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RE: [xmca] Fwd: Second note: John Dewey school at Towson Maryland



This is all very interesting and true. If we move our lens out to a further
historical analytical distance, it appears we are in what Arnold Toynbee
called a Time of Troubles associated with declining civilizations, a pattern
repeated regularly throughout history, with many 'experiments' and efforts
to get around the problem of a failing civilization, failing that is in
Justice, Equity, and other civilizing practices on a world wide scale (not
technical which was advancing even as the Hellenic declined as the Roman
Empire), which was the "superstate" form of the failing Hellenic
civilization. We have possibly two superstates in the USA and Russia, of the
declining Western Christian civilization, perhaps, although Toynbee wasn't
sure if possibly a World State would also count as part of that decline. I
suspect that if we can create a Just world government, we may have overcome
the institutional missing necessary governance for an already united world,
united in everything except good and coherent governance. These postulations
are highly contentious of course.

However, Mike's point about new dreams being born from those lost, and
probably as a result of them disappearing, makes me think that there may be
coherent strands of dreams, following each other and building. Some strands
will ultimately die out, and some will be the new nervous system or the
circulatory system or structural system of a coherent and connected
functional humanity. It is almost like the young brain, with an over
abundance of neurons, with repeated prunings, and only the well used and
useful neural highways survive.  However, unlike all previous leaps in
evolution to new higher forms, in this case and at this time, we could and
should and probably are (some groups are that is) consciously going about
constructing parts of this enduring system of connectedness that will see us
through. This is the first time we have the vision and science to make or
break a major step in evolution, all past ones being through natural
selection type processes.

My personal project in all this is to try to alter schooling so that more
and more clear thinking and Discerning children graduate to take up these
various causes. Child who can see through the scramble for material scraps
as we consume our way through irreplaceable resources. I am sure you all are
doing your bits in various fields. Otherwise you wouldn't be here in this
conversation.
Good on ya'all.
derek

-----Original Message-----
From: xmca-bounces@weber.ucsd.edu [mailto:xmca-bounces@weber.ucsd.edu] On
Behalf Of Helen Grimmett (Education)
Sent: Wednesday, 3 August 2011 1:03 PM
To: lchcmike@gmail.com; eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity
Subject: Re: [xmca] Fwd: Second note: John Dewey school at Towson Maryland

Exactly right! My current interventionist research is only what it is
because of the bends in the road I have had. I went through a fairly major
health crisis several years ago and the saying that got me through at the
time was something along the lines of: "A bend in the road is not the end of
the road, it's how you take the turn that counts."

I now enjoy exploring the changes of scenery that come along with bends in
the road, but it doesn't mean they are any less rough and traumatic at the
time. At least I have enough experience to know now that they are just
bends, not ends.

Helen

On 3 August 2011 12:28, mike cole <lchcmike@gmail.com> wrote:

> I strongly resonate to what you and Helen are writing, Andy, but it seems
> important to notice that as our dreams die, new ones are born, and they
are
> not unrelated, so to speak., Sylvia Scribner and I wrote that coming upon
> Vygotsky was like coming upon a bend in history.
>
> It appears from David's story that his brother in law has come upon
another
> manifestation of that same bend. As has his mother in law.
>
> Very difficult to predict what will be just around the bend, but we
> remember
> the
> road that got us there.
>
> mike
>
> On Tue, Aug 2, 2011 at 7:00 PM, Andy Blunden <ablunden@mira.net> wrote:
>
> > That period (the corporate restructures of the late 80s/early 90s) was
> the
> > graveyard for many a dream, I think, Helen. The institution where Derek
> now
> > works is a legacy of the Melbourne College of Advanced Education (See
> > http://www.edfac.unimelb.edu.**au/aboutus/welcome/history.**html<
> http://www.edfac.unimelb.edu.au/aboutus/welcome/history.html>)
> > which fought bravely to  keep its dream. But basically, any project
which
> > depends on public funding is exposed when these periods of bureaucratic
> > climate change occur.
> >
> > Hard to imagine any kind of "Experimental School" (which is what we used
> to
> > call them) nowadays, isn't it? More likely to set up a school to further
> > some religious creed.
> >
> > Andy
> >
> > Helen Grimmett (Education) wrote:
> >
> >> Hi Andy, Derek and others,
> >>
> >> This conversation seems to me to link with your previous conversation
> Andy
> >> about "dream keepers" of institutions. I attended an alternative
> secondary
> >> technical school here in Melbourne in the early 1980's and my older
> brothers
> >> had attended since not long after it opened in the early 70's in a
> motley
> >> collection of old portable buildings plonked on a large bushy piece of
> land
> >> between the sand-belt golf courses. I suspect the early philosophy of
> the
> >> school was quite inspired by Dewey. Teachers were known on a first name
> >> basis and regular student meetings were held to allow students to have
a
> >> voice in the running of the school. We also had a significant amount of
> >> choice in the classes we took and most classes were very hands-on and
> >> self-directed. It wasn't perfect, and probably far too many kids got
> away
> >> with doing not very much, but for kids like me who were keen to learn
it
> was
> >> really great, and never dull, mind-numbing or inhumane like most
schools
> >> seem to be.
> >>
> >> When I started in 1980, the school had just moved into a brand new
> purpose
> >> built building and the founding principal (who had obviously been the
> dream
> >> keeper) had just left. At first the vice-principal was acting principal
> but
> >> then a new principal from outside the school was appointed and during
my
> 5
> >> years at the school significant changes began to take place,
> particularly as
> >> other original key teachers retired and moved on. I remember visiting a
> few
> >> years later when I was graduating from teachers' college and found the
> place
> >> almost unrecognisable - all of the open plan learning spaces had been
> >> divided up into classroom sized boxes, the structure of multi-age home
> >> groups had been changed, and the atmosphere and morale seemed
completely
> >> different. Another few years later as all the neoliberal political
> changes
> >> swept through the system the school was merged with the local high
> school
> >> and so uniforms were introduced, curriculum offerings were
rationalised,
> >> teachers were to be called Mr and Mrs and the school became just like
> any
> >> other underfunded, underappreciated generic government secondary
school.
> >>
> >> I feel very privileged to have caught the tail end of the dream, and
> just
> >> wish that somewhere similar still existed for my own children. It was
> >> obviously a matter of the right people coming together in the right
> >> political climate that allowed it to happen in the 70's, but I often
> wonder
> >> what might have happened if the dream keepers had still been around in
> the
> >> early 90's when the mergers took place. How hard would they have fought
> to
> >> maintain something unique? Mind you, at that time I was teaching in a
> tiny
> >> school that was forcibly closed, and found there was nothing that we
> could
> >> do about it. A hard and bitter lesson in political cynicism and
economic
> >> rationalism for a naive and optimistic young teacher to learn! I have
no
> >> doubt though that it is all of these experiences that have fueled my
> passion
> >> for educational research and the belief that we could be doing school
> >> better.
> >>
> >> Cheers,
> >> Helen
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> On 2 August 2011 15:27, Andy Blunden <ablunden@mira.net <mailto:
> >> ablunden@mira.net>> wrote:
> >>
> >>    First thing I notice is that the killing off of the "Laboratory
> >>    School" happened once the College gained university status and
> >>    became part of the State's university system. Around that time
> >>    (1980s) all across the (English speaking) the diversity of
> >>    specialist colleges were being amalgamated into Universities,
> >>    bringing neoliberal cost savings and, to the colleges, sometimes
> >>    more professional management, and usually status, in that their
> >>    graduates got university degrees rather than diplomas. These
> >>    degrees had become vital pieces of paper for employment, so
> >>    students probably consented as well. All a great fraud of course!
> >>    But once having entered the monster's grotto, you get eaten up. I
> >>    worked a couple of decades at the University of Melbourne and saw
> >>    numberless colleges (teachers, nurses, early childhood,
> >>    agriculture, music, art, ...) swallowed up and then rationalised.
> >>    What gets lost very often is the discipline-specific hands-on
> >>    training, in favour of vanilla-flavoured, computer-simulated
> >>    education.
> >>
> >>    Having watched and loved The Wire, I get the impression that the
> >>    result of this move was not good for the State's education system.
:)
> >>
> >>    I wonder how this kind of venture could be re-launched? The
> >>    argument in the newspaper article is pretty strong, geared as it
> >>    is to accounts' ears. :)
> >>
> >>    Andy
> >>
> >>    derekpatton19 wrote:
> >>
> >>>    Dear Andy,
> >>>    Thanks for your interest.
> >>>
> >>>    The school was closed in 1991 by the report pasted in below. Also
> >>>    our Facebook chat group has a few people from the last classes
> >>>    there. One person who went there, and whose children also went
> >>>    there, claims the quality and philosophy changed in the mid 80s
> >>>    sometime if I recall correctly. So there may have been a few
> >>>    "steps" in the "take over" process, if that is what it was. I
> >>>    don't know the insider machinations that might have gone on, nor
> >>>    any source. But I haven't had time to dig around, as I am trying
> >>>    to complete my PhD.
> >>>    hmmm...ah, here is something
> >>>    http://articles.baltimoresun.**com/1991-01-16/news/**
> >>> 1991016148_1_lida-lee-state-**leaders<
>
http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1991-01-16/news/1991016148_1_lida-lee-state
-leaders
> >
> >>>    I will paste it in below, as much for your records as mine to
> >>>    save in my gmail. But the short answer is short-sighted budget
> >>>    cuts as the public excuse. Who knows what was going on behind the
> >>>    scenes. A uneducated bean counter could be the simple answer.
> >>>    Someone who doesn't understand how spending a wee bit of money on
> >>>    getting it right for children at a young age saves huge amounts
> >>>    later.
> >>>
> >>>    Townson State Teachers College became Towson State University at
> >>>    some point along the way
> >>>
> >>>    let's see, here it is: at
> >>>    http://cooklibrary.towson.edu/**archives/chronology.cfm<
> http://cooklibrary.towson.edu/archives/chronology.cfm>
> >>>
> >>>    1976 Towson is granted university status and the name changes to
> >>>    Towson State University (TSU).
> >>>    1988 Towson becomes part of the University System of Maryland.
> >>>    1997 Towson State University is renamed Towson University and
> >>>    adopts a new logo.
> >>>    1998 Towson is ranked among the top 10 public institutions in the
> >>>    North by U.S News & World Report.
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>    http://articles.baltimoresun.**com/1991-01-16/news/**
> >>> 1991016148_1_lida-lee-state-**leaders<
>
http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1991-01-16/news/1991016148_1_lida-lee-state
-leaders
> >
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>      Save Lida Lee Tall School
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>        Judy Reilly
> >>>
> >>>    January 16, 1991|By Judy Reilly
> >>>
> >>>    ANY MARYLANDER concerned about the quality of education in this
> >>>    state needs to know about the Lida Lee Tall Learning Resources
> >>>    Center, the designated research and demonstration elementary
> >>>    school for Maryland.
> >>>
> >>>    Tucked away on Towson State University's campus, Lida Lee Tall is
> >>>    a Maryland gem -- a model school where the best of what is new in
> >>>    teaching methods and learning materials is tested for the benefit
> >>>    of school children statewide. Teachers who want to discover the
> >>>    latest in proven teaching techniques, college students with a
> >>>    glimmer of teaching in their eyes, or those curious about the
> >>>    status of educational excellence study Lida Lee Tall, where some
> >>>    of Maryland's best efforts in education are showcased.
> >>>
> >>>    But now, because of a recommendation by the governor's budget
> >>>    analyst, Lida Lee Tall may be closed.
> >>>
> >>>    Closing the school may be tempting to state leaders who need to
> >>>    trim the budget, but this parent and taxpayer argues that keeping
> >>>    the school open could save the state money in the long run.
> >>>    Effectively used, Lida Lee Tall can show state leaders how to
> >>>    stretch the educational tax dollar.
> >>>
> >>>    Lida Lee Tall is an effective school, one where even the most
> >>>    school-phobic kid gets excited about learning, where parents are
> >>>    involved in the schooling of their children and teachers are
> >>>    given the freedom to tailor lessons to their students' needs,
> >>>    abilities and interests. Educators across the state should study
> >>>    this winning combination and adapt it to their own systems.
> >>>
> >>>    When new developments in education are discovered in our
> >>>    universities or brainstormed in curriculum offices, let the new
> >>>    ideas be tested at Lida Lee Tall first, where ideal laboratory
> >>>    conditions are already in place. (The school's student population
> >>>    reflects the ethnic, cultural and economic diversity of the
> >>>    Baltimore metropolitan area.)
> >>>
> >>>    When school superintendents consider purchasing new materials for
> >>>    their school systems, test them at Lida Lee Tall first rather
> >>>    than trying them out systemwide, a financially riskier idea.
> >>>
> >>>    The best of what happens at Lida Lee Tall, if adapted by school
> >>>    districts around the state, could benefit every child in
> >>>    Maryland. In an age when we need to fortify our future citizens
> >>>    for economic and social responsibility, we cannot afford to
> >>>    short-change their education now.
> >>>
> >>>    No one will argue that the state budget shouldn't be cut -- most
> >>>    of us are pretty nervous about government deficits. And most of
> >>>    us are willing to do our part to keep state services going --
> >>>    perhaps by raising the sales tax, making a voluntary contribution
> >>>    on our income tax returns or driving on rougher roads.
> >>>
> >>>    And all of us expect state leaders to do their part -- by cutting
> >>>    out the frills in their own budgets and demonstrating sound,
> >>>    creative thinking and compassionate decision-making.
> >>>
> >>>    But don't cut essential services. And don't close Lida Lee Tall.
> >>>    Used wisely, the school can demonstrate how to stretch the
> >>>    educational tax dollar. And Maryland's government leaders can
> >>>    demonstrate their commitment to education, both in good times and
> >>>    bad.
> >>>
> >>>    END OF ARTICLE
> >>>
> >>>    cheer Andy,
> >>>
> >>>    derek
> >>>
> >>>    On Tue, Aug 2, 2011 at 2:40 PM, Andy Blunden <ablunden@mira.net
> >>>    <mailto:ablunden@mira.net>> wrote:
> >>>
> >>>        Derek,
> >>>        If you were a school kid there in the 1950s, then it was
> >>>        still operating as a school within a teacher training college
> >>>        after the time the book was published. It seems that the
> >>>        college has kind of upgraded itself (though I know that many
> >>>        such promotions are in name only) but am I right in thinking
> >>>        that the actual school where kids like you got their
> >>>        elementary education, was closed at some point. Is that
> >>>        right? If so do you know the circumstances of that?
> >>>
> >>>        Andy
> >>>        (Brunswick, Victoria)
> >>>
> >>>        mike cole wrote:
> >>>
> >>>>        ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Derek Patton
> >>>>        <derekpatton19@gmail.com> <mailto:derekpatton19@gmail.**com<
> derekpatton19@gmail.com>
> >>>> >
> >>>>        Date: 2011/7/29 Subject: RE: John Dewey school at Towson
> >>>>        Maryland To: lchcmike@gmail.com <mailto:lchcmike@gmail.com>
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>        ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **
> >>>>
> >>>>        Dear Mike,****
> >>>>
> >>>>        ** **
> >>>>
> >>>>        Yes of course, please feel free to share my email.****
> >>>>
> >>>>        ** **
> >>>>
> >>>>        Thanks for your response. I usually don’t bother people like
> you,
> >>>> whom I
> >>>>        imagine are so so busy to pick up anything additional, but
> >>>> something nagged
> >>>>        my unconscious I suppose, and I am so glad to have offered
> >>>> something useful
> >>>>        and therefore please pass it on to whomever it might help. My
> >>>> Quaker
> >>>>        upbringing tells me to listen to the Inner Light and sometimes
> I
> >>>> interpret
> >>>>        usefully (I won’t say “correctly”). ****
> >>>>
> >>>>        ** **
> >>>>
> >>>>        I will add a few bits about the Experimental elementary
school,
> >>>> Lida Lee
> >>>>        Tall, for those who may be interested, and you can post this
> too.
> >>>> If anyone
> >>>>        wants to contact me, you can also share my email address.****
> >>>>
> >>>>        ** **
> >>>>
> >>>>        Lida Lee Tall, taught to be active citizens, using
> participative
> >>>>         “democracy” where we had elections for class officers every
> few
> >>>> months so
> >>>>        everyone had a better chance of being one, but we actually had
> a
> >>>> treasurer
> >>>>        who collected real money for real class projects. I remember
> the
> >>>> school
> >>>>        “giving us” access to some woods next to the school where we
> >>>> planned and
> >>>>        executed woodland gardens and little landscape designs.
Another
> >>>> one was the
> >>>>        trust license we all voted for each other in a secret ballot.
> The
> >>>> cute boy
> >>>>        at the centre of most trouble was inevitably scored the lowest
> >>>> since his
> >>>>        trouble making got all of us in trouble. Any mess about the
> place
> >>>> at the end
> >>>>        of the day, the WHOLE class stayed to clean up. Group social
> >>>> responsibility
> >>>>        quickly leads to the group disciplining its own members, not
> that
> >>>> we got
> >>>>        violent, just assertive. Interestingly, just like a school you
> >>>> mention in
> >>>>        the article, a number of us have reminisced about being unable
> to
> >>>> spell. For
> >>>>        me, I had a remedial specialist test me and was astounded to
> find
> >>>> the huge
> >>>>        and to her unique divergence of my spelling and composition
> >>>> ability at
> >>>>        3rdgrade level, and my reading comprehension at 11
> >>>>        th grade level. Partly due to my parents allowing only 1 hour
> of
> >>>> TV per
> >>>>        week, except for specials like National Geographic, or an
> >>>> important Orioles
> >>>>        baseball game or Colts football game. My father would
> >>>> additionally
> >>>>        demonstrate how the commercials were subtly trying to
influence
> >>>> us and
> >>>>        dramatically would pretend to stuff the tube of toothpaste
back
> >>>> down the
> >>>>        presenter’s throat. This was memorable, great fun, and we
have
> >>>> all been as
> >>>>        immune as one could get of such influences.****
> >>>>
> >>>>        ** **
> >>>>
> >>>>        Reflecting on my own childhood, I am sure I did not have an
> >>>> ordinary
> >>>>        upbringing where I not only had a progressive school, but
other
> >>>> ‘training’
> >>>>        in how to think, such as the Quaker bible study classes before
> >>>> our one hour
> >>>>        silent meditation meeting, where we sat around in a small
group
> >>>> and the so
> >>>>        called teacher would give us some things to think about from
> some
> >>>> text, but
> >>>>        never told us what to think or the passage’s official
> “meaning”.
> >>>> These
> >>>>        things were always up for discussion. I had a home dad who had
> >>>> his
> >>>>        photographic studio there, and a black ****Baltimore****
> >>>> grandmother during
> >>>>        the work week, while my “white” (but part Cherokee) mother
> >>>> practiced her
> >>>>        child psychiatry trade. Least people think that my black
mother
> >>>> was treated
> >>>>        as a servant and nanny, although I suspect she acted somewhat
> >>>> that way,
> >>>>        remember this was a Quaker household where we prided ourselves
> on
> >>>> our
> >>>>        underground railroad ancestors troublemaking. Evelyn sat at
the
> >>>> head of the
> >>>>        table as the “elder” and we boys cleared and washed up. My
> father
> >>>> sat across
> >>>>        from us 3 boys partly to be able to stare down any
shenanigans.
> >>>> My white
> >>>>        mother would almost always show up late from downtown and take
> >>>> the corner
> >>>>        next to Dad. She had instructed Evelyn that she didn’t really
> >>>> care if the
> >>>>        house was dirty, the laundry undone and dinner was out of a
> can,
> >>>> if we boys
> >>>>        needed attention, a story or whatever, that was number one
> >>>> priority. So when
> >>>>        people talk about the “culture” a child is raised in,  I was
> >>>> already on the
> >>>>        road to multicultural mix-up just in my home. Then add to that
> >>>> summers in
> >>>>        Canada at a First Nations inspired summer camp from 8 - 17
> years
> >>>> old where
> >>>>        we had all the wilderness craft plus council fire which the
> >>>> “Chief” did in a
> >>>>        native language, (he was also a Johns Hopkins child
> psychiatrist
> >>>> classmate
> >>>>        of my mother), then you have a real “mixed up kid”, except
in
> >>>> fact it all
> >>>>        made complete sense to me.  ****
> >>>>
> >>>>        After marching on Washington with Martin Luther King in 1963
at
> >>>> the age of
> >>>>        13 (yes, militant Quakers allow their children into the
battle)
> >>>>  I went off
> >>>>        to a 4 year Quaker boarding school (Westtown) outside Phili,
> and
> >>>> then a
> >>>>        Quaker University in Indiana, (Earlham College), and getting
up
> >>>> to other
> >>>>        such 60s militant efforts (most people think that “militant
> >>>> pacifist” is a
> >>>>        contradiction but my father’s hero was Gandhi ), with the
> >>>> resulting violent
> >>>>        reactions in the later 60s, I decided to be more subtle, as
> many
> >>>> of my
> >>>>        African American classmates did.****
> >>>>
> >>>>        ** **
> >>>>
> >>>>        When I entered into the “normal” work world to find that
> actually
> >>>> very few
> >>>>        people really knew how to think clearly about almost anything
> >>>> except how to
> >>>>        make money, keep power, or use psychology to sell us junk.****
> >>>>
> >>>>        ** **
> >>>>
> >>>>        So more power to anyone trying to change this. I now satisfy
> >>>> myself with the
> >>>>        more acceptable but ultimately subversive ways of unseating
the
> >>>> power
> >>>>        brokers with my research into how to teach children to think,
> >>>> independently
> >>>>        and creatively.****
> >>>>
> >>>>        ** **
> >>>>
> >>>>        Here in ****Australia****, the ordinary person who rises up to
> >>>> challenge the
> >>>>        system is honourable called and remembered as a “stirrer”.
The
> >>>> way they say
> >>>>        it in their broad open vowels is a wonder to behold. I love
> >>>> it.****
> >>>>
> >>>>        ** **
> >>>>
> >>>>        Bless you all for your dedication to improving things for the
> >>>> future
> >>>>        generations.****
> >>>>
> >>>>        ** **
> >>>>
> >>>>        cheers****
> >>>>
> >>>>        derek****
> >>>>         ------------------------------
> >>>>
> >>>>        *From:* mike cole [mailto:lchcmike@gmail.com]
> >>>>        *Sent:* Saturday, 30 July 2011 1:22 PM
> >>>>        *To:* derekpatton19
> >>>>        *Subject:* Re: John Dewey school at ****Towson**
> >>>> **Maryland********
> >>>>
> >>>>        ** **
> >>>>
> >>>>        Oh, what a beautiful gift. So the article sparked a very good
> >>>> idea.
> >>>>
> >>>>        Would it be ok if I posted this message to XMCA, the
discussion
> >>>> group we
> >>>>        engage in around ideas in the domain of that article. I think
> it
> >>>> would be a
> >>>>        wide and sympathetic net you would be throwing your story in
> to.
> >>>> Perhaps one
> >>>>        of the talented people there can pick it up and find way to
> >>>> document the
> >>>>        long life and causes of death of such an interesting and
> >>>> worthwhile
> >>>>        innovation.
> >>>>
> >>>>        mike****
> >>>>
> >>>>        n Fri, Jul 29, 2011 at 6:21 PM, derekpatton19 <
> >>>> derekpatton19@gmail.com> <mailto:derekpatton19@gmail.**com<
> derekpatton19@gmail.com>
> >>>> >
> >>>>        wrote:**** Dear Michael, Hi. Just read your 2010 What's
> >>>>        culture got to do with it? article, very good, and thanks
> >>>>        for picking up on Sarason's long campaign. You may not know
> >>>>        that there was an extremely innovative primary school based
> >>>>        partly on John Dewey philosophy that operated within the
> >>>>        campus of Towson State Teachers College, now Towson
> >>>>        University in Towson Maryland which started in 1866 and may
> >>>>        have closed about 1990 or so, named first the Laboratory
> >>>>        school, then Model school, and eventually called Lida Lee
> >>>>        Tall, after a renowned College Principal. We have a Facebook
> >>>>        group of ex-students, and I have been trying to find if
> >>>>        anyone within the University did research on this school or
> >>>>        other accounts. Could do some retrospective if we had enough
> >>>>        graduates and matched them (us) with graduates of local
> >>>>        schools. There is an online free history book up to 1941
> >>>>        that has a chapter on the "* ***Laboratory** **School****:
> >>>>        Children on Campus" at this address:
> >>>>        http://www.archive.org/**details/seventyfiveyears00stat<
> http://www.archive.org/details/seventyfiveyears00stat>My
> >>>>        mother who was an MD Johns Hopkins U graduate told me it was
> >>>>        a John Dewey school, and that was why we were all sent
> >>>>        there. Anyway, I went there as did my 2 brothers in the 50s
> >>>>        and now that I know a lot more about school culture and
> >>>>        learning, I realize how exceptional it was. We basically
> >>>>        escaped Baltimore County school system restrictions and
> >>>>        limitations and because the College was considered "expert"
> >>>>        in how to run a school, being the main trainer of teachers
> >>>>        and originally was the "highest authority in the State on
> >>>>        all educational theories and practices within the sphere of
> >>>>        the public school system." p. 86. I am not sure when some
> >>>>        bureaucrats hijacked this ideal situation, but in my time as
> >>>>        a student they got away with doing much differently than the
> >>>>        county schools. They sent faculty off to study under Dewey,
> >>>>        Frank McMurry and William Bagley. The book says at one point
> >>>>        they considered that children from 6 - 10 "should do all
> >>>>        their work within school hours. Home lessons for such
> >>>>        children are an injury to the home, to the school, to the
> >>>>        child and to the teacher." p. 86, and "children learn by
> >>>>        *doing *more than by merely looking and saying...It has been
> >>>>        proposed of late to make both reading and writing the
> >>>>        subordinate instruments of a scheme of real instruction...An
> >>>>        acquaintance with *things *takes precedence over more verbal
> >>>>        instruction." (Allen's *Mind Studies *was one of the books
> >>>>        listed for the teachers.) p. 87 Teachers were trained in:
> >>>>        "principles of all true teaching are emphasized: means of
> >>>>        securing the attention of the pupils and the power to keep
> >>>>        them busy are dwelt upon." "They are taught to trace here
> >>>>        the effect back to cause, to note the processes of the
> >>>>        development of the subject in the minds of the several
> >>>>        children, and to form their own laws for the same; to study
> >>>>        closely the relationship existing between pupil and teacher,
> >>>>        the influence of the teacher upon the mind and habits of the
> >>>>        pupil, and the cause of this influence, etc. The students
> >>>>        (student teachers) report upon their observations,
> >>>>        inferences, etc., in a conference help weekly, conducted the
> >>>>        the teacher in charge of this department." Anyway, maybe you
> >>>>        have academic contacts in ****Maryland**** or nearby who
> >>>>        would be interested in this. Given the length of time they
> >>>>        did innovative things, one would think there is some
> >>>>        evidence around in the form of long term outcomes such as
> >>>>        the lives of those who were students there. The school also
> >>>>        did a lot of testing of students, which one would hope is
> >>>>        stored somewhere. It could be a gold mine sitting there
> >>>>        right within a university's ownership waiting to be tapped.
> >>>>        One problem of course is the question of what the actual
> >>>>        curriculum and practice were at different times, and then
> >>>>        what were the results of that on the children compared to
> >>>>        other schools. I tried emailing someone in the University,
> >>>>        but it seems this didn't attract any attention. All that
> >>>>        happened was finding this free book online of the first 75
> >>>>        years of the teachers college. just a thought, cheers derek
> >>>>
> >>>
> >>>        --         ------------------------------**
> >>> ------------------------------**------------
> >>>        *Andy Blunden*
> >>>        Joint Editor MCA:
> >>>        http://www.informaworld.com/**smpp/title~db=all~content=**
> >>> g932564744<
> http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/title%7Edb=all%7Econtent=g932564744>
> >>>        <http://www.informaworld.com/**smpp/title%7Edb=all%7Econtent=**
> >>> g932564744<
> http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/title%7Edb=all%7Econtent=g932564744>
> >>> >
> >>>        Home Page: http://home.mira.net/~andy/
> >>>        <http://home.mira.net/%7Eandy/**>
> >>>        Book: http://www.brill.nl/default.**aspx?partid=227&pid=34857<
> http://www.brill.nl/default.aspx?partid=227&pid=34857>
> >>>        <http://www.brill.nl/default.**aspx?partid=227&pid=34857<
> http://www.brill.nl/default.aspx?partid=227&pid=34857>
> >>> >
> >>>        MIA: http://www.marxists.org
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>    --     Derek W Patton 白登紱 M.Ed, PGDip
> >>>    Child & Family Psychologist, reg NZ
> >>>    PhD candidate U Melbourne
> >>>
> >>>    (current primary mailing address)
> >>>    146 Queensberry Street,
> >>>    Carlton 3053 Victoria, AUSTRALIA
> >>>
> >>>    (office)
> >>>    University of Melbourne,       Melbourne Graduate School of
> Education
> >>>    100 Leicester Street, Level 2
> >>>    Victoria 3010 AUSTRALIA    d.patton@pgrad.unimelb.edu.au
> >>>    <mailto:d.patton@pgrad.**unimelb.edu.au<
> d.patton@pgrad.unimelb.edu.au>
> >>> >
> >>>
> >>>    +61 (3) 9035 5381 work office
> >>>    +61 (3) 8344 0993 work FAX (must be marked clearly Derek Patton
> >>>    Level 2)
> >>>    +61 0422 499 297 mobile in Australia
> >>>
> >>>    primary email: derekpatton19@gmail.com
> >>>    <mailto:derekpatton19@gmail.**com <derekpatton19@gmail.com>>
> >>>
> >>>    PO Box 73    (permanent address & school holidays)
> >>>    Leithfield Beach 7446
> >>>    North Canterbury, NEW ZEALAND
> >>>
> >>>    +64 (3) 314 8986 home
> >>>    +64 (3) 314 8928 fax
> >>>    +64 21 186 6596 mobile in NZ
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>    --
> ------------------------------**------------------------------*
> >> *------------
> >>    *Andy Blunden*
> >>    Joint Editor MCA:
> >>    http://www.informaworld.com/**smpp/title~db=all~content=**g932564744
> <http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/title%7Edb=all%7Econtent=g932564744>
> >>    <http://www.informaworld.com/**smpp/title%7Edb=all%7Econtent=**
> >> g932564744<
> http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/title%7Edb=all%7Econtent=g932564744>
> >> >
> >>    Home Page: http://home.mira.net/~andy/
> >>    <http://home.mira.net/%7Eandy/**>
> >>    Book: http://www.brill.nl/default.**aspx?partid=227&pid=34857<
> http://www.brill.nl/default.aspx?partid=227&pid=34857>
> >>    <http://www.brill.nl/default.**aspx?partid=227&pid=34857<
> http://www.brill.nl/default.aspx?partid=227&pid=34857>
> >> >
> >>    MIA: http://www.marxists.org
> >>
> >>    ______________________________**____________
> >>    _____
> >>    xmca mailing list
> >>    xmca@weber.ucsd.edu <mailto:xmca@weber.ucsd.edu>
> >>    http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/**listinfo/xmca<
> http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> --
> >> Helen Grimmett
> >> PhD Student, Teaching Associate
> >> Faculty of Education
> >> Monash University, Peninsula Campus
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> > --
> > ------------------------------**------------------------------**
> > ------------
> > *Andy Blunden*
> > Joint Editor MCA:
> http://www.informaworld.com/**smpp/title~db=all~content=
> > **g932564744<
> http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/title%7Edb=all%7Econtent=g932564744>
> > Home Page: http://home.mira.net/~andy/
> > Book: http://www.brill.nl/default.**aspx?partid=227&pid=34857<
> http://www.brill.nl/default.aspx?partid=227&pid=34857>
> > MIA: http://www.marxists.org
> >
> > ______________________________**____________
> > _____
> > xmca mailing list
> > xmca@weber.ucsd.edu
> > http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/**listinfo/xmca<
> http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca>
> >
> __________________________________________
> _____
> xmca mailing list
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>



--
Helen Grimmett
PhD Student, Teaching Associate
Faculty of Education
Monash University, Peninsula Campus
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