Comments on: “The Classroom Without Reason” by Douglas Campbell

By: Student in Australia

Student in Australia — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 10:33:05 +0000

Hi, thank goodness I found this site. I am doing a Master of Teaching in Australia and have just handed in a reflective writing task focusing on “The Courage to Teach”. I am so disturbed after having the book forced upon me (it was a required text and required reading). I felt that I had to agree with the contents of it but felt that my integrity was compromised so I told the truth. I am yet to get my results back…will let you know! The first couple of pages into Palmer’s book I knew something was up. I thought I was reading a book about god that had cleverly omitted the word “god” from the text. A quick google search into the background of Palmer revealed that my suspicions were correct. I am quite annoyed, not unlike the writers above, with the anti-Western sentiment and academic bashing in Palmer’s book. The book reads like an anti-science, anti-rationalist, pro-tradition, pro-irrational rant; a knee-jerk reaction that defends Palmer’s position as a Christian Quaker threatened by realities of the “real” world. I consider myself rationalist and am athiest. I am from a language and social science/anthropology background. My idea of good teaching is to present all sides/perspectives of a topic, allow students to reasearch further and let me them come to their own conclusion based on the information available. I am also interested in alternative humanist approaches to teaching-like Montessori education. I am very open minded. But I think I will shutup from now on too; toe the line until I graduate.

By: Administrator

Administrator — Fri, 29 May 2009 01:23:24 +0000

Autumn:

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed the post, and hope you got something out of it.

Maybe it was a mistake saying what you did to your children — but don’t you know better only in hindsight? And when children are young, shouldn’t they generally “obey” adults and learn that they can trust adults? In the situation your children were in, wouldn’t it have been hard on them if they had to deal with the consequences of not “obeying?” Angry teachers. Fellow students who would probably mock the individual. Upset principals.

Sounds like you did the best you could in the context you were in.

It’s hard to know what’s really going on in the school system, and what all the influences are. It takes a lot of research and reading.

Unfortunately, from what I know (but I’d want to research this further!), our educational system — especially/primarily the public — has been influenced by the authoritarianism of Prussia, Austria, and Germany. Many Americans, after graduating from college in the mid- to late-1800s, went on trips to Europe, and especially Prussia/Austria/Germany. Americans brought back “intellectual viruses’” from the Germanic regions. The viruses have been infecting and degrading Americans ever since.

Read some of the posts I’ve made about Montessori education. (I’ll be posting more.) Montessori teaches order by teaching self-sovereignty instead of submission. It appeals to human nature instead of abusing human nature. Children in Montessori schools (real Montessori schools) show order because they want to, and they “obey” because they like and respect other people.

By: Autumn

Autumn — Fri, 29 May 2009 00:44:18 +0000

Thanks for the link. I really enjoyed his writing and yours as well. From the beginning of our childrens’ education my husband and I thought it was wrong to tell our children to “do as the teacher says even if you disagree”. On an intuitive level we knew that telling our kids to follow and not think for themselves was a huge mistake. I watched the kids filing down the hall in silent, single file lines and thought, “Why do they have to walk in lines? Can’t they walk in a group and just be quiet?” Now I understand it is more about teaching submission and knowing your place than maintaining order.