Educating for Human Greatness represents the recommendations of a coalition of researchers, educators, and parents whose mission is to advocate a new vision for education. Our combined experience tells us that the goal of passing standardized tests is superficial and temporary whereas learning from personal inquiry is deep and enduring. We have a vision of schools where teachers, parents and students are mutually respected and where they help each other draw forth their best gifts, talents and abilities.
What you have just read is the opening paragraph of a new vision statement for the purposes of education. It is the product of collaborative efforts of a number of people of wide experience in education, some of whom are quite notable and well-known. Below the fold I will offer text of the complete one-page statement, as well as the brief biographies of those who participated in its crafting and offer their support. I invite you to read,and will also explain why below the fold.
Often in discussions about American public education we find ourselves in heated discussions if not downright arguments about aspects, about particular endeavors intended to make a difference. What is missing from most of these discussions is any serious attempt to explain the perspective from which one views the purpose of education. That is unfortunate, because unless you have an overarching purpose the individual endeavors upon which we embark ostensibly to improve our educational system may achieve little.
Oh yes, if we make our entire focus raising scores on a particular series of tests, we can achieve that goal. That does not, however, mean that those who score highly have demonstrated much beyond that they have scored highly - on those tests at the specific time they were tested. There is far too much emphasis on the results of the test and not enough understanding that our real goal needs to be something far more than test scores.
We have apparently been afraid to step back and ask ourselves why we have schools, why we insist on people obtaining certificates indicating that they have graduated from high school or diplomas indicating completion of some post-secondary educational endeavor, admission to which usually requires first completing the K-12 portion of our education.
If our educational purpose is too narrow, we are wasting resources, the most important of which is neither the money we spend nor the time it requires. Rather, it is the potential of those whom we require to undergo that education. And the goal should be more than test scores, more than marketable skills, and should empower our students to be able to continue to learn and to grow as human beings even after they complete the schooling we require of them.
We need principles, from which all of our other educational endeavors should flow and against which we can measure, asking how these endeavors help us fulfill the principles upon which we base our commitment to education.
Lynn Stoddard began this process. He wrote a book entitled Educating for Human Greatness, which explained about a long-term (25 year) effort at meaningful school reform. You can read about Lynn and his work at the links in this list His insights were the starting point of the endeavor that resulted in the statement.
The statement is brief. It focuses on 7 principles. It is the product of extended discussions among a diverse group of people committed to a meaningful improvement of education, often as the result of a lifetime of professional experience. It is an attempt to be succinct, but broad in understanding. It is deliberately written as something that can be put on a single sheet of paper. Here is the entirety of the statement:
Educating for Human Greatness represents the recommendations of a coalition of researchers, educators, and parents whose mission is to advocate a new vision for education. Our combined experience tells us that the goal of passing standardized tests is superficial and temporary whereas learning from personal inquiry is deep and enduring. We have a vision of schools where teachers, parents and students are mutually respected and where they help each other draw forth their best gifts, talents and abilities.
America’s current education system compels teachers to focus upon test scores, not develop individuals who can make positive contributions to society. Students as young as five years old are pressured to memorize facts and irrelevant material in preparation for standardized tests. This sterile approach tends to subvert curiosity, impede imagination, and lead to negative attitudes towards schooling.
The framework we propose is based upon a higher purpose for education: Develop human beings to be positive contributors to society. We want students to fall in love with learning, to develop their full potential, and to become resilient, innovative thinkers.
Educating for Human Greatness embraces seven principles:
• Identity – Help students learn who they are and who they could become.
• Inquiry – Stimulate curiosity and cultivate an appreciation for the natural world.
• Interaction – Promote courtesy, caring, communication, and cooperation.
• Initiative – Foster independent learning, self-discipline, and critical analysis.
• Imagination – Actively nurture creativity and innovation.
• Intuition – Help students learn how to seek truth with their hearts as well as with their minds.
• Integrity – Develop honesty, character, morality and responsibility for self and others.
Rather than relying solely on standardized tests created by corporations, Educating for Human Greatness recommends giving credence to the expertise of teachers (who see students every day) to evaluate the quality and effectiveness of learning.
Here are the people who helped craft and/or endorse this statement:
Lawrence Baines - is the Judith Daso Herb Chair in Adolescent Literacy at the University of Toledo.
Darryl Lee Baynes - is Founder and President of MAEA Interactive Science Programs, the largest science and math outreach company in the nation owned and operated by African Americans, initially formed to combat the under-representation of African Americans and women in math and science based careers.
Dr. Laurence A Becker - served 10 years as English Department Chair at St. Stephen's Episcopal School and has worked with autistic savant artists since 1976. He produced the award-winning documentary film "With Eyes Wide Open", and is currently writing a monthly essay for Autism Today.
Emmanuel Bernstein - is a veteran public school educator of all ages, an educational researcher, and a school guidance counselor. He wrote the book, The Secret Revolution: A Psychologist’s Adventures in Education.
Kenneth Bernstein - is a National Board Certified Teacher in Maryland. Now in his 14th year of teaching, he came to education after a long career in data processing in both the public and private sectors. He has served as a resource for and adviser on educational matters to a number of candidates for and members of the U. S. House and Senate.
Renate N. Caine - an educational psychologist and consultant currently serving as director of research and professional development for the Natural Learning Research Institute in Idyllwild, California. Co-authored 7 books that focus on how neuroscience and technology impact education. Currently involved in school-wide change in the U.S. and Australia in training future educators through the Caine Learning Center http://www.cainelearning.com
Doug Christensen - is Professor of Practice in Leadership at the University of Nebraska and at Doane College and emeritus State Commissioner of Education for Nebraska.
Boyd R. Cox, PhD - is a retired educator with 25 years experience as an elementary teacher, 1 ½ years as the director of the Utah Boys Ranch school, and taught basic mathematics and electronics for 8 years at community college.
Rob Erwin - an educator with 14 years of teaching. Currently he is working on a documentary of a school founded on the principles of Lynn Stoddard's book, Educating for Human Greatness.
Don Glines, Ph.D. - is Director of the Educational Futures Projects in Sacramento, CA and at his Wilson School in Minnesota, acclaimed as an innovative, cradle-to-grave learning center, he has focused on personalized learning and educational alternatives for everyone.
Alfie Kohn – is the author of eleven books, including The Schools our Children Deserve, The Case Against Standardized Testing, and What Does it Mean to be Well Educated? He has been described by Time magazine as "perhaps the country’s most outspoken critic of education’s fixation on grades [and] test scores." http://www.alfiekohn.org.
Philip Kovacs - is a former high school English teacher now teaching teachers at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. He organized the Educator Roundtable on the internet and has worked toward dismantling NCLB.
Stephen Krashen - developed the first comprehensive theory of second language acquisition and is the co-inventor of the Natural Approach. His current books are Summer Reading: Program and Evidence, English Learners in American Classrooms, and English Fever.
Michael Mendizza - is an author, educator, documentary filmmaker and founder of Touch the Future, a nonprofit learning design center. He co-authored Magical Parent-Magical Child with Joseph Chilton Pearce. http://www.ttfuture.org http://www.nurturing.us
Dr. MaryBeth Merritt - is an educator, scientist, parent, artist and activist championing holistic education for close to 20 years. And is a founder of Four Winds (http://www.fourwindsgreatbarrington.org), a non-profit educational organization
Dr. Ronald J. Newell, Ed.D. - is the Director of Evaluation and Assessment for EdVisions Schools, was a founder of the Minnesota New Country School and EdVisions Cooperative, and has published three books on the subject. He was formerly a high school history teacher, mentor teacher, and college professor.
Nel Noddings - is a Lee L. Jacks Professor of Childhood Education, Emerita at Stanford University. Her latest book is When School Reform Goes Wrong.
Christopher Nye - is a retired professor and college administrator, vice president of The Myrin Institute, children’s book author (The Old Shepherd’s Tale, 2004, 2008), and poet (Poems Out of Thin Air, 2008). He now co-leads an education initiative at The Orion Society to build a constituency for spirited, whole-child education.
Susan Ohanian - is a longtime teacher and prolific writer on education issues. She maintains a website in opposition to the corporate-politico takeover of schools and the standardization of curriculum.
Mary Orlando - has been a Montessori educator for the past 40 years. She is currently assistant principal at Villa Montessori Charter School in Phoenix, AZ.
Don Perl - is an educator of 35 years, who has taught in the public schools of Colorado for 20 years, is a high-stakes test resister and is presently an adjunct professor of Spanish at the University of Northern Colorado.
Lu Pilgrim - an advocate of project and place-based learning with 50 years experience as a public and independent school teacher and administrator, is on the faculty at Pacific Oaks College.
Phoebe Plank - is a teacher for 15 years, who is currently volunteering in an alternative school to bring opportunities for Educating for Human Greatness to students, teachers and administrators.
David Polochanin - teaches Language Arts in Glastonbury, CT., and has published articles on education and other subjects, appearing in Education Week and Middle Ground. He has written for the Providence Journal, the Boston Globe, Christian Science Monitor, and Hartford Courant.
Dorothy Rupert - retired Senator and State Representative from Boulder, Co. (1986-2001), retired 35 yr. English teacher and counselor for Boulder and Fairview High Schools, teaches courses at U of Co. Boulder campus, and works with Youth Advisory Board to Boulder City Council. In 2005, she was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Dr. Yvonne Siu-Runyan - is a former public school teacher, professor emerita at the University of Northern Colorado, and a current member of the presidential team for the National Council Teachers of English. She has over 40 years of professional educational experiences.
William Spady - is the author of five books, and a key developer of the "HeartLight" model of learning and living described in Neale Donald Walsch’s Conversations With God books. He is the current Director of the New Possibilities Network and taught at Harvard University and OISE early in his career.
Darrell Stoddard - is founder of the Pain Research Institute www.healpain.net and author of Pain Free for Life.
Lynn Stoddard - an educator with 50+ years experience as an elementary teacher, principal, consultant. Author of 3 books and numerous articles on the need and ways to reinvent schooling.
Betty Terrell - has been an educator for 34 years, working in Head Start administration, grant writing, teacher training, and special and general education classrooms. Currently, she is a third grade teacher at Sacajawea Elementary School in Seattle WA.
Cooper Zale - is a parent of two children, who unschooled through their high school years, and is blogging at http://www.leftyparent.com
Yes, I am a member of this group, to which I was invited after much of the work had been done. We recognize that this is only a beginning, and we continue the discussions. You can see part of that with ideas on how to implement these recommendations here. While you can choose to join our efforts there, we welcome any comments or responses you might choose to make here as well.
This is a vision of what we believe should be considered as we make educational policy. It is a vision to which we proudly affix our names and behind which we place the support of our experience.
Seven principles.
The first three are where we begin:
Identity
Inquiry
Interaction
These give rise to three more:
Initiative
Imagination
Intuition
All with the central goal of Integrity: what we want the result to be for our students, that they Develop honesty, character, morality and responsibility for self and others.
Peace