Twitter Book Club: @alfiekohn (2004) What Does It Mean To Be Well Educated? - Four:14

Four: Moral, Social, and Psychological Questions
14. A Fresh Look at Abraham Maslow

"confronted with 'proof' that an instructional technique, or discipline system, in the classroom is effective, we m... http://tl.gd/9rqhbcless than a minute ago via Twittelator Favorite Retweet Replyanderscj
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"we can predict that more developmentally appropriate and constructive practices will follow when our first questio... http://tl.gd/9rqnb4less than a minute ago via Twittelator Favorite Retweet Replyanderscj
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"we can predict that more developmentally appropriate and constructive practices will follow when our first question is 'What do kids need, and how can we meet those needs?' as opposed to 'How can we get kids to do what we tell them?'" Kohn

I think we also need to involve kids in these discussions as well. The only learning objective that really matters is the objective internalized by the learner and therefore it only stands to reason that they should also be involved in the process of identifying what their needs are and how they will be met. For that matter, this is not only true of kids but all learners. It applies to adults as much as it applies to kids. The major difference is, with adults we largely expect this process to happen. In fact, in most adult learning situations the adults get pretty pissed off if their learning objectives are simply handed down to them. They usually find it demoralizing and outright belittling to have to undergo such treatment. Why should we expect any different feeling or response from children?