If we don’t understand the issues, we can’t take effective action.
Many of us have a feeling that that something is wrong in education and that reform based on higher standards, improving student achievement tests and a back to basics approach will not fix it. But what exactly is the problem – and what kind of change is really needed to encourage innovative thinking, increase the motivation to learn or to help all children reach their full potential as engaged, happy and productive adults?

The good news is that the information we need to do a better job of educating our kids is already out there. Research from a wide variety of fields is giving us a much clearer picture of how human beings learn, develop and thrive and about learning opportunities that work and those that don’t.

Dive in. Take a Bite.
Find out why our schools are set up the way they are. See what the research says about why your teenager has disengaged from school or how to nurture creative thinking. Explore what boosts kids motivation to learn and what kind of learning experiences promote deep understanding. Start small or look at the big picture. Go to the resource library. Make connections. The more we share information and discuss the issues, the more informed our actions can be – as educators, parents, students, politicians and voters. If we know more about how humans learn and see the possibilities and potential of programs in action, we can lobby for the kind of changes that actually help our kids and strengthen our society.

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If young people are to be equipped effectively to meet the challenges of the 21st century it is surely prudent to seek out the very best understandings from current scientific research into the nature of how humans learn before considering further reform of the current system.

This article by John Abbott and Terence Ryan appeared in the Spring, 1999 issue of Education Canada.

If young people are to be equipped effectively to meet the challenges of the 21st century it is surely prudent to seek out the very best understandings from current scientific research into the nature of how humans learn before considering further reform of the current system.

This article by John Abbott and Terence Ryan appeared in the Spring, 1999 issue of Education Canada.

One basic need all children have, Kohn argues, is to be loved unconditionally, to know that they will be accepted even if they screw up or fall short. Yet conventional approaches to parenting such as punishments (including “time-outs”), rewards (including positive reinforcement), and other forms of control teach children that they are loved only when they please us or impress us. Kohn cites a body of powerful, and largely unknown, research detailing the damage caused by leading children to believe they must earn our approval. That’s precisely the message children derive from common discipline techniques, even though it’s not the message most parents intend to send.

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No Contest, which has been stirring up controversy since its publication in 1986, stands as the definitive critique of competition. _ No Contest_ makes a powerful case that “healthy competition” is a contradiction in terms.

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Dr. Neufeld has dubbed this phenomenon peer orientation, which refers to the tendency of children and youth to look to their peers for direction: for a sense of right and wrong, for values, identity and codes of behaviour. But peer orientation undermines family cohesion, poisons the school atmosphere, and fosters an aggressively hostile and sexualized youth culture. It provides a powerful explanation for schoolyard bullying and youth violence; its effects are painfully evident in the context of teenage gangs and criminal activity, in tragedies such as in Littleton, Colorado; Tabor, Alberta and Victoria, B.C. It is an escalating trend that has never been adequately described or contested until Hold On to Your Kids. Once understood, it becomes self-evident — as do the solutions.

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