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"Everything I know about kids tells me that there is no content that's right for every kid. Photosynthesis or iambic pentameter may be very important to you, but they aren't to me, at least not right now.
"Everything I know about kids tells me that there is no content that's right for every kid. Photosynthesis or iambic pentameter may be very important to you, but they aren't to me, at least not right now.
On the larger scale, by following a philosophy of one student at a time, a school is creating an atmosphere where kids worry more about failing themselves than they do about competing with others. It is making a place where everyone can create and get into a lot of different things and where everyone is developing as an individual."
On the larger scale, by following a philosophy of one student at a time, a school is creating an atmosphere where kids worry more about failing themselves than they do about competing with others. It is making a place where everyone can create and get into a lot of different things and where everyone is developing as an individual."
Start with Littky's book The Big Picture
Start with Littky's book The Big Picture
Transcript of the NYED TEDx speech
Every 13 seconds (a child drops out of school), there have been 800 students. If you have ever talked to kids who have dropped out of school, it's sad. We've got to do something about this... Our system is broken. We can't tweak around the edges anymore. CLICK HERE for more
"When I watch kids walk into the building on their first day of school, I think about what I want them to be like when they walk out on their last day. I also think about what I want them to be like on the day I bump into them in the supermarket 10 or 20 years later. Over the course of three decades watching kids walk into my schools,
"When I watch kids walk into the building on their first day of school, I think about what I want them to be like when they walk out on their last day. I also think about what I want them to be like on the day I bump into them in the supermarket 10 or 20 years later. Over the course of three decades watching kids walk into my schools,
I have decided that I want them to
> be lifelong learners
> be lifelong learners
> be passionate
> be passionate
> be ready to take risks
> be ready to take risks
> be able to problem-solve and think critically
> be able to problem-solve and think critically
> be able to look at things differently
> be able to look at things differently
> be able to work independently and with others
> be able to work independently and with others
> be creative
> be creative
> care and want to give back to their community
> care and want to give back to their community
> persevere
> persevere
> have integrity and self-respect
> have integrity and self-respect
> have moral courage
> have moral courage
> be able to use the world around them well
> be able to use the world around them well
> speak well, write well, read well, and work well with numbers
> speak well, write well, read well, and work well with numbers
> truly enjoy their life and their work.
> truly enjoy their life and their work.
To me, these are the real goals of education."
To me, these are the real goals of education."
From The Big Picture
Teaching is Listening, Learning is Talking.
Teaching is Listening, Learning is Talking.
~ Message painted on a Met advisor's truck by his students
~ Message painted on a Met advisor's truck by his students
When I lay out my vision of the real goals of education in an orderly looking list, like I did on page 1, I worry about what people, teachers in particular, will do with it. I worry about what they will interpret it to mean about teaching. I don't believe that you can separate teaching from learning. Please don't look at my list and say, “OK, I agree that these are the things kids should learn, so now let's set out a rigid point-by-point curriculum that can be taught to a class of 25 students.”
When I lay out my vision of the real goals of education in an orderly looking list, like I did on page 1, I worry about what people, teachers in particular, will do with it. I worry about what they will interpret it to mean about teaching. I don't believe that you can separate teaching from learning. Please don't look at my list and say, “OK, I agree that these are the things kids should learn, so now let's set out a rigid point-by-point curriculum that can be taught to a class of 25 students.”
To me, the act of being a teacher is understanding these goals of education, understanding how learning works, and figuring out how to apply all this to each student, one at a time. I know that it would be pretty easy for someone to take the goals I believe in and contort them so they fit nicely and easily into a lecture-based curriculum designed to be assessed with a standardized, multiple-choice test. But being a teacher—and building a system of education, for that matter—is about taking these goals and creating the best possible environment for supporting kids and learning. It is not about taking these goals and finding a way to fit them into the traditional methods of schooling.
To me, the act of being a teacher is understanding these goals of education, understanding how learning works, and figuring out how to apply all this to each student, one at a time. I know that it would be pretty easy for someone to take the goals I believe in and contort them so they fit nicely and easily into a lecture-based curriculum designed to be assessed with a standardized, multiple-choice test. But being a teacher—and building a system of education, for that matter—is about taking these goals and creating the best possible environment for supporting kids and learning. It is not about taking these goals and finding a way to fit them into the traditional methods of schooling.
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