John Holt

destroy love learning kids children

“We destroy the love of learning in children, which is so strong when they are small, by encouraging and compelling them to work for petty and contemptible rewards, gold stars, or papers marked 100 and tacked to the wall, or A's on report cards, or honor rolls, or dean's lists, or Phi Beta Kappa keys, in short, for the ignoble satisfaction of feeling that they are better than someone else.”

― John Holt (1923-1985)

“The true test of character is not how much we know how to do...

“The true test of character is not how much we know how to do, but how we behave when we don't know what to do.”

― John Holt (1923-1985)

child threat fear punishment force

“A child whose life is full of the threat and fear of punishment is locked into babyhood. There is no way for him to grow up, to learn to take responsibility for his life and acts. Most important of all, we should not assume that having to yield to the threat of our superior force is good for the child's character. It is never good for anyone's character.”

― John Holt (1923-1985)

school children learn stupid

“To a very great degree, school is a place where children learn to be stupid.”

― John Holt (1923-1985)

school idea wrong learning life

“It's not that I feel that school is a good idea gone wrong, but a wrong idea from the word go. It's a nutty notion that we can have a place where nothing but learning happens, cut off from the rest of life.”

― John Holt (1923-1985)

fear boredom rwsistance stupid children

“Fear, boredom, and resistance--they all go to make

what we call stupid children.”

― John Holt (1923-1985)

teacher task test check learner help understand

“It is not the teacher's proper task to be constantly testing

and checking the understanding of the learner. That's the learner's task, and only the learner can do it. The teacher's job is to answer questions when learners ask them, or to try to help learners understand better when they ask for that help.”

― John Holt (1923-1985)

learn do doing way

“We learn to do something by doing it.

There is no other way.”

― John Holt (1923-1985)

enemy learning talking teacher

“The biggest enemy to learning is the talking teacher.”

― John Holt (1923-1985)

learning product teaching activity learner

“Learning is not the product of teaching. Learning is the product of the activity of learners.”

― John Holt (1923-1985)