Loving Learning: How Progressive Education Can Save America's Schools, by Tom Little, Katherine Ellison
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Loving Learning: How Progressive Education Can Save America's Schools, by Tom Little, Katherine Ellison
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Noted educator Tom Little and Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Katherine Ellison reveal the home-grown solution to turning American students into life-long learners.
The longtime head of Park Day School, Tom Little embarked on a tour of 43 progressive schools across the country. In this book, his life’s work, he interweaves his teaching experience, the knowledge he gleaned from his trip, and the history of Progressive Education. As Little and Katherine Ellison reveal, these educators and schools invigorate learning and promote inquisitiveness by allowing the curriculum to grow organically out of children's questions―whether they lead to studying the senses, working on a farm, or re-creating a desert ecosystem in the classroom.
We see curious students draw on information across disciplines to think in imaginative yet practical ways, like in a "Mini-Maker Faire" or designing and building a chair from scratch. Becoming good citizens was another of Little's goals. He believed in the need for students to learn how to become advocates for themselves, from setting rules on the playground to engaging in issues of social justice in the wider community.
Using the philosophy of Progressive Education, schools can prepare students to shape a vibrant future in the arts and sciences for themselves and the nation.
10 photographs Loving Learning: How Progressive Education Can Save America's Schools, by Tom Little, Katherine Ellison- Amazon Sales Rank: #68097 in Books
- Brand: Little, Tom/ Ellison, Katherine/ Waldman, Ayelet (INT)
- Published on: 2015-03-02
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 9.60" h x .90" w x 6.50" l, .0 pounds
- Binding: Hardcover
- 256 pages
Review “Tom Little is a visionary champion of progressive education at a time when American children are more in need of its enlightened methods than ever. His book is provocative, educational, and full of wisdom and heart.” (Deborah Meier, educator and MacArthur Award recipient)“A rich overview… the authors eloquently present the progressive principle of integrated, student-centered learning.” (Publishers Weekly)
About the Author Tom Little served as head of Oakland, California's Park Day School for twenty-seven years. A national leader in Progressive Education, he cofounded the Progressive Education Network. He died in 2014 from cancer shortly after writing this book.Katherine Ellison is a Pulitzer Prize–winning former foreign correspondent and the author of seven books, including The Mommy Brain: How Motherhood Makes You Smarter and Buzz: A Year of Paying Attention. She lives in northern California.
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21 of 23 people found the following review helpful. In defense of progressive education By Dienne I will start by saying that I met Tom Little all too briefly when he came to my daughters’ school (one of those mentioned in the book) as part of his research and participated in our mini progressive education conference in spring of 2013. He gave the keynote address and also led a break-out session entitled “Is Progressive Education For Everyone?” Unfortunately the session was far too short and far too crowded to even begin to do justice to such a weighty question, but the question itself has been a direct challenge for me as I’ve served on the school’s diversity committee, and this year in particular as there have been several “special needs” students in my older daughter’s class, with concomitant frustration and angst over what that means for the class as a whole.I was deeply saddened to hear of Tom Little’s passing, but this book perhaps provides a bit of consolation, as a legacy of Little’s 40 years in progressive education as a teacher and later head of Park Day School in Oakland, California. In this book, Little attempts to define what progressive education is and what it isn’t, and to make a case for its resurgence to prominence in American education. He only somewhat jokingly says that if you ask 20 progressive educators for a definition of progressive education, you’ll get 21 different definitions. Through his research and his own contemplation, Little settles on a rather pithy definition that progressive education is education that prepares students to be citizens of a democracy, in a whole-child-focused environment, with a continuing emphasis on social justice. This definition serves well enough as a rough framework, but as the book demonstrates, there is far more to progressive education.With examples from the schools which he has visited and especially from his own Park Day School, Little illustrates the key components of progressive education. He starts with the simple idea of a rug as a key to the idea of community. The rug is large enough to comfortably hold the entire class during a discussion or meeting. Such rugs are rather common in many pre-schools and daycares for “circle time learning”, but they tend to disappear altogether in most schools by first grade. But it is key in progressive schools because it is the key to community. It is the place where students and their teachers come together to hash out class rules, discuss project ideas, negotiate conflicts, etc. The “rug”, of course, could be a collection of couches, bean bag chairs or other arrangement, but it needs to be a relaxed, informal setting that allows for mutual, democratic interaction which in turn allows for relationships and caring to develop and the class members to set their own ideas of how they want their class to be and what they hope to gain. Little talks about how the bonds formed during this miniature community help students to develop a larger sense of community and relatedness in the world as they grow up.The next section talks about the importance of project-based learning to capture and direct students’ own interests and to incorporate multi-disciplinary learning. Students in progressive schools rarely learn “history” or “science” or “literature” as separate, isolated subjects, but, rather, each subject area gets incorporated (to a greater or lesser extent) in each project. Little references the work of early twentieth century progressive educator Caroline Pratt who enfolded nearly all student learning within meaningful, real-world tasks that motivated children to learn the skills and information they needed to complete their tasks. Little also addresses the common stereotype of progressive education as being “loosey-goosey” and not “rigorous” enough. Project based learning, in fact, often encourages kids to learn – and authentically master – information and skills which are, theoretically, above their level because they understand the context for why such information and skills are relevant and because they are motivated to achieve the results. Such learning is actually, in many ways, harder, especially for teachers, because there is no knowing from the beginning just where the learning might lead. This form of learning actually requires more structure and guidance from teachers than the “sage on the stage” model of teaching typically found in schools.Little argues that diversity is in the DNA of progressive education. He gives examples of schools which have make conscious and explicit decisions to welcome greater diversity in all areas, including one school’s decision to create greater economic diversity by implementing a sliding scale fee in which each family’s tuition is determined by their ability to pay. He talks about physical, behavioral and learning disabilities and the advances made in finding ways to include more children (while acknowledging that dealing with serious disabilities is still one of progressive education’s limitations, especially when considering that most progressive schools are private schools which lack the resources along these lines that public schools are legally mandated to provide). He also details Park Day’s decision, upon receiving its first application from a transgendered student, to be not only just accepting, but positively welcoming of gender differences, including a week-long celebration of gender differences featuring gay, lesbian and transgender community members and speakers.Little takes us through some musings about the role of technology in the classroom, something which progressive education has wrestled greatly with. He argues that technology itself shouldn’t be the issue, but rather how technology is used. If used as a tool to further students’ interests and build connections, he believes that progressive educators need to welcome technology into the classroom in thoughtful ways. But technology shouldn’t be used for its own sake, and much less for the sake of drill-and-skill testing, especially standardized testing, which is a topic that gets its own section.Little is clearly dismayed at how testing and test prep have consumed the curriculum at so many schools across the nation. In fact, one gets the sense that that’s much of the impetus for his travels to progressive schools and, indeed, this book. So often test supporters raise the argument that there isn’t a “better alternative” to standardized testing. Little – like many other progressive educators desperately speaking out these days – pleads for more authentic assessment. Authentic assessment demands that students demonstrate what they have learned through what they can do. Projects, portfolios, presentations, experiments and other demonstrations show far better than a bubble test what students know and how well they can relate that knowledge to real world issues and problems, which, incidentally, is what many standardized test supporting “reformers” claim they want when they talk about the need for “21st century learning”.The final section is an unapologetic defense of the “p-word”. Many schools which utilize progressive methods nonetheless shy away from calling themselves “progressive”, in part because the term “progressive” carries a fair amount of baggage (to some extent, the justified result of the excess of progressive educators who Little argues carried things too far). But Little argues that we need to reclaim the word and the mission, especially in light of the current testing mania. He calls for a resurgence of research regarding progressive education in part because so many progressive educators know what works, but they find it hard to say why and defend their practices. Anecdotally, he talks about how graduates of progressive education are highly represented among the world’s movers and shakers, the creative types, the people working to make the world a better place. Progressive graduates rarely go on to listless lives as pencil pushers and cubicle denizens. Progressively educated people are those who have been challenged throughout their lives to find ways to make the world a better place and given the freedom, resources and support to make their intentions reality. If we want different results, we will have to try different methods of educating our youth to dig this world out of the morass it’s become.The world is a slightly colder place since the passing of Tom Little. Clearly he was a deeply passionate and committed educator who cared about children and about the future of our country and our world. For all who dare to dream that maybe there is an alternative, that the world could be a different place, I strongly recommend reading this book.
14 of 15 people found the following review helpful. A Real Manifesto For American Schools By Kevin L. Nenstiel Tom Little joined Oakland, California's Park Day School in 1976 as a volunteer; he became a teacher, then the school's principal, ultimately dedicating 37 years to one community-minded school. When its founders began, Park Day simply wanted to expand what citizens believed schools could accomplish. Then Little discovered the history of Progressive Education, a movement that became highly influential after World War I. Little discovered that he existed within a century-old continuum of educational aspiration.Progressive Education, like its rough contemporaries Waldorf and Montessori schools, arose in the early Twentieth Century, from broadening awareness of deep psychology and dissatisfaction with rote memorization. Its foremost proponent, the philosopher John Dewey, popularized an educational model based on activity, cooperation, and social justice. It won international acclaim, and influenced Finland's much-lauded national education system. But it fell on domestic disfavor in its American homeland during McCarthyism, when the word "Progressive" became political poison.Despite criticism and mockery, Progressive Education remained viable, continuing as the dominant philosophy in several private and public schools, scrappy bootstrap educational startups, and even occasional entire school districts. Armed with Lawrence Cremin's The Transformation of the School and zeal for education, Little helped reestablish Progressive schools' nationwide support network, and became downright evangelical for his newly rediscovered theory. His book mixes memoir, history, and educational theory for a diverse introduction for educators and parents.This theory will initially attract diverse adherents from across the political spectrum for one simple reason: it openly rejects standardized tests. Park Day doesn't have any standardized testing in lower grades, permitting it only among high school students. Some are even stricter. As Americans balance declining STEM scores with revulsion for "teaching to the test," Progressive Education actively resists reducing educational principles to Scantron sheets. It emphasizes students as developing human beings, not future workers.But it's far more than anti-technocratic jargon. Progressive Education, in Little's telling, stresses holistic child development, including psychological well-being and bodily health, alongside academic standards. It positions teachers as guides and fellow travelers, not taskmasters or bosses. It utilizes students' natural interests, rather than forcing them into obedience and regimentation. It cooperates actively with parents and community leaders, emphasizing education as lifelong participation, and school as preparation for, not separate from, students' future adult life.This means complex, intensive curricula starting early. Students study art and music, not because these topics are nice, but because they develop well-rounded citizens who'll embrace science and public policy without sullen resistance. When teachers voluntarily relinquish authoritarian control, permitting students latitude to experiment and discover (with guidance), they enjoy learning. Little notes that, when many Progressive school graduates enter college and the workforce, they struggle to understand why conventionally educated peers resent taking initiative.Though Little doesn't say this explicitly, Progressive Education touches deeply on something running through American education. Despite school's compulsory ubuquity, as Dana Goldstein observes, we've never agreed what schools should do. Progressive Education has a thoroughgoing mission of social betterment through personal development. Little gives examples of what this means, far beyond simple bromides about "volunteering." Progressive Education isn't about fitting students for possible future jobs. It's about expanding justice by creating engaged, curious citizens.Little dodges one obvious objection. He admits one year of Park Day tuition runs over $20,000, meaning students are either born rich or subsidized by scholarships. The emphasis on small classes, intensive participation, and field learning inevitably drives up costs, and Americans today notoriously don't want to pay for anything. To really apply Little's precepts broadly, as we arguably should, we'll need money from somewhere. Little kicks that important problem problem to policy wonks.Even notwithstanding this, Little's precepts deserve broader study and discussion. Diverse writers like John Taylor Gatto and Jonathan Kozol have observed that we compel children into schools, then starve teachers for money, structure students' days to ratify unjust social hierarchies, and blame teachers when nothing gets better. Little presents a theory that rejects top-down "reform" proposals that bind schools' hands. Teaching, in Little's telling, happens at ground level, and is about relationships, not test scores.This is Tom Little's first book; it's also his last. He admits he researched this book for twenty years while organizing America's Progressive schools into a veritable union. But in the final stages, doctors diagnosed Little with Stage IV bone cancer. Having passed in April 2014, this book represents his lasting legacy, his manifesto for meaningful school reform. He poses challenges and offers solutions that all schools should take seriously. This book is unbridled opportunity.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful. At last, a primer on how to educate instead of train students! By Grady Harp Oakland, California author Tom Little served as head of Oakland, California's Park Day School for twenty-seven years. A national leader in Progressive Education, he cofounded the Progressive Education Network. He died in 2014 from cancer shortly after writing this book. The book, very thankfully, was coauthored and brought to publication status by Katherine Ellison, a Pulitzer Prize-winning former foreign correspondent and the author of seven books, including The Mommy Brain: How Motherhood Makes You Smarter and Buzz: A Year of Paying Attention.The contents of this book need to be absorbed by all teachers and then by all parents and shared with children of all ages. It is beautifully written and describes Progressive Education, delivered to us when classrooms are being inundated with internet teaching: witness the disaster in Los Angeles where every student was given a tablet form which to learn - and play games, and twitter, and otherwise misuse the tool, ill-advised as it was form the start.The six core strategies promoted by this book are: `Attention to children's emotions as well as their intellects; Reliance on students' interests to guide their learning; Curtailment or outright bans on testing, grading, and ranking; Involvement of students in real-world endeavors, ranging form going on field trips to managing a farm; The study of topics in an integrated way, from a variety of different disciplines and no least: Support for children to develop a sense of social justice and become active participants in America's democracy.'This is an excellent book, full of wisdom, worth of major awards in literature and education. Highly Recommended. Grady Harp, March 15
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