I would like some thoughts. What is a good way to teach, and learn?
Schools are labour camps.
http://mises.org/story/2226
"You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows"
Bob Dylan
Are you asking how would education look in a free market, or are you asking for strategies on learning and/or teaching?
Zlatko:Are you asking how would education look in a free market, or are you asking for strategies on learning and/or teaching?
strategies on learning/teaching
In that case, there's not so much I can help you with :P
I've always found learning subjects that I am interested in, extremely easy. And subjects that I had no interest in, nearly impossible.
So my tip would be:
Learn that which you find interesting, and teach it only to those who find it interesting!
Sometimes you must learn something that is not interesting at first, but is useful, and sometimes you must teach to someone who doesn't find it interesting but has a definite reason for wanting or needing to learn it.In those cases, good results can sometimes also be achieved, though with greater effort.
Art transcends ideology.
http://mises.org/Community/blogs/ruben
Education is more important than what people think.
When poor and rich are equaly educated the class differences vanish (other than $$$ of course)
Education fills all 5 primary psychological human needs.
The problem with education is power. Educated people think for themselves and are always a treath to the elite in control.
And powerful guys are always afraid of losing their power.
Karl Marx:When poor and rich are equaly educated the class differences vanish
I'd only allow those who truly want to learn to be educated.
Otherwise, they can get out of my schools; I'm tired of their stupidities. They seem to never understand that being stupid is not "cool" -__-
susi: I'd only allow those who truly want to learn to be educated. Otherwise, they can get out of my schools; I'm tired of their stupidities. They seem to never understand that being stupid is not "cool" -__-
ditto.
What if you are interested in learning the subject, but the way the teacher teaches it is boring, you are required by your parents to do it, and you can learn more on your own?
I've always found exams to be dehumanising and don't think they would exist as they do today in a free society. (Nonetheless, I'm in grad school studying for a taught Masters in Maths at the moment.)
The point of exams started off in order to evaluate your progress in a subject but they turned into an end in themselves. I've always found exams drive people away from learning and can ruin the best and brightest with stress. I went to a publicly funded school myself. I think the school and university model that would emerge in a free market would be very similar to Prof. Arthur Robinson's Home-School Curriculum: http://www.robinsoncurriculum.com/. He's got a great analysis of the current system, read about his family too! He predicts that universities will cease to exist in the future because they no longer hold a monopoly on education and information since the internet arrived.
This may not make sense at first, but I think teaching is an impediment to learning. The over-whelming majority of teachers I've had teach me, taught me nothing that I could not have taught myself out of a book. As Rothbard writes, 'ultimately in a fundamental sense we are all self-taught'. The role of the teacher should be simply to inspire and to discuss ideas, a role provided by this forum for example. People learn at different paces and there's no way of telling whether the person with the fastest aptitude for learning is in fact the brightest and will benefit most from an education. Think about how Einstein couldn't add and failed maths exams.....
I hope I'm making some sense. I tried to clarify some of my thoughts on education on this post I wrote for the Irish Liberty Forum:
http://irishliberty.wordpress.com/2008/09/13/a-lifetime-spent-in-formal-non-education/
http://irishliberty.wordpress.com/
Austrian Theory of the Business Cycle in 9 steps (Soliciting comments)
I believe the only real learning is self-directed. So how do you teach? Provide the resources (or be one) when asked, otherwise get out of the way.
Schools are NOT about true learning; I find them to be antithetical to it. Sure, it is possible to learn in spite of school, but it's an effort.
"Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. ... Moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue."
Julio: Education is more important than what people think. When poor and rich are equaly educated the class differences vanish (other than $$ of course)
When poor and rich are equaly educated the class differences vanish (other than $$ of course)
That's like saying when people are as tall as one another then difference vanishes.
Yes, but how is that relevant to our nature? People cannot be equally educated.
The fallacies of intellectual communism, a compilation - On the nature of power
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montessori_method
I went to a Montessori school from Pre-K to 3rd Grade. I don't remember ever being unhappy there.
Are you arguing that this is what school should be like, in that case?
thompsonisland:Are you arguing that this is what school should be like, in that case?
No. I'm arguing my preference. School, for you, should be like whatever you and your school want it too. I just think the Montessori method has more to offer than the lecture method.
Definitely agree on the thoughts of Dr. Robinson. We use his curriculum, along with Charlotte Mason-ish great literature for homeschooling our kids.
A great book on teaching is How to Tutor by Sam Blumenfeld http://www.amazon.com/How-Tutor-Samuel-L-Blumenfeld/dp/0941995011