GROWING WITHOUT SCHOOLING 70 So much of howwe educate - ln the sense of helplng young gro\rr lnto thetr partlcular culture and lnto the world at large people F rg depends on how we thlnk people by nature behave. When we talk as John Holt does tn thls lssue's Focus, about educatlon for peace, we x are talklng not only about what we want but about what we thtnk we're startlng out wlth. Do we thtnk that worklng for Peace means worklng agalnst human nature, or [r conJuncUon wlth lt? The trouble wlth thts quesUon, tmportant as lt ls, ts that lt's not enough to askwhat human nature ls, even though that alone would keep us dl argulng for a good whlle. We also have to ask, and argue about, tww we frid,out what human nature ls. People say, "Of course ctrtldren (and by tmpllcatlon, human betngs ln general) are naturally aggresslve - look at how they behave on the playground.' Or they say, 'Of course chlldren need to be made to learn - look at how my chtldrenJust slt around lf I don't suggest thtngs for them to do.' But others say, "Of course people are naturally peaceful - look at how they behave lf we don't make them feel so badly about themselves that they feel they have to harm other people,' and "Of course ctrtldren are good at learnlng - look at how much my baby has learned wlthout €rnyone forclng trlm to do lt.' Whtch are true? How can we tell? ln lnsteadof MucattonJohn
s
How to hclp chtldrcn grow lnto pcac€fuI adults ls lssue's Focus. Da{cs 17-21,
INSIDE THIS ISSUE: NEWS &REPORTS
p.2-4
OK to Count on Flngers, Opposl-
tlon toTestlng, GED Requlrements
THE MAKING OFAHOME. SCHOOLERp.4-5 CHALLENGES & CONCERNS
p.5-6 Physlcal Handlcaps, Recovertng Flom School, Chlldren's Flghts HOMESCHOOLINGAIV ONLY
CHILD p.7-e WATCHING CHILDREN LEARN
p.9-12 Understandlng Concepts, Bluegrass Communtty, Slblings Worktng Together, Money and
Independence
HOWADULTS LEARN p. 12
BOOKREVIEWS p. 13-16 FOCUS: EDUCATION FOR PEACE
p.L7-2I RETHINKING HUMAN NATURE: INTERVIEW WTITI JEAIV LIEDLOFF p.22-23 OLDER HOMESCHOOLERS
p.23 RESOTIRCES & RECOMMEN-
DATIONS p.24
wdtes about Japanese Bonsal trees, whose twlsted, shrunken shapes gardeners create by limltlng their supply of water and sun, by cllpptng thelr branches, and so on. John asks, "If a tree can be defiormed and shrunk, ls thls, then, lts nature? The nature of these trees, glven enough of the sun, alr, water, soll, and food they need, ls to grow llke trees, tall and stralght. People can be more easlly deformed, and worse deformed, even than trees... Only to the degree that people have what they need, that they are healthy and unafrald, that thetr llves are varled, lnteresting, meantngful, producUve, Joyous, can we begln toJudge, or even guess, thelr nature.' 'Only to the degree that people have what they need...' One way to flnd out about human nature, then, would be to look at people who seem to have what they need (although how we know when weVe found such people ts, agaln, open to questlon). One of the
reasons we lntervlewed Jean Ltedloff. author of Ttv Corljttutm bncept,ln thts lssue, ls that she has so much to say on prectsely thls subJect. Jean also talks about the power of assumptlon - about how much our errpectattons about wtll happen alfect what actually happens. John, tn the essay ln thts tssue, talks about how harrnful lt ls for ctrtldren to be subJected so much of the time to caprlclous, arbttrary authorlty, authodty that does not derlve from anythlng chtldren can respect or conslder senslble. But thts ts only one ktnd of authortty' Aaron Fdbel, responding to John's essay, remtnds us of George Dennlson's dtsttnctlon between natural authortty (authodty that som@ne lnuests {n someone else) and authorlty of rank (authorlty that someone holds ouer someone else). "Great damage ls done,' Aaron wrltes, 'when we use authorlty of rank ln place of natural authortty.' Great damage ls also done when we forget that natural authorlty ls possible and declde that all authodty ls coerclve and that there can be no gd reason to do what someone sa1rs or follow someone's example. Chlldren expect and demand natural authorlty - they want us, €ls Jean Ltedloffmakes clear, to be strong, capable, examples worth following. Helplng chtldren become peaceful people ls ln large part about helplng them become people who can Susannah Sheffer flgure out whlch ktnd of authority ts whlch.
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