I borrowed The Gardener and the Carpenter by Alison Gopnik from the library after reading Susan Green's review. I agreed with everything Susan said, so check out her opinion and I'll put ditto marks underneath it!
Like Sue and Alison Gopnik, I also chafe against the pressure of 'parenting,' as if there's only one correct way to do it and we're all striving to produce one kind of child at the end of the process (as if there is an end -- hah!) I really appreciated Gopnik's attitude that, rather than trying to shoehorn child-raising and education into the mould of other jobs or industries, we should try to use the model of the parent-child relationship to improve other caring relationships in society, notably looking after the aged. Just imagine what the world would look like if we prioritised caring for the most vulnerable instead of always thinking of the economic bottom line!
The Gardener and the Carpenter is full of practical good sense as well as carefully researched science. A rare combination!
There was so much to think about in this book; my own difficulties in learning to read, my experiences at teacher's college and as a young teacher, and then later as a parent. It seemed to me that my child just 'caught' reading. I am not sure if I would have been effective in teaching him, if he had not.
ReplyDeleteThe more I learn about learning, the more weird and artificial our whole model of 'schooling' seems. It worked well for me, and for one of my kids, but not so for the other one. And we ask poor teachers to carry such a load!
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