Notes from "Teach the Children"

A tantalizing tidbit before you start studying!

"The purpose of education is to help man reestablish proper relationships with himself, his origins, his fellow men, and his living God." pg 215

"Most of us preoccupy ourselves with what we are going to do during the upcoming class time.  More productive is the concern with what are the students going to do.  Emphasis on the latter stimulates the teacher to consider how to invite learning involvement.  Student rather than the teacher of the subject matter become the focal point in planning." pg 221

"In moral matters, teachers are their own best teaching tool.  And personal morality applies to the teaching of any subject. The effective agency teacher teach all subjects as components of character....this is the optimum kind of teaching  to influence character.  As they radiate, teachers give of themselves to others without demanding any return.  They lose themselves in service, and in so doing find their best self.  Free from the numbing fear shown in stage fright, lack of confidence, and the inhibition of self-consciousness, teachers join the students on their side of the fence, see life through their eyes and enjoy sharing in their experiences." pg 227

Referring to the power of a teacher who reaches out with love to their students, "Students have access to this same power...Students love expressed toward teachers has the power to lift those teachers above their own limitations.  Students who reach out and embrace the good a teacher has to offer may find that their learning will exceed the limitations of both themselves and their teacher." pg 228

After a great break-down of why the lenses (pg 234-236...Leadership Academy is the "morality/fifth aspect" he refers to on page 231 and then expounds on 238), Flinders says: "Too often, teachers and students become lost in the curricular means and fail to recognize that it is the general capacity and not a particular application of the capacity that we need to develop.  The details of school studies are soon forgotten; it is the expanded capacity that remains to enrich our lives." (pg 237)

Pg 272 he addresses how to have an effective interview between mentor and student, along with some great questions about evaluating the relative "importance" of creating as part of the educational process. I find my children are natural creators after being exposed to information in a spiritual, impactful experience and the process of creating may be beautifully summed up in the book "Get Busy Beaver"....basically, sometimes you cannot measure the creative process by "normal" standards and may be frustrating.  Great section to read...through 281: "Creativity is simply the act of organizing existing elements for some purpose."

"Education (is) the conscious and intentional interaction with the messages of others...If there are no messages, there can be no education...Effectively connecting messages and purposes is the trademark of good scholarship." pg 304

"True scholarship is open, inviting participation from all who are willing and interested." pg 305

"True scholars create, report, explain, and clarify; they listen, comprehend, confirm, correct, and reject.  To engage in debate, disputation, argument, contention, self-serving salesmanship, and other forms of intellectual compulsion is not scholarship--it is rhetoric...honestly revealing information that may be personally validated or invalidated by others is scholarship....In this type of environment positive relationships rather than adversarial relationships are fostered." pg 309-310

"If you are a humble follower of all truth, the doors are wide open.  The Lord will help us use our talents to inspire one another in all kinds of things." (quoting David Allan on page 311)  Powerful personal examples from others on page 311-315, a mom, a teacher, and a scientist.

Page 320-321: How to prepare for classes
Make the experience before class and during interactive: page 323