The ultimate fear and loss [for a child] is separation…aside from all else we try to accomplish, we have an awesome responsibility. We must become aware of the essential loneliness of each child. Our classrooms, at all levels, must look more like happy families and secure homes, the kind in which all family members can […]
Unschooling Thought for the Day
Dr. Markham: Anger as Defense
Anger is always a defense. It shields us from feeling vulnerable. To dissolve anger, look at the hurt or fear under it. -Dr. Laura Markham, from Peaceful Parent, Happy Kids: How to Stop Yelling and Start Connecting
Rewards, Punishments and Relationships
Both rewards and punishments induce a behavior pattern whereby we try to impress and curry favor with the person who hands them out. Whether we are looking to secure a reward or avoid a punishment is almost beside the point. Either way, what we don’t have is the sort of relationship that is defined by […]
Sugata Mitra: Self-organizing System
A self-organizing system is one where a structure appears without explicit intervention from the outside. Self-organizing systems also always show emergence, which is that the system starts to do things, which it was never designed for…education is a self-organizing system, where learning is an emergent phenomenon. – Sugata Mitra, from the TED talk The Child-Driven […]