Some cool quotes.

Quote from Goethe.

All too often ( well in New Zealand anyway) well intentioned teachers provide so much guidance ( or 'scaffolding'), and define too closely the criteria, that the resulting work shows impressive consistency, even quality, but misses out on creativity. Teachers would be well advised to heed Goethe's advice.

Today my daughter, who is currently working in the UK, send me a handful of quotes she copied from a friends book that she thought I would enjoy.

'All you have to do educate a child is leave them alone and teach them to read! The rest is brainwashing' Ellen Gilecrist

I wish it were so easy. The way reading is all too often taught could itself be seen as 'brainwashing' by emphasizing literacy above other equally important ways of gaining and expressing meaning. A lot of schooling is 'brainwashing' - educating the brain by an academic approach that is all but irrelevant for many students.

'Learning is the only thing the mind never exhausts, never fears,and never regrets'. Leonardo da Vinci.

Coming from a person who was excluded from from schooling, because of the circumstances of his birth, it is pertinent today when so many who go to school leave with their desire to learn in tatters. Da Vinci's curriculum was based on an intense curiosity, the ability to make use of all his senses, and drawing and describing what he observed; an artist and a scientist. Modern education would be well advised to follow this creative de-schooler!

'Sixty years ago I knew everything; now I know nothing.Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance'. Will Durant

All real learners discover new ideas at the very edge of their competence - the edge of ignorance. They understand that as they learn there is always more to learn. Appreciating the role of ignorance in learning is an interesting idea. Teachers who teach with pre planned confidence are not really educators, helping students discover idea for themselves, but merely tellers.

'Education has produced a vast population able to read but unable distinguish what is worth reading'. G M Trevelyan

This brings us back to the first quote.

It is purpose - something yet to discover, that drives all learning, and this includes reading.

And it is personal purpose that is missing in our schools today.

If you want some more quotes.