This volume argues that schools and educational authorities obstruct the interent learning abilities of children, thereby creating handicaps that often persist through life. He presents contrasting views regarding learning, aiming to combat ""sterile"" attitudes towards teaching.
This volume argues that schools and educational authorities obstruct the interent learning abilities of children, thereby creating handicaps that often persist through life. He presents contrasting views regarding learning, aiming to combat ""sterile"" attitudes towards teaching.
In this thought-provoking book, Frank Smith explains how schools and educational authorities systematically obstruct the powerful inherent learning abilities of children, creating handicaps that often persist through life. The author contrasts a false and fabricated ""official theory"" that learning is work (used to justify the external control of teachers and students through excessive regulation and massive testing) with a correct but officially suppressed ""classic view"" that learning is a social process that can occur naturally and continually through collaborative activities. This book should be of interest in a time whan national authorities continue to blame teachers and students for alleged failures in education. It should help teachers and parents to combat sterile attitudes toward teaching and learning and help them to prevent current practices from doing further harm.
“"We recommend you read this thought-provoking book, and help us repair the damage." --The Quarterly of the National Writing Project”
"Recommended for all levels."
--Choice
"We recommend you read this thought-provoking book, and help us repair the damage."
--The Quarterly of the National Writing Project
Frank Smith was a reporter, editor, and novelist before beginning his formal research into language, thinking, and learning. He has been a professor at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, the University of Toronto, the University of Victoria, British Columbia, and the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa. He holds a Ph.D. from Harvard University.
In this thought-provoking book, Frank Smith explains how schools and educational authorities systematically obstruct the powerful inherent learning abilities of children, creating handicaps that often persist through life. The author eloquently contrasts a false and fabricated ?official theory? that learning is work (used to justify the external control of teachers and students through excessive regulation and massive testing) with a correct but officially suppressed ?classic view? that learning is a social process that can occur naturally and continually through collaborative activities. This book will be crucial reading in a time when national authorities continue to blame teachers and students for alleged failures in education. It will help educators and parents to combat sterile attitudes toward teaching and learning and prevent current practices from doing further harm.
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