schoolyard subversion

2001-04-29 [< * >]

The Writings of John Holt

Whenever people talk about unschooling, one name comes up. That is the name of John Holt, the man who invented the concept. He wrote numerous books about his ideas and theories, but I think none are better than How Children Fail (Amazon, price search) and How Children Learn (Amazon, price search).

John Holt, like many of the people involved in unschooling, was first a teacher. He felt he was a great educator, a man who always worked hard to make learning more enjoyable and fun for the students. He invented games, bought expensive educational toys, let the kids talk in class, and used innovative educational techniques. Yet he didn't his folly.

It was only when he began to stop teaching, and started sitting in on other classes that he began to see where he went wrong: He had never actually watched the kids -- watched them carefully, that is. Throughout his year of careful observation, he wrote notes to his friends and the teacher with whom he shared the class, Bill Hull. These notes were published in the book, How Children Fail. Noticing that what went on in his class was not at all what he thought, he writes:

You can't find out what a child does in class by looking at him only when he is called on. You have to watch him for long stretches of time without his knowing it. [...] There doesn't seem to be much a teacher can do about this [...]. A teacher in class is like a man in the woods, at night with a powerful flashlight in his hand. Wherever he turns his light, the creatures on whom it shines are aware of it, and thus to not behave as they do in the dark.

He began to realize that the students were not learning what he "taught" them, but merely pretending to. He discovered all of their fearful defense mechanisms and strategies which they used so that they wouldn't appear stupid in front of their classmates and teacher.

One of the "innovative" things that John and Bill used in their classroom was a balance beam. The students would be given several weights and had to try and guess where on the beam to place them to make it balance. Here is what students said when they were asked to predict what would happen to the beam:

Abby: It might move a little to one side -- not much.
Elaine: It might teeter a little then balance, but not really. (She is covering all the possibilities.)
Rachel: It might balance.
Pat: It will balance pretty much.
[...]
Gary: I think it's just going to go down -- that's safer.
[...]
Gil: May go down a little and then come back up.
Garry: It will be about even.
Betty: I sort of think it's going to balance.
[...]
Betty: I'll say it will, just in case it does, so we won't get too low a score.

It's incredible how the students will do anything to get out of the spotlight, so that they wouldn't look foolish.

Later, John begins to throw away the teacher disguise and work with kids individually. Doing so, he realizes that students who have supposedly know fifth grade math, are too unsure of themselves to even count by two. He works with them to rebuild their math knowledge from the beginning, but they still don't seem to remember what they're taught. After more of these experiences he gives up on teaching.

In his later book, How Children Learn he decides to stop teaching and simply spend time with children. He starts with his small baby cousins, noticing that they are relentless scientists, always observing and experimenting. He documents their scientific inquiry as they begin to grow, read, talk and play games. Soon enough, he begins visiting classrooms, bringing interesting toys with him and starting to play with them himself. Soon enough, the children go over to play with the, and begin to learn from them.

John does his best not to interfere -- to let the children learn and discover on their own time. His only job is to give them very small nudges in the right direction and to provide moral support. One day he decides to bring the balance beam back and simply sets it in the back of the room saying only that it's "just some junk I got from Bill Hull. [...] Nothing special; mess around with it if you want to." They began to do just that and half an hour later they all figured out how to work it.

I gave one of them one of the problems that in earlier years had given very able students so much trouble. She solved it easily and showed that she knew what she was doing. I said, "You have any trouble figuring that out?" She said, "Oh no, it was cinchy."

He explains it thus:

[The first set of children all had trouble] in spite of the fact that we -- or so we thought -- had done everything possible to set up a situation that would make discovery more easy. We worked with the children in small groups; we gave each child an easy problem; we encouraged the other children to say whether the solution to the problem was correct, and if not, why. We thought we had set up our class as a laboratory in miniature, and that the children would accordingly act as scientists. But we hadn't, and they didn't, for just for this reason, that is was our problem they were working on and not theirs.

Sadly, while it's clear to many that this kind of free exploration and discovery is the best way to learn, many teachers see it as a threat. They want to be, as John explains, "a tyrant [you better do this!] and a saint [you'll thank me for it later]". Worse, even well-meaning teachers have to throw away such toys so they stay on track with the curriculum -- they can't be late for the next stop on the "Ivy League Express". But children don't learn that way. Instead, they hide, play dumb, forget, weasel their way out, or trick you. Worse, they begin to think that this is how to behave in every situation. But Holt gives the hope of another way.

I've only given you the smallest bit of the wealth of wisdom that is in these books. I encourage anyone who works at a school, or believes in one, to read a copy of How Children Fail (Amazon, price search) -- it has certainly taught me more about how my classmates think then I've been able to realize through years of being with them. Furthermore, it makes clear through simple stories why teaching plain doesn't work. Currently, John Holt's work is being continued by Holt Associates, which publishes his books and other materials.

Anyone with small children should really read How Children Learn (Amazon, price search). It describes in detail just that process, and by example, provides ways to keep your children learning their entire life, rather than hating the whole thing and quitting as soon as possible as too many children do. For some children, it may be too late to unlearn the bad habits they learned in school, but it is certainly never too early.

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