We, as parents, educators, and students, need to understand the real danger in assuming that we can build a literacy list the contents of which each student should know. To the extent that we believe there are facts everyone must know, we will create exams to test that people know them. Such exams will inevitably disrupt natural learning and replacing it with techniques that are detrimental to learning.
We, as a country, must take the competition and stress out of education and put the joy back in. To do this, we must stop thinking about national standards for achievement, about grades and about the role of schools as places to channel students into their rightful role in the workplace. We must think about how to get students involved in thinking, learning, and being engaged in the process.
Where am I in the content of the book?
