#5 A Thomas Jefferson Education

By Oliver DeMille.
I'm on a quest of sorts. I'd like my children to have the best education they possibly can, the one that will make their later lives as happy and fulfilling as possible. The one that will keep them learning and growing throughout their lives, giving them a sense of self, confidence and an ability to continue to be taught and learn new things.
This book is part of my research. I like the mentor/pupil model. I think that a large part of education is as a student to have someone to guide you. I had plenty of mentors in the sciences, and I attribute a great deal of their inspiration to my decision to study physics.
DeMille described the classes that I liked most in school. The classes where the teacher really encouraged us to think, acting more as a guide than an evaluator. I like the model of mentor and pupil where both essentially are on a quest for knowledge together, the mentor leading most of the time and the pupil following along. This seems to still be the model for graduate school, at least in the sciences and I think that it is a model that can work, especially for highly motivated pupils.
DeMille talks about how learning really only occurs when the student is willing and puts up the effort. A good teacher, by his definition, is one that inspires. He contends that one of the biggest problems with our current political climate is that we have done too many things that get in the way of teachers being able to truly inspire students.
I think it was a worthwhile read. There are a lot of good thoughts in the book that might really help our educational system and will certainly play a role in the education of my children. I would have liked to see more research or even more substantive anecdotal evidence. I tend to internalize better when I'm given examples. I'm not too keen on the name for several reasons, but if fulfills its purpose of being catchy.
I struggle with DeMille's thoughts that if a child isn't interested in something, that he/she not be forced to do it, I can easily see a child manipulating that. I tend to think that there are some things in life that you need to know and experience whether it interests you or not. I agree that not as much learning is going to occur in this situation as when the student is truly interested, but if thoughtfully guided through an unpleasant, but necessary study of something, perhaps a new interest or talent will be discovered, and at the very least the exercise teaches the student something.