Education in America

How does the prevailing system of schooling measure up to modern day requirements? A collection of essays addresses this question from various angles. As India is fast adopting the American model of schooling, this book is equally important for India.

 

"The only way the schools can become meaningful purveyors of ethical values is if they provide students and adults with real-life experiences that are bearers of moral import. Such experiences are notoriously absent from the current daily routines of schools. They include, for example, students making choices that are significant for their lives, within the school setting; choices such as how to educate themselves to be productive adults. They include students exercising judgment in consequential matters, such as school rules and discipline. I could go on at length giving examples, but the point is simple, and needs little elaboration: to teach morality to students, they must have opportunities to choose between alternative courses of action that have different ethical weight, and they must be allowed to evaluate and discuss the outcomes of these choices."

 

Contents : Foreword. Introduction.

 

Part I: Learning, Curriculum, and the Goals of Education:

1. Is Cursive Writing Really Necessary? 2. School Science Courses Don't Teach Science At All! 3. Real Learning Starts with the Curiosity of the Student

 

Part II: The Organization and Operation of Schools:

1. Only Student Involvement Can Bring a Sense of Order to our Schools 2. Is There an “Ideal School” for the Nation? 3. Search for Something New and Better!

 

Part III: School Finances:

1. Recycling Gets Schools Good Stuff Cheap 2. Standardization is the Chief Culprit in the Runaway Cost of Education

 

Part IV: Other Basic Issues:

1. Children As Well As Adults 2. The Message from School Dropouts

 

A Final Word. Postscript