that a school plays on 'developing' a human being when there are so many other factors influencing and shaping the development of that person? Is that even something a school should be doing? Of course, I have my own opinion but I think we deliberated on that enough this evening. What do you, our readers think?This question goes back to the aims of education. Is the aim of school to make their students (a) literate, score good marks, get a good job and earn good money (b) become independent and resourceful, develop a strong identity and sense of self, learn disciplined ways of thinking and be happy? We actually started the entire discussion by asking whether the two can co-exist and we had members who agreed and members who didn't.
3. Is the human development discourse one that applies only to upper class students? This argument is very well countered in the book and for me it was the most powerful argument made by Dr. Armstrong. Would you send your own children to a school that does not speak the academic achievement discourse but hesitate to do the same for the students in an inner city because you feel that academic achievement is their only option?
I am really looking forward to reading your responses. Please let your thoughts flow freely :)
Also we would like to expand our circle of members to those with very different experiences and opinions because that is one way in which we can all grow and learn. If you are interested in joining Vimarsh, please email me.
