From owner-altsch@eve.speakeasy.org Mon Dec 16 22:20:41 1996 Received: from eve.speakeasy.org (daemon@eve.speakeasy.org [199.238.226.1]) by hamp.hampshire.edu (8.7.3/8.7.3) with ESMTP id WAA02653 for ; Mon, 16 Dec 1996 22:20:39 -0500 (EST) Received: (from daemon@localhost) by eve.speakeasy.org (8.8.4/8.7.3) id TAA15602; Mon, 16 Dec 1996 19:01:13 -0800 (PST) Received: from mtigwc01.worldnet.att.net (ns.worldnet.att.net [204.127.129.1]) by eve.speakeasy.org (8.8.4/8.7.3) with ESMTP id TAA15588; Mon, 16 Dec 1996 19:01:08 -0800 (PST) Received: from LOCALNAME ([207.147.236.158]) by mtigwc01.worldnet.att.net (post.office MTA v2.0 0613 ) with SMTP id AAA27814 for ; Tue, 17 Dec 1996 03:01:28 +0000 X-Sender: Lynstddrd@postoffice.worldnet.att.net (Unverified) X-Mailer: Windows Eudora Light Version 1.5.2 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" To: altsch@pscs.org From: Lynn Stoddard Subject: Introduction Date: Tue, 17 Dec 1996 03:01:28 +0000 Message-ID: <19961217030126.AAA27814@LOCALNAME> Sender: owner-altsch@eve.speakeasy.org Precedence: bulk Status: RO Greetings! My name is Lynn Stoddard. I am thrilled to become a new member of the altschool E-Mail family. I have a desire to learn from all of you and want to become a valuable contributor. I retired 10 years ago to write about my experiences as a maverick teacher and elementary school principal. My two books and several articles describe an educational philosophy that we developed in two public schools where I worked. "Education for Greatness" is a very different philosophy from the factory/assembly-line/standardization system that is imposed by politicians and business executives. It is a different mind-set whereby the total community is involved in helping students and one another grow in three dimensions of human greatness: Identity, Inquiry, and Interaction. Individual student needs take priority over the political/corporate needs that are traditionally expressed in an imposed curriculum. With a focus on the three "I's" the brain is programmed to invent strategies for helping students grow themselves in the dimensions of greatness.I will be happy to share more about this with anyone who is interested. In the meantime, I am eagerly reading all the messages that arrive in my E-mailbox. From owner-altsch@eve.speakeasy.org Wed Apr 2 18:10:31 1997 Received: from eve.speakeasy.org (daemon@eve.speakeasy.org [199.238.226.1]) by hamp.hampshire.edu (8.7.3/8.7.3) with ESMTP id SAA18376 for ; Wed, 2 Apr 1997 18:10:30 -0500 (EST) Received: (from daemon@localhost) by eve.speakeasy.org (8.8.5/8.7.3) id OAA09934; Wed, 2 Apr 1997 14:44:57 -0800 (PST) Received: from mtigwc04.worldnet.att.net (mailhost.worldnet.att.net [204.127.131.33]) by eve.speakeasy.org (8.8.5/8.7.3) with ESMTP id OAA09927; Wed, 2 Apr 1997 14:44:53 -0800 (PST) Received: from LOCALNAME ([207.147.200.166]) by mtigwc04.worldnet.att.net (post.office MTA v2.0 0613 ) with SMTP id AAA23144 for ; Wed, 2 Apr 1997 22:15:09 +0000 X-Sender: Lynstddrd@postoffice.worldnet.att.net (Unverified) X-Mailer: Windows Eudora Light Version 1.5.2 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" To: altsch@pscs.org From: Lynn Stoddard Subject: Standards and Radio Show Date: Wed, 2 Apr 1997 22:15:09 +0000 Message-ID: <19970402221507.AAA23144@LOCALNAME> Sender: owner-altsch@speakeasy.org Precedence: bulk Reply-To: altsch@pscs.org Status: RO I am grateful to all who share your wisdom on this list-serve. I congratulate Gerry for his new radio show. It may be a breakthrough. I would also like to comment on Gerry's idea for international standards. "Standards" is the buzzword on education now. IT is very powerful. How could anyone be against having high standards? My surname, Stoddard, means "standard bearer" so I feel an obligation to defend the idea. The whole problem, as I see it, is that our society is stuck on having high standards for doing the wrong things. The question we should ask is, do we want high standards for nurturing uniformity, or high standards for nurturing human uniqueness and diversity? The political/corporate view of education is to treat children as products who are shaped externally with an imposed curriculum such as the five core subjects of Goals 2000. In this system teachers are not respected as professionals, but are treated as factory workers who are to obediently carry out the wishes of the managers. To change society's mind set from standards for uniformity to standards for diversity is a big challenge, but I feel it is possible, if enough people, one-by-one, come to realize the damage that is being done through trying to standardize human beings. Lynn From owner-altsch@eve.speakeasy.org Wed Dec 18 23:23:59 1996 Received: from eve.speakeasy.org (daemon@eve.speakeasy.org [199.238.226.1]) by hamp.hampshire.edu (8.7.3/8.7.3) with ESMTP id XAA28159 for ; Wed, 18 Dec 1996 23:23:55 -0500 (EST) Received: (from daemon@localhost) by eve.speakeasy.org (8.8.4/8.7.3) id TAA08159; Wed, 18 Dec 1996 19:58:54 -0800 (PST) Received: from mtigwc02.worldnet.att.net (mailhost.worldnet.att.net [204.127.129.4]) by eve.speakeasy.org (8.8.4/8.7.3) with ESMTP id TAA08151; Wed, 18 Dec 1996 19:58:50 -0800 (PST) Received: from LOCALNAME ([207.147.232.101]) by mtigwc02.worldnet.att.net (post.office MTA v2.0 0613 ) with SMTP id AAA7903 for ; Thu, 19 Dec 1996 03:59:19 +0000 X-Sender: Lynstddrd@postoffice.worldnet.att.net X-Mailer: Windows Eudora Light Version 1.5.2 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" To: Altsch@pscs.org From: Lynn Stoddard Subject: Teaching reading and writing Date: Thu, 19 Dec 1996 03:59:19 +0000 Message-ID: <19961219035916.AAA7903@LOCALNAME> Sender: owner-altsch@eve.speakeasy.org Precedence: bulk Reply-To: altsch@pscs.org Status: RO Dear Ms. Dopson and others: I would like to offer some ideas on teaching reading and writing that may be useful. I feel that the first principle in teaching these skills is to adopt an attitude such as that expressed many years ago by John Locke: "This much for learning to read, which let him never be driven to. Cheat him into it if you can, but make it not a business for him. 'Tis better it be a year later before he can read than that he should in this way get an aversion to learning." In other words both reading and writing should be fun and not a chore. In the early stages children can be helped to label their own art work -- "this is a picture about...." . Then teachers can take dictation from children and write for them, in careful manuscript, their own short stories to practice and share with classmates. Finally, there is no substitute for parents and teachers reading to children, one on one (or two) while children follow along -- lots of fun, easy books. In all of this it has been helpful to me to remember a higher purpose. Reading and writing are not ends in and of themselves, but rather, they are merely a means of helping children grow in what I call the three dimensions of human greatness: Identity, Inquiry, and Interaction. Any instruction that does not aim for these qualities may fall short. If you want, I can share, at another time, how to organize a school post office whereby students learn to read and write by sending letters to each other. From owner-altsch@eve.speakeasy.org Fri Dec 20 16:06:16 1996 Received: from eve.speakeasy.org (daemon@eve.speakeasy.org [199.238.226.1]) by hamp.hampshire.edu (8.7.3/8.7.3) with ESMTP id QAA12367 for ; Fri, 20 Dec 1996 16:06:11 -0500 (EST) Received: (from daemon@localhost) by eve.speakeasy.org (8.8.4/8.7.3) id MAA08358; Fri, 20 Dec 1996 12:01:24 -0800 (PST) Received: from mtigwc01.worldnet.att.net (ns.worldnet.att.net [204.127.129.1]) by eve.speakeasy.org (8.8.4/8.7.3) with ESMTP id MAA08344; Fri, 20 Dec 1996 12:01:16 -0800 (PST) Received: from LOCALNAME ([207.147.232.61]) by mtigwc01.worldnet.att.net (post.office MTA v2.0 0613 ) with SMTP id AAA4796 for ; Fri, 20 Dec 1996 19:42:25 +0000 X-Sender: Lynstddrd@postoffice.worldnet.att.net (Unverified) X-Mailer: Windows Eudora Light Version 1.5.2 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" To: altsch@pscs.org From: Lynn Stoddard Subject: Teaching Date: Fri, 20 Dec 1996 19:42:25 +0000 Message-ID: <19961220194223.AAA4796@LOCALNAME> Sender: owner-altsch@eve.speakeasy.org Precedence: bulk Reply-To: altsch@pscs.org Status: RO Dear Ms. Hradcova, C/o Ms. M. Dopson, Thank you for your reply. I appreciate the opportunity to discuss education with you. You have my permission to quote me. Inasmuch as you already know about the school post office, you probably are aware of a later version than the one we started years ago. It lends itself to much creativity. The important thing to remember is that children will learn to read and write much better and faster when they are writing and reading their own stuff (compositions). Now a further word about "education for greatness". The purpose of education is to "develop great human beings who are valuable contributors to society". Whenever we teach anything, it should be in response to a child's natural drives for greatness (1) A drive to become an important "somebody' (identity). (2) A drive for truth and knowledge (inquiry), and (3) A drive for warm relationships with other people (interaction). When curriculum is taught in this context it will usually come out right. More to come, if you want it. Best wishes, Lynn Stoddard From owner-altsch@eve.speakeasy.org Thu Jan 2 15:55:51 1997 Received: from eve.speakeasy.org (daemon@eve.speakeasy.org [199.238.226.1]) by hamp.hampshire.edu (8.7.3/8.7.3) with ESMTP id PAA03085 for ; Thu, 2 Jan 1997 15:55:47 -0500 (EST) Received: (from daemon@localhost) by eve.speakeasy.org (8.8.4/8.7.3) id MAA17290; Thu, 2 Jan 1997 12:13:15 -0800 (PST) Received: from mtigwc02.worldnet.att.net (mailhost.worldnet.att.net [204.127.129.4]) by eve.speakeasy.org (8.8.4/8.7.3) with ESMTP id MAA17269; Thu, 2 Jan 1997 12:12:56 -0800 (PST) Received: from LOCALNAME ([207.147.204.28]) by mtigwc02.worldnet.att.net (post.office MTA v2.0 0613 ) with SMTP id AAA8234; Thu, 2 Jan 1997 20:13:36 +0000 X-Sender: Lynstddrd@postoffice.worldnet.att.net X-Mailer: Windows Eudora Light Version 1.5.2 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" To: stalling@ptialaska.net From: Lynn Stoddard Subject: Education Cc: altsch@pscs.org Date: Thu, 2 Jan 1997 20:13:36 +0000 Message-ID: <19970102201333.AAA8234@LOCALNAME> Sender: owner-altsch@speakeasy.org Precedence: bulk Reply-To: altsch@pscs.org Status: RO Dear Shelley, Thanks for your very thorough reply to my e-mail. Your retirement projects sound wonderful, and I do hope that some of them will bring you to Utah. I am sending a copy of this letter to the alternative school mailing list to which I belong because some, especially two ladies in Czechoslovakia, have asked for ideas for their work. My reply to your letter may be useful to them also. You mentioned that your school district is "still in the throes of conflicting visions of the path to 'a better education for all students." At least it sounds like you are still searching, and that you haven't bought in to the political/corporate, assembly-line view of standardizing students. I used to think (and still do) that a better vision would be just the opposite. Instead of trying to make all students alike (as products) it would be much more productive to nurture diversity. In other words, why should we not help students to grow as the unique individuals that they were meant to be. With this view we would think of students as "consumers" of the great variety of knowledge, skills and special interests that teachers have to offer. Teachers and schools would then exist to serve the needs of each unique learner, who, by the way, is programmed by his/her maker to become the best possible person s/he can be. I believe it is possible for a group of people to come to the agreement that the major, overriding purpose of education is to "develop great human beings who are valuable contributors (rather than "burdens") to society." From there it is not a great leap to arrive at the central dimensions of greatness: First, that a learner find out about his or her great worth and develop those unique gifts and talents that will make a special contribution that only s/he can make(IDENTITY). Second, that learners be given opportunity to develop and engage in the processes of personal INQUIRY, the processes by which humans acquire truth, personal knowledge, and wisdom. In contrast, it is good to keep in mind that externally imposed knowledge or "curriculum" nearly always results in shallow, temporary knowledge. Third, it is important that learners have opportunity to magnify their innate need to have warm relationships with other people. They have a need to grow in love, kindness, respect, courtesy, communication, and cooperation with others(INTERACTION). These I believe to be the major dimensions of human greatness which encompass all others. They automatically, by their nature, become the foundation for a new system of education, one in which parents, teachers, and learners join hands as equal partners. I elaborate on this in my latest article, "Bureaucratic Education Is On the Wrong Track", and some of my other writings, which, I believe you already have. I don't know whether it would help or hurt your cause to have school board members read this essay, but I feel it may be useful to circulate it to all the teachers. The power to change public education rests with them. They are the ones who must refuse to no longer be insulted and demoralized with a common curriculum to be imposed on all students. I will send a copy of my essay, "Bureaucratic Education Is On the Wrong Track", to those who may be interested, for the cost of postage and printing. My mailing address is: Lynn Stoddard 793 S 200 E Farmington, UT 84025 USA Shelley, thanks for the news of all my friends in Alaska. Please give Carolyn my love and tell her that I am not aware of any experiential progrms in science and math, but I am sure there are some. You could tell her to write or call Dr. Jay Monson at Utah state University. Tell her to mention my name. I know he will help her, if he can. Your projects sound exciting. I hope you will keep me informed. Best wishes for a wonderful new year. Lynn Stoddard From owner-altsch@eve.speakeasy.org Mon Jan 6 16:12:58 1997 Received: from eve.speakeasy.org (daemon@eve.speakeasy.org [199.238.226.1]) by hamp.hampshire.edu (8.7.3/8.7.3) with ESMTP id QAA14987 for ; Mon, 6 Jan 1997 16:12:48 -0500 (EST) Received: (from daemon@localhost) by eve.speakeasy.org (8.8.4/8.7.3) id MAA26663; Mon, 6 Jan 1997 12:18:05 -0800 (PST) Received: from mtigwc02.worldnet.att.net (mailhost.worldnet.att.net [204.127.129.4]) by eve.speakeasy.org (8.8.4/8.7.3) with ESMTP id MAA26656; Mon, 6 Jan 1997 12:18:00 -0800 (PST) Received: from LOCALNAME ([207.147.240.3]) by mtigwc02.worldnet.att.net (post.office MTA v2.0 0613 ) with SMTP id AAA20285; Mon, 6 Jan 1997 19:20:52 +0000 X-Sender: Lynstddrd@postoffice.worldnet.att.net (Unverified) X-Mailer: Windows Eudora Light Version 1.5.2 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" To: Dopson@zeus.zcu.cz From: Lynn Stoddard Subject: Teacher's Training/Literacy Cc: altsch@pscs.org Date: Mon, 6 Jan 1997 19:20:52 +0000 Message-ID: <19970106192049.AAA20285@LOCALNAME> Sender: owner-altsch@speakeasy.org Precedence: bulk Reply-To: altsch@pscs.org Status: RO Dear Michelle, Thanks for your request for more ideas for your school. It is great to feel needed. I am sending a copy of this to the altsch mailing list because there may be others who are also interested. When parents, teachers, and learners all unite to "develop great human beings who are valuable contributors to society" --- specifically to help leaners grow in three dimensions of greatness, their brains become programmed to invent strategies for accomplishing the goals. The Great Brain Project was one of the strategies that was invented to help learners grow in Identity, Inquiry, and Interaction. In this project students are invited to become "great brains" -- "specialists," "experts," "masterminds," or "geniuses" in topics of their own choice and doing research over a period of time with parents acting as research partners. The student makes a list of questions that s/he would like to learn about the chosen topic, and then proceeds to search for answers through careful observation, interviewing authorities, reading, writing, and sketching. The learner keeps adding to the list of questions as s/he digs deeper and deeper into the chosen topic or problem (inquiry). The child decides what level of "great brain" s/he wants to become with a chosen topic before going on to a new area of interest. When the child feels ready, s/he prepares a "great brain" presentation for parents, classmates, and other invited guests. In this regard the presentation is similar to a musical recital -- but this is a knowledge recital. The child makes visual aids and usually a display to help with his or her presentation. S/he makes her own invitations and sends them out. During and after the presentation the presentor fields questions posed by the audience (interaction). At the end there is usually an enthusiastic round of applause which helps the child researcher grow in feelings of self-worth (identity). The child is presented with a great brain badge to wear and his or her name and picture are posted in the "Great Brain Hall of Fame." The new great brain saves the materials used in the presentation for later use in a schoolwide "great brain fair." The best little book I know on how to teach literacy is, ESSAYS INTO LITERACY by Frank Smith. It is published by Heinman Educational Books, 4 Front Street, Exeter, New Hampshire 03833 and 22 Bedford Square, London WCIB 3HH. If you want all the details on the "Great Brain Project" and the philosophy behind it you could order REDESIGNING EDUCATION: A Guide for Developing Human Greatness by Lynn Stoddard. Then, if you want to dig deeper, you may want to order GROWING GREATNESS: Six Amazing Attitudes of Extrordinary Teachers and Parents by the same author. Both of these books are published by Zephyr Press, 3316 N. Chapel Ave., P.O. Box 66006-C, Tucson, AZ 85728-6006 Phone(520) 322-5090 or FAX (520) 323-9402. IF you have further questions please let me know. Lynn Stoddard From owner-altsch@eve.speakeasy.org Sat Jan 18 15:31:36 1997 Received: from eve.speakeasy.org (daemon@eve.speakeasy.org [199.238.226.1]) by hamp.hampshire.edu (8.7.3/8.7.3) with ESMTP id PAA06095 for ; Sat, 18 Jan 1997 15:31:32 -0500 (EST) Received: (from daemon@localhost) by eve.speakeasy.org (8.8.4/8.7.3) id MAA16484; Sat, 18 Jan 1997 12:20:56 -0800 (PST) Received: from mtigwc02.worldnet.att.net (mailhost.worldnet.att.net [204.127.129.4]) by eve.speakeasy.org (8.8.4/8.7.3) with ESMTP id MAA16474; Sat, 18 Jan 1997 12:20:49 -0800 (PST) Received: from LOCALNAME ([207.147.236.63]) by mtigwc02.worldnet.att.net (post.office MTA v2.0 0613 ) with SMTP id AAA27364; Sat, 18 Jan 1997 20:20:24 +0000 X-Sender: Lynstddrd@postoffice.worldnet.att.net (Unverified) X-Mailer: Windows Eudora Light Version 1.5.2 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" To: altsch@pscs.org From: Lynn Stoddard Subject: New Paradigm Cc: mike.hirschi@mail.rhs.weber.k12.ut.us Date: Sat, 18 Jan 1997 20:20:24 +0000 Message-ID: <19970118202021.AAA27364@LOCALNAME> Sender: owner-altsch@speakeasy.org Precedence: bulk Reply-To: altsch@pscs.org Status: RO Dear Bill and other interested persons, Thank you for your continued interest in "Education for Greatness" as a new paradigm or new attitude/mind-set about the purpose of education. Actually, this attitude is not new -- it is as old as the human race. The problem is that the "education for greatness" philosophy has been trampled and overrun by politicians and business executives who want to decide what is best for everyone and take away a person's right to determine his or her own destiny. They do this in the form of a common, imposed curriculum that is imposed on teachers to impose on all students regardless of individual student needs. I believe there is an intense need for freedom that may underlie nearly all of the various efforts of many people to break away from the public education path. I agree with Plato's assertion that "knowledge aquired under compulsion obtains no hold on the human mind." My experience tells me that an imposed curriculum results in shallow, temporary knowledge. Since spelling has been a hot topic, I give a spelling example: In my early days of teaching I would have students study from predetermined lists of words as contained in spelling workbooks. Each Friday the students were "tested" to see if they had learned how to spell the weekly list of words. To my surprise I found that many students would misspell the same words, later in a personal essay, that they had shown to have learned on the Friday test. Imposed learning had resulted in shallow, temporary knowledge. On the other hand, I found that students retained spelling knowledge much, much better when they concentrated on the learning the words they needed to express themselves in their own writing. When they made their own spelling dictionaries, and studied those words, they retained knowledge much better than they did when they studied a list that some "expert" thought they should learn. All of this is leading up to answer your question about who is using the "education for greatness" paradigm. The antiquity of an education for greatness philosophy is shown when we consider the good side of human nature: We were all endowed by our creator with a set of attributes that make us both unique and all alike as members of the human family. We were all born with a built-in drive for greatness as expressed in three dimensions. First, a drive to know who we are and what we can become -- a drive for identity. Second, we were all born curious with a thirst for truth and knowledge -- inquiry. Third, we were born with a need to love and be loved -- to have a warm relationship with others -- interaction. When we, as parents and teachers, nurture these three basic needs of learners we are working in harmony with the good side of human nature. This is in contrast to the adversarial relationship many students have with their public school teachers. What I am trying to say is that we all have these strong urges, built in. This means that good teachers everywhere, who listen to their hearts, and are sensitive to these needs in learners, automatically live by the "education for greatness" paradigm.....unless they are overwhelmed by the bureaucratic, assembly line model of education. These people may not be able to articulate and expound on the philosophy, but it is there still the same. This is the reason why it is difficult for me to tell you how many are actually using this philosophy. A great many are actually using it subconsciously. The number using it consciously is much less. I can tell you that a fairly large number have used the "great brain project." A few are trying parts of the philosophy, including the Sacajawea Elementary School in Seattle -- contact Betty Wetzbarger, 747 N. 67th St.98103, several individuals in the Ketchikan, AL school district -- contact Karen Eakes 636 Main St. Ketchikan, AK 99901, The Horizon Private School in Ogden, UT -- contact Ellie Seeley 1220 23rd St. Ogden, UT 84401. One person has been trying to implement the total philosophy amidst the smothering effects of the bureaucratic system. Mike Hirschi, at Roy High School in Roy, Utah has helped several students competely change the course of their lives using a high school version of the "great brain project called, "Personal Quest." You can reach him at his E-mail address shown at the top of this message after Cc: I am sending him a copy of this. There is much more that I could tell you, for example, each of the three dimensions of greatness has a close partner making "six amazing attitudes of extraordinary teachers and parents." They are the subject of my second book. Thanks for being patient with me. Feel free to ask more questions. Lynn Stoddard From owner-altsch@eve.speakeasy.org Tue Jan 21 14:42:24 1997 Received: from eve.speakeasy.org (daemon@eve.speakeasy.org [199.238.226.1]) by hamp.hampshire.edu (8.7.3/8.7.3) with ESMTP id OAA14230 for ; Tue, 21 Jan 1997 14:42:22 -0500 (EST) Received: (from daemon@localhost) by eve.speakeasy.org (8.8.4/8.7.3) id LAA08858; Tue, 21 Jan 1997 11:09:53 -0800 (PST) Received: from mtigwc02.worldnet.att.net (mailhost.worldnet.att.net [204.127.129.4]) by eve.speakeasy.org (8.8.4/8.7.3) with ESMTP id LAA08834; Tue, 21 Jan 1997 11:09:48 -0800 (PST) Received: from LOCALNAME ([207.147.240.233]) by mtigwc02.worldnet.att.net (post.office MTA v2.0 0613 ) with SMTP id AAA28216; Tue, 21 Jan 1997 19:02:23 +0000 X-Sender: Lynstddrd@postoffice.worldnet.att.net (Unverified) X-Mailer: Windows Eudora Light Version 1.5.2 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" To: DOPSON@zeus.czu.cz From: Lynn Stoddard Subject: Syllabuses Cc: altsch@pscs.org Date: Tue, 21 Jan 1997 19:02:23 +0000 Message-ID: <19970121190220.AAA28216@LOCALNAME> Sender: owner-altsch@speakeasy.org Precedence: bulk Reply-To: altsch@pscs.org Status: RO Dear Michelle, I hear your plea for syllabuses and feel frustrated that I am not able to supply those needs. A written perscription for training teachers according to the "education for greatness" philosophy does not exist, however there are some materials that I have already told you about which may be helpful, depending on the degree to which you would like to pursue this different approach. I ask myself, "how do we train teachers to bring out the best qualities -- the dimensions of greatness, that are in learners?" As you probably already know, the original, latin for "educate" is "educere," meaning to "lead out." It is related to the word "educe," which is defined as: "bring out or develop from latent or potential existence; elicit." With this in mind, teaching becomes the art of drawing forth from learners the talents, gifts, interests and abilities that are lying dormant waiting to be awakened and developed. How does this relate to training teachers? In many ways it is exactly the opposite of what Alan Klein described in a recent posting when he said, "Curriculum is a predetermined subset of skills and knowledge that are held to be so important that all must be exposed, taught, or otherwise infected ... usually broken into descrete chunks which are carefully sequenced and packaged for delivery to the victims, er, students." To "train" teachers how to deliver curriculum to students is a different process than helping them learn how to elicit and draw forth the special greatness that is in each potential teacher. (I use the word "train" because that is the usual process for causing teachers to blindly follow the political/corporate model of imposing curriculum on students. Creativity and sensitivity to the individual needs of students are not allowed.) If you are looking for a perscription for training teachers how to impose curriculum on students, then a syllabus may be what you are looking for. You should be warned that the political/corporate approach of imposing curriculum on students usually results in shallow, temporary knowledge. On the other hand, if you want help in bringing out the gifts, talents, and special qualities of greatness to be found in each teacher, a syllabus may be the wrong tool. Education for greatness implies a different approach. This approach calls for each group of learners to devise their own strategies for drawing forth greatness in one another. This can be done by inviting students to: (1) develop a personal list of questions about the teaching/learning process to pursue, adding to the list as they dig deeper and deeper into the art of teaching. This is a strategy for drawing forth INQUIRY. (2) Develop strategies for helping students discover personal gifts, talents, interests, and abilities...strategies for drawing forth IDENTITY. (3) Invent strategies for building love, kindness, communication and cooperation to help one another grow in the powers of INTERACTION. What I am trying to say is that you have an opportunity to guide student teachers in designing their own teacher development course -- one that meets the needs of the students in your class. This approach is more difficult, but much more productive than imposing a contrived curriculum students. It is a way of walking your talk and showing students the power of true education. Thanks for letting me share this with you. I hope I do not bore others on this list who may be oriented in a different direction. Lynn Stoddard From owner-altsch@eve.speakeasy.org Sat Jan 25 09:31:21 1997 Received: from eve.speakeasy.org (daemon@eve.speakeasy.org [199.238.226.1]) by hamp.hampshire.edu (8.7.3/8.7.3) with ESMTP id JAA27139 for ; Sat, 25 Jan 1997 09:31:20 -0500 (EST) Received: (from daemon@localhost) by eve.speakeasy.org (8.8.4/8.7.3) id GAA17546; Sat, 25 Jan 1997 06:23:08 -0800 (PST) Received: from mtigwc01.worldnet.att.net (ns.worldnet.att.net [204.127.129.1]) by eve.speakeasy.org (8.8.4/8.7.3) with ESMTP id GAA17539; Sat, 25 Jan 1997 06:23:05 -0800 (PST) Received: from LOCALNAME ([207.147.240.109]) by mtigwc01.worldnet.att.net (post.office MTA v2.0 0613 ) with SMTP id AAA24015 for ; Sat, 25 Jan 1997 14:23:12 +0000 X-Sender: Lynstddrd@postoffice.worldnet.att.net X-Mailer: Windows Eudora Light Version 1.5.2 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" To: altsch@pscs.org From: Lynn Stoddard Subject: Syllabi Date: Sat, 25 Jan 1997 14:23:12 +0000 Message-ID: <19970125142310.AAA24015@LOCALNAME> Sender: owner-altsch@speakeasy.org Precedence: bulk Reply-To: altsch@pscs.org Status: RO Dear Ms. Dopson, Thanks for your thoughtful reply. After thinking about what you said, I am left with this question: Whether we are teaching children or university professors, are the principles of teaching/learning still not the same? In other words, if education is the art of "drawing forth" and "leading" why does this principle not apply to learned scholars as well as to children? If we have learned anything from Socrates it surely is this. Lynn Stoddard From owner-altsch@eve.speakeasy.org Tue May 27 10:27:09 1997 Received: from eve.speakeasy.org (daemon@eve.speakeasy.org [199.238.226.1]) by hamp.hampshire.edu (8.7.3/8.7.3) with ESMTP id KAA03662 for ; Tue, 27 May 1997 10:27:07 -0400 (EDT) Received: (from daemon@localhost) by eve.speakeasy.org (8.8.5/8.7.3) id HAA03527; Tue, 27 May 1997 07:13:08 -0700 (PDT) Received: from mtigwc03.worldnet.att.net (mailhost.worldnet.att.net [204.127.131.34]) by eve.speakeasy.org (8.8.5/8.7.3) with ESMTP id HAA03518; Tue, 27 May 1997 07:13:05 -0700 (PDT) Received: from LOCALNAME ([207.147.232.176]) by mtigwc03.worldnet.att.net (post.office MTA v2.0 0613 ) with SMTP id AAA15200 for ; Tue, 27 May 1997 14:12:30 +0000 X-Sender: Lynstddrd@postoffice.worldnet.att.net X-Mailer: Windows Eudora Light Version 1.5.2 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" To: altsch@pscs.org From: Lynn Stoddard Subject: National Standards Date: Tue, 27 May 1997 14:12:30 +0000 Message-ID: <19970527141228.AAA15200@LOCALNAME> Sender: owner-altsch@speakeasy.org Precedence: bulk Reply-To: altsch@pscs.org Status: RO Hello Everyone, I want to publicly thank Jerry Mintz for the brilliant question he posed to Secretary Riley at the National Press Writers Conference, and urge us all to stand up for the needs of individual learners. Secretary Riley's answer was typical of those who are infested with the political/corporate philosophy of assembly line education. It is a terrible disease that will not be cured until we can help these people see the damage that is being done by trying to standardize students. I believe this philosopy must take part of the blame for a large number of the dropouts, suicides, and those who turn to crime and drugs. Our jails are buldging at the seams, and the cost is a heavy burden on all of us. As most of you already know, the view of non-educators who run the school system is of students who are passive recipients of knowledge -- students who are not responsible their own learning, but who are raw material to be shaped according to the "experts" who develop a curriculum that is to be imposed upon them by workers (teachers) who serve their masters in educational factories called schools. This process is degrading to teachers, students, and parents. It ignores the knowledge and skills these people have and imposes the will of people who are far removed from the scene. I believe it is time for teachers everywhere to express their indignation for being treated with such disrespect and to declare their independence from state imposed curriculum. Only in this way can we begin to meet the needs of individual learners -- learners who are not "raw material", but who are creative thinkers who build themselves through personal inquiry, and have unique gifts to develop and use for the benefit of all of us. We can replace high standards for uniformity (an oxyoron) with high standards for developing diversity. It is time to organize a movement. My plea to all on this listserve is to unite in a common cause. I don't know how it should be done, but I feel that there is no way that we could serve our country better than to rally around a different vision than the one that is taking us to destruction. I am leaving Thursday morning early to visit one of the schools that is following the "education for greatness" model in Fort Collins, then on to the Spirituality in Education Conference in Boulder, so I will not be home to read my e-mail (in case anyone wants to respond to this), but I hope I have started something that can grow into strong medicine for curing the standardization plague. Lynn Stoddard