We will not find the solution to problems of violence, alienation, ignorance, and unhappiness in increasing our security, imposing more tests, punishing schools for their failure to produce 100 percent proficiency, or demanding that teachers be knowledgeable in the subjects they teach. Instead, we must allow teachers and students to interact as whole persons, and we must develop policies that treat the school as a whole community.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes that addressing social issues in education requires a holistic approach rather than punitive measures.
Nel Noddings argues that the root causes of violence, alienation, ignorance, and unhappiness in education cannot be resolved through stricter security measures or standardized testing. Instead, the focus should be on fostering meaningful interactions between teachers and students, recognizing their humanity, and creating educational policies that nurture the school community as a whole.
In practice
A teacher could use this quote in a faculty meeting to advocate for changes in school policy.
My contention is, first, that we should want more from our educational efforts than adequate academic achievement and, second, that we will not achieve even that meager success unless our children believe that they themselves are cared for and learn to care for others.
The child awakens to a universe. The mind of the child to a world of meaning. Imagination to a world of beauty. Emotions to a world of intimacy. It takes a universe to make a child both in outer form and inner spirit. It takes a universe to educate a child. A universe to fulfill a child.
Human history becomes more and more a race between education and catastrophe.
We are of opinion that instead of letting books grow moldy behind an iron grating, far from the vulgar gaze, it is better to let them wear out by being read.
In an effort to create a culture within my classroom where students feel safe sharing the intimacies of their own silences, I have four core principles posted on the board that sits in the front of my class, which every student signs at the beginning of the year: read critically, write consciously, speak clearly, tell your truth.
We've moved from wisdom to knowledge, and now we're moving from knowledge to information, and that information is so partial – that we're creating incomplete human beings.
Freedom to learn is the first necessity of guaranteeing that man himself shall be self reliant enough to be free.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.