John Holt's Last Homeschooling Speech

I'm sure that you have
read "How Children Learn,"

"How Children Fail,"
"Teach Your Own."

You may have had
an opportunity to see,

lots of times on tour, him talking
on television or on the radio,

John Holt, who's probably the best-known,
most vocal commentator on unschooling,

and particularly home-based education,
in the country right now.

Also, I understand he's
a magnificent cello player.

So maybe some germane questions about
that would be refreshing and useful, as well.

Here's John Holt.

[Applause]

John Holt: Well,
thanks very much.

First of all, we have to delete
that "magnificent" part. [Laughter]

Someday maybe,
but not yet.

How many people
still remember

those instructions
about how to get to this – ?

We'll have a run through again
after the meeting, I think.

We were talking about parking,
and something popped into my head.

I was tempted to interrupt and say it,
but I didn't, but I'll say it now.

What popped in was,
"Parking is such sweet sorrow."

[Laughter]

Well, thank you for coming.
Thank you for inviting me.

It's nice to be here.

I said I was surprised to see,
among a number of good friends of mine,

a friend that I really didn't
expect to see here.

And I think
he probably wins

the long-distance attendance
record for this meeting.

Now, I'm John Holt from Boston,

but I'd like you to see
John Boston from Escondido,

which happens to be
near San Diego.

I couldn't believe he was
here for this meeting.

Just wave your hand or say hi.
[Laughter]

John Boston: Hi.
[Applause]

John: I want to talk about
a number of things tonight.

And first of all though,
I'm probably saying things

that you've heard me
say before or read.

Now, this young man has the right idea
about how to dress for this meeting.

[Laughter]

Oh, but I guess,
even before I get into

what you might call
the body of this formal address,

I want to ask just a few questions
to locate the audience.

And perhaps one way to start
would be by saying,

how many of you – I'm asking here
for a "show of hands" response.

I wonder if we could
remove that rattle.

Woman: Sure.
John: Thank you.

Experience has taught me
the good things to bring with little kids,

and I love to bring bags of it –
get it all out. [Laughter]

This young man is divesting himself
of his coveralls. [Laughter]

I think, very smart.

Now, how many of you
are working with,

in one capacity or another,
alternative schools?

All right.
Thank you very much.

And another question.

How many of you are now
parents of school-aged kids?

Good.
All right.

How many of
those of you

who are parents of school-aged kids
are sending them to alternative schools?

All right.

How many of you
are teaching them at home?

Big crowd.

Now, this next one
will be for those of you

who are parents of children
who are not yet of school age

or expect soon to be
parents of very young children.

How many of you are
seriously considering

the idea of, I'd say,
teaching them at home?

All right.

And how many of you
are seriously considering

sending them to
an alternative school

if there's one near you
that was within reach?

Okay, good.

How many of you are teaching
or otherwise working with –

– with public schools
or colleges or universities,

let's say, in one
capacity or another?

Okay, thank you very much.

The grandparent question.

How many of you
are grandparents of homeschooled or –

Good! –
alternative-schooled children?

Okay.

Grandparents are a very
important ingredient in this situation.

There are homeschoolers who are
having just about as much with –

Small child: Hi.
John: Hi.

How are you doing?

Child: Hi. Hi.
John: Hi.

The famous Jimmy Durante said:

"Everybody's trying to
get into the act!" [Laughter]

There are folks who are having
about as much trouble with grandparents

as they are with superintendents.
[Laughter]

So, it's extremely important to have
friendly and supportive grandparents

in this alternative-education movement.

Well, let me sum up
in a very few words

what I have been
saying and writing

about children and learning now
for going on 25 years or more.

As a result of my experiences,

first of all as a classroom teacher
working in just about every grade,

sometimes, say,
K through G.

I did a little college and
graduate school teaching –

not very much.

K through 12 might be
a little more accurate.

But as a result of,
on the one hand,

working with children in
more or less conventional classrooms,

and on the other hand,
spending a lot of time

with babies, infants,
little children –

first my sisters',

then the children of other people,
little children in nursery schools,

and since then, many children
of homeschooling parents –

I came to understand something –
certainly to believe something

about young human beings
of which I am more certain

than I am, I think,
about anything in the world –

and that is
that children are,

by nature and from birth,
or perhaps before birth –

though I have no testimony
to offer about that –

natural learning creatures.

There is nothing
that they want more.

They have a desire –
more than a desire, a passion –

to find out
as much as they can,

to make as much sense as they can
of the world around them,

or as much of that world
as they experience,

to become competent
and skillful in it,

to do things in it,
to play a useful part in it.

This is a truly biological
instinct or drive.

It is as strong as
or stronger –

at least for children
who are not in famine condition –

it is stronger than
the desire to eat.

Those of you
who are mothers

or attentive and observant fathers
of very young children

will have seen this
happen many times,

that a tiny infant,
babe in arms,

hungry with his
little stomach hurting –

which is what happens when they're hungry –
and eating, feeding, nursing,

will stop eating
if something interesting happens.

If somebody comes into the room,
if there's a noise,

if there's some kind of
a change in the situation,

this hungry little teeny creature

will stop eating and look around
to see what's going on.

There is probably not a mother in the world
who hasn't seen this happen.

And how we can persist in talking about
children not being interested in learning

or needing to be taught to learn,
or whatever it is,

is just absolutely beyond me.

Anyway.

They are extremely good at this learning,
this making sense of the world.

They're much better at it than we are,
or than all but some microscopic fraction.

If by some accident of who knows what –
science fiction –

were all of us to be dropped into,
say, the interior of Japan

or some exotic part of the world
where nobody spoke a word of English,

where everybody was speaking
some language we had never heard of,

it's no mystery to us
which of us here in the room

would be talking that language first –
the little guys would.

All of them
would be talking it.

Most of them
talking it fairly soon.

Most of us –
some of us – big ones –

would be struggling along
in a kind of a halting way.

And a lot of us would
never learn any of it.

Many of us would
never know it.

Just the problems of learning something
totally new without any assistance with it.

No, they get it first.

But we all know that
when we think about it.

They're extremely
good at it.

Well, another way of saying
what I've come to believe

is that learning is not
the product of teaching.

Very difficult for me
as a paid teacher

over a number of years
to get that into my thick head.

I was very good at that whatever you call
that thing that goes on in classrooms.

I was probably a good example
of what's called a gifted teacher –

motivating, clever at devices,
good at explaining,

all that stuff you're
supposed to do.

It took me a long time to figure out
that this was not doing anybody any good,

and most people harm.

Very hard for us to give up
the picture of learning

that it's like pouring something out of
a full container into an empty one.

It's this assumption which lies at
the root of absolutely everything

that's done in schools and
under the name of education.

And it's a hundred percent wrong.

I mean, not even 98% wrong –
a hundred percent wrong.

That is not what happens.

Learning is the product of the curiosity,
the interest, the enthusiasm, the activity,

the ingenuity, the imagination,
the thinking power of the learner.

Now, there are things that outsiders,
whether grown-up or whatever,

can do to assist this process, and
I'll talk about them in just a few minutes.

But the work is
done by the learner.

These little people are not empty receptacles
into which knowledge is poured.

They are not sponges
soaking up knowledge.

They are not little lamps to be lighted,
as somebody else likes to say.

They are not
any of these metaphors.

They are, in the most strict and
literal sense of the word, scientists.

The things that they do
to create knowledge out of experience,

which is what learning is,

are exactly the same as the things
that the people we think of as scientists

do in their laboratory.

When they do them, perhaps,
there are some differences.

They are probably
a good deal less self-conscious.

A scientist will probably have

a pretty clear idea of what
she or he is looking for,

whereas little kids
are not doing it in that way.

Nevertheless, they
do the same things.

The first is they observe,
they take in data.

And the second is that
they wonder about it.

And the third is that they ask
themselves questions about it.

The second and third
are pretty close.

And then, they begin to
make up theories, invent theories,

maybe that the wind blows because
the trees are moving their branches,

which, on the face of it,
is not a bad theory.

And then, they test these theories
with observation, maybe with questions,

LL maybe with experiments, some of which we
may welcome and others of which we may not.

In this connection, I think of the most
recent visit to my house of Anna Vandoren,

of whom you may have read in
"Growing Without Schooling."

Anna's going to be four in June.

We were in the apartment.

Her mother and I
were doing various kinds of work.

Her little guy seemed not to be
getting in any physical trouble.

And when the time
came to leave,

I have a door with one of
those push-button locks on it.

And as I was leaving, I reached in to push
the lock, and my thumb fell into a hole.

Well, this feels
kind of funny.

And I looked, and
the push lock wasn't there,

and it was sitting
on the floor.

I said, "Anna, you've taken
the lock out of my doorknob!"

It took me about four or five minutes
to figure out how to get it back in.

Children tend to like to do
experiments right up into the point

where no further
experimenting is possible,

I guess you could say, –
up to the disaster limit.

And it's very good on learning, but it's
sometimes tough on the lab. [Laughter]

So these experiments are not always
welcome, but nevertheless, they do them.

And then, as a result of
what they find out,

they give up their theories,
modify them, change them.

Let's see.

Has the GWS gone out which talks about
my little friend Helen saying, "gocks?"

Or is that 44?

Maybe you haven't received it yet.
Woman: Yeah.

Woman: It just arrived.

John : All right.
So here's Helen Vandoren.

Actually, her full name is
Helen Maria-Holt Vandoren.

I had two schools and
one baby named after me. [Laughter]

One of the schools is defunct,
but the baby is fine. [Laughter]

At any rate.

Helen has been, for some time,
using the word "gocks" to say socks.

And this is a mystery to us because
she knows how to say the sound "sss,"

and says it in lots
of other connections.

Indeed, it was one of
the first sounds she said,

and it had multiple meanings,
including that she wanted to nurse.

We simply could not imagine where
she got the idea of saying gocks.

She never heard
anybody say it, obviously.

No imitation.

Her sister had
never said it.

If you think of the way sounds
are produced in the mouth and throat,

S and G are
not at all alike.

It's not
a small difference.

At any rate, she must have had some
kind of theory about why she wanted

to do it this way and not some
other way – and it was a theory.

Just the other day, oh, I think maybe not
more than about three or four days ago,

we were all in the office,

and it was time for
the Vandoren family to go home,

which means rounding up the kids' clothes,
shoes, socks, putting them on them –

an operation
you know well.

And we had Helen sitting on the floor
getting ready to put her socks on.

And she looked at them thoughtfully,
and said, "Zzzzocks.

Zzzzocks."

I said to Mary, "Have you
ever heard her say that before?"

Mary said,
"No, first time."

Well, I saw Mary just
a couple of days ago and said,

"How is the 'zocks' going?"
Has she said "gocks" since?

"No," she said.

In fact, she's very quickly
converted the "zocks" to "socks,"

and that's what
it is now.

Now, why that difference,

which didn't make any
difference to her before,

all of a sudden did
make a difference,

I don't know, you don't know,
she doesn't know, we'll never know –

except everybody does it.

All of a sudden, whatever
theory of language it was

that caused her
to say "gocks,"

suddenly seemed unsatisfactory,
didn't work, didn't fit –

so now she says "socks."

Well, okay.

A very small example which we
could multiply by the billions,

and it's what
these little people do.

They are observers, makers,
testers, changers of theories.

They are, in the strictest
sense of the word, scientists.

And, at least
as far as learning goes,

all they ask is to be allowed
to continue to do this.

Now, what we can do –

I come back to the point about
what can adults do to help? –

because we are, in many ways,
an essential part of this process.

I don't claim children would ever
learn to figure out how to talk

if they were
surrounded by deaf-mutes.

It wouldn't happen.

What we can do, what we do in our normal daily
lives before we start thinking about education

or coerced learning is we provide children with
–

as much as we can –
access to the world around them –

by which I mean not just places,
places that we go, places at the house,

the kitchen, the yard, the neighborhood,
the stores, wherever we go,

but also the world of people,
the world of experience, actions,

talk, materials, books, records,
tools, people doing things, human life.

Now, what we can do
for these little guys

is to provide them with –
as much as we reasonably can –

I say reasonably –

I'm not saying you have to
make your whole life into a field trip –

as we reasonably can with access
to our own lives as we lead them.

If you live in the woods,
that means the woods.

If you live in downtown city,
that means downtown.

I mean, wherever we live,
whatever we do,

as far as we can,
we open up that world to children –

let them see it,
let them be part of it –

and we answer their questions
when they have them –

and they have lots of them.

Some of you will have discovered that
when your children are getting on --

Small child: Hi.

John: Oh, hi again.

Child: Hi, hi.

John: Mm-hmm.

John: Well, when they're
getting on to a year and a half,

when they're beginning to
sneak up under – into speech –

It will be a place where
they'll point to all kinds of things,

and make some kind of
insistent noise: "Mmm mmm."

The tendency for a lot of people is to think
that they're saying that they want that.

They point to the clock,
they point to this, and they go,

"Mmm mmm," and people say,
"No, you can't have it."

They don't want it~
They want to know what it's called.

They want to hear the name of it.

Simple as that~
I say simple.

It took me quite a number of years
to figure it out. [Laughter]

So they ask questions –

and we can answer their questions
when they ask them –

give help if and when it is asked for,
and not too much at a time,

and give a kind of demonstration just
by our being there and our doing things –

give the kind of demonstration of
various sorts of adult skill and competence,

and pay a kind of affectionate,
respectful attention to what they're doing,

without making some
huge, big deal of it,

and give them a kind of moral support

in this adventure of
trying to make sense of the world –

and the best way
to give this moral support

is, in fact,
to trust them,

to understand that they are, indeed,
passionately eager to learn about the world,

extremely good at doing it,
and will, in fact, do it –

in their own way, in their own time.

Not to say they're going to know
everything about everything,

but nobody does –
and that's how we can help.

But ours is a very minor role,
and theirs is the major one.

Okay, well, I'm preaching
to the converted, I know. [Chuckles]

If you weren't already half convinced
of this, you wouldn't be here.

But I want to
say it anyway.

All right, now, the next part of my talk
is about something different.

Much of this conference
has to do with the future,

and I want to talk a little bit about the future
of homeschooling and the near-run future –

the next 10 years or so – and by extension,
to some degree, of alternative schools.

We are –
from a legislative –

[A woman comes forward.]
Yes?

Woman: Is it possible to ask you questions
before you go on to the next –?

John: Yeah, yeah, sure.

Woman: I see. Okay.

John: Now, you don't have
all these electronics at your disposal,

so you've got to speak up –
and not too fast.

Woman: Okay, I don't have a loud
voice, I don't know whether it carries.

You certainly are convincing.

I agree with what you say that
we are not going to convince.

On that part, I'm going to disagree
in terms of people connected with you.

But I wonder what
you have to say,

or how you feel about what I believe is
a necessity to transmute this imperative.

And this is perhaps something
that can be picked up.

I agree children aren't
all the same, God knows.

But we also need, I think, some input in
terms of direction, guidance and exposure,

and input in regard to the
heritage that is [inaudible].

John: All right, that's a good question~
Woman: Okay.

John: I'm familiar with it.

I've heard it.

I'd love to answer it, perhaps
just take out very, very briefly now,

and we can go back to it later
and spend more time on it.

It's extremely important,
in the first place,

in thinking about these things,
to use language accurately.

And we really
have to understand

the difference between
exposure and coercion.

Now, there's a big difference
between putting –

I mean, we just
went out to dinner.

The Baskins, and I and Heather,
we just had dinner together.

And there was the menu,

and there were things
on different people's plates,

and we would say, "Here are
some capers in front of my veal."

And so we said to Heather,
"Would you like to try caper?"

Heather did not want to try a caper.

Well, that's exposure.

There are different kinds of food there,
and we say, "Would you like to try some?"

"No."

"Okay."

"No."

That's not at all
the same thing as

putting some capers
in front of Heather and saying,

"You can't leave the table
until you've eaten them,"

or, "You can't have any dessert,"

or holding her by the nose
and pushing one in,

which is exposure as it is
practiced in formal education.

There's no exposure unless
you can't say no to it.

If you can't say no,
it's coercion.

Really very, very, very important
to understand that difference,

and it's difficult, apparently.

Now, I'm just going to
assert for the moment

that I am opposed to
all forms of coerced –

or all attempts
to coerce learning.

I meant to say after I had said
that learning is not the product of teaching,

I meant to say that teaching which
has not been asked for by the learner –

virtually without exception –
impedes and prevents learning,

and before very long will kill
most of the desire for learning itself.

I will say that forced learning
is faked learning.

I had the great traditions of culture,
etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc. –

by which I suppose we mean
Shakespeare or whatever – thrust at me.

I was clever about
playing the school game.

I could do that trick.

And so I got
my A's and B's,

and went to high-powered
schools and colleges, and so forth.

Most of the people who are told
to play this trick cannot play it,

don't play it well,
fail to play it altogether.

We have to understand,

we're going to probably have
to agree to disagree about this,

because nobody
is going to be –

nobody who walks into a room
believing in some kind of forced learning

is going to walk out of the room
not believing in it

because they've heard me preach
this little mini-sermon about it.

But I want you
to be very clear about –

And I should say,
by the way,

that I suspect that the number of
homeschoolers or alternative school people

who really agree with me
is probably well under 50%.

I mean, I think this is a minority view,
even among homeschoolers.

You don't have to believe what I just said to
be a homeschooler or run an alternative school.

But I'm the one who's sitting up here 

and that's what I think. 
[Laughter] {I think - you see}

If it is part of the cultural tradition,
it is there.

Children are very interested
in what is there,

and they're extremely interested
in what is most interesting to us.

And Shakespeare
is not interesting to adults,

except a handful of English teachers
who make a specialty of teaching,

and a fairly small
handful of actors

who every so often take a shot
at producing one of his plays.

It usually loses money.

But other than that,
people don't read it.

All right, I don't want to
go on too long [inaudible].

But what people really care about –
a good example is music.

There are not very many
households in the United States

where people read Shakespeare
just for the sheer, solid pleasure of doing it.

They get this.

I've just been reading
some of the plays.

So, some of
the tragedies are lovely.

But I don't know
anything in the world

less funny than Shakespeare
trying to be funny.

Mmm!

Maybe someday, some really bold soul will
cut out those ponderous exchanges of puns.

It will be a great day for
the Bard when that happens.

I mean, they rolled in the aisles
when he wrote this stuff,

and he knew that.

He was a practical man
in the theater.

He put it in because he knew
it would make people laugh.

It doesn't make people laugh anymore,
it just makes you turn the page.

But there are hundreds and
hundreds of thousands of families

where music is
a central part of their lives,

as it's a central part of mine,
and in those families,

very, very few children
are indifferent to music.

Or let's say gardening
if gardening is your passion –

or whatever it may be.

Children can tell from
what we do what sorts of things

make the most
difference to us.

And those are the things,
generally speaking, that interest them most,

unless they've gotten into
some rebellion kick,

and that doesn't happen
much in homeschooling.

So I'll ask you to let me leave it
at that for the time being.

No, I do not think this body
of whatever it is,

or this cultural tradition,
or whatever it is, needs to be,

or indeed can be, forced into people
under pressure by coercion.

If you really
love Shakespeare,

go see Shakespeare plays
where they're performed,

and take your kids with you,

or even get a bunch of people together
in your neighborhood and town,

and put on an amateur production,
and let your kids be part of the operation.

In fact, if you really love Shakespeare,
you ought to be doing it anyway –

or whatever it is.

If you love music,
make music.

If you love gardening,
grow a garden.

If you love camping in the woods,
go camping in the woods.

If you love –
I don't care what it is.

But children sense that the world they get
from the things that we care most about.

All right. {Let me - }

I don't mean by what I say to imply 

that I've been sort of diverted 
or something.{That's very -}

It's a very central issue,
and I'm glad you asked -

I'm glad you
raised that point.

The homeschooling movement
is in the middle of

an extremely interesting
and important period

of political and legislative change –
and judicial, too, I would say.

Ten years ago, five years ago,
I think you could have said accurately

that the great majority of people
who were teaching their own kids,

and not just underground,
not just hiding out, were doing it -

were making use of
what you would have to call

loopholes in the law
of one kind or another.

Things which had been put in the law
not with homeschooling in mind,

but with something quite different.

In many places,
in many states around the country,

the compulsory school attendance laws
had some kind of a clause in them

about kids have to
go to school

or get some equivalent kind
of instruction or education.

Now, this clause was not put into the law
to make things easy for homeschoolers,

but to take care
of children who,

for mostly medical reasons,
were not able to go to school.

And they were probably thinking of
retarded or emotionally disturbed children

who couldn't go
to school because

the schools didn't want them,
or couldn't handle them.

So they wanted to make
some kind of legal alternative.

The farthest thing they could
have had from their minds,

the legislatures, when
they put these clauses in,

was that people who had the choice
of sending their kids to school,

people whose kids were,
as they say, normal,

would decide that they didn't
want to send them to school

so they could
teach them themselves.

Nevertheless, there was
that loophole.

And for a while, in lots of places,
people were slipping through.

The other great loophole
was the private school loophole

where many states in the country in which
private schools were not regulated by law

or not regulated by
the compulsory school attendance law –

Now, that was not done
to make homeschooling possible.

It was done for
quite other sorts of reasons.

When legislators decided that
private schools would not be regulated,

it was to
a large degree

because private schools
had their own police mechanisms,

they - what you would call a non-alternative
independent or private schools.

The rich folks'
private schools have

their own National Association
of Independent Schools,

Midwestern Association of
Independent Schools –

New England –

I mean, they have their own inspectors,
and their own checkers-uppers-on,

and so forth,
and so forth.

So, they were not sort of
flying free in the air.

Also, legislators, I think,
tend to operate on the assumption

that rich people know
what they're doing – you know?

They say,
"Private schools are expensive,"

or at least they used to be
thought of that way,

and that's what
legislators were thinking

when they decided
not to try to regulate them.

And they said, "If you've got 50 or
a hundred fairly wealthy families,

and they're all
satisfied with the school,

chances are something
has got to be going on there.".

Rich people are not terribly innovative,
as a general rule. [Laughter]

John: "And in any case,
since they're rich,

even if their kids goof up,

they'll always be able
to take care of them,

so we don't have to worry
about their being on welfare.

So generally speaking,
we can let them alone."

But the farthest thing in the world
they had in mind

was that this would be used in the way
that homeschoolers started to use it.

Well, that's where we were
roughly five or six years ago,

we were all happily crawling
under this fence, as it were,

pulling up the barbed wire, and
slipping under the bottom strand

[chuckles] – and it was
very nice while it lasted.

I mean, there was no regulation,
and no tests, and no papers to fill out.

Some states built
a one-page something or other

about "my home is a private school,"
and it was very nice,

but it perfectly obviously
wasn't going to last.

It was obvious to me
that it wasn't going to last.

It could not be made to last –
that as we got bigger and stronger,

and got to be heard more
of in one thing or another,

that people, the courts,
the public schools themselves,

the legislatures were going to
begin to pay attention and say,

"Hey, what about this?

Well, roughly about two or three years ago,
we began to see – I say roughly –

it differs rom state to state –

but we began to see
the beginnings of attempts –

in some cases in the form of laws,

and in some cases in the form 
of administrative regulations –

attempts to make homeschooling illegal
or virtually impossible –

in Maryland, and Georgia, and
in other states – for a while in California,

which had been one of
our chief homeschooling states –

the authorities began to try to think of
ways of making this very difficult.

And a couple of years ago,
we at Growing Without Schooling

certainly felt that the homeschooling movement
was in a kind of fight for its life.

Well, I don't mean to say
that the fight isn't over,

but in fact, none of those attempts
to rule out homeschooling, stamp it out,

make it impossible,
none of them succeeded.

In no place has a legislature written a kind of
anti-homeschooling law in that sense.

We've been under lots of pressure,
lots of pressure to do so.

{What they did start doing is}

I should say a similar thing was happening
in the courts in a number of states

in which people had been homeschooling
through the private school option.

The courts began to say a home
all by itself can't be a private school.

That was our situation in Virginia
before the law was passed there.

So the loopholes
were being closed up.

The fence was being repaired so that
animals couldn't get up through the bottom.

But at the same time,

the legislatures began to put
some kind of a gate in the fence.

One way or another, they 
began to try to legitimize

homeschooling, to make it 
explicitly legal, and say,

"Yes, people can teach their own kids
if they do this, that, or the other."

Since then,
there've been

a considerable number
of these kinds of laws passed.

I lose track.

In GWS 44, I think – in fact,
when we sent it to press,

we said there were 14 states
considering such laws.

I believe that since then,
at least three of them, maybe four –

Arkansas, Wyoming,
New Mexico, state of Washington –

we had a very tough time
in the state of Washington –

have passed one or another
kinds of legislation

making homeschooling explicitly legal
with this, that, or the other condition.

And we expect
many more states to do that.

We'll probably see more even before
the end of this legislative session.

And I would hazard
a rough guess

that we'll continue to see half a dozen
or a dozen states a year doing this,

and dozens, perhaps,
to many a year.

And I would say that,
oh, within five years,

we will probably
see very few states

in which there is not
some explicit reference

to homeschooling in the law.

Now, I consider this an extraordinarily
important move forward, even though,

in many cases, I'm not happy with
the qualifying restrictions.

Many of them talk about the use of
standardized achievement tests.

Though that is not a problem
for probably 80% of homeschoolers,

it can be
a very serious problem

for people whose children are late starters
in reading, or in whatever else it may be,

or happen not to like arithmetic,
or be a little afraid of it, or something.

And I think it's
a very important step forward

that legislators are beginning to see
homeschooling as a legitimate activity,

rather than some kind of
weird, strange, outlaw idea.

Now, what I think we have to do, along with
getting more of these kinds of laws passed –

and we'll probably be 10 or 15 years at it –
is educating the legislatures,

and particularly
the individual legislators –

away from rigid curriculums,
standardized achievement tests,

all kinds of attempts to reduce
human beings to numbers.

I think a lot of them are ready
to say now, in fact,

"Well, yeah, people
can teach their own kids

if they do it just the way
the schools do it."

But that's obviously
not satisfactory.

But we have to get them to see –
in one way or another,

to get into law
at least some of the spirit

in which I talked to you
at the beginning of this meeting –

some feeling that there are other ways
besides the rigid curriculums of schools,

and the endless
little numerical tests.

There are other ways of
observing and taking note of learning,

of observing children's growth
in the world, and so forth.

Now, this is already being done,
of course, in some places.

But I would like to see,
for example, something in the law,

some kind of amendment
somewhere down the line

saying that parents and
educational authorities,

in evaluating
the learning of children,

may use, but shall not be required
to use or restricted to using,

standardized and
other numerical tests.

I don't think
very many legislatures

would pass such a resolution
if we introduced it tomorrow.

But I think if we do
the right sorts of things,

that it's very possible that
a great many of them

will do so by, let's say,
a decade from now.

I speak of educating legislators,

and I'm not at all
thinking of lobbying groups.

What I have in mind
is that homeschoolers –

and also, again, insofar as
they are encumbered by the law –

alternative schoolers must get to know
their own legislators personally,

individually, meet them,
go see them,

take their children,
become a kind of pen pal,

write them occasional letters saying,

"Thought you might be interested to hear
what my kids are up to recently.

The other day we went,

and my eight-year-old child
took 25 books out of the library,

which is more books than
most school kids read

in a year,
or two, or five."

We have got to
begin to get into

a kind of continuing communication
with these people,

so they begin to understand,
as we understand,

how this organic,
natural learning takes place.

And of course, if bad bills
get introduced, of course,

we all have to hustle down to
the state capitol and do that number –

and obviously,
we've been very good at it.

But that's not all.

I mean, "I don't write my legislator
except when some kind of legislation

is coming up that I'm worried about,"

this doesn't seem to me
to be enough.

I really think we have to try –
as far as we can –

we have to try to bring these people
into the homeschooling family –

and it is a family –
a collection of families.

So I see this as the main part

of the future of homeschooling
in the next decade or so.

I think alternative schools
can play a very important part in this –

as indeed the Clonlara School
and the Santa Fe Community School

and a number
of others already have –

by providing a kind of
support for homeschooling families.

I don't know if Santa Fe
was the first school to do that.

It was the first one I knew about
that was doing it – but anyway.

And by now,
we have a number of

independent alternative schools
around the country,

which not only have
their own buildings and classes –

there's a physical school
there in place –

but they also provide a kind of
legal and educational support

to homeschooling families.

Many of you might be on the
other end of the country.

I would like to see a much larger network
of these kinds of schools.

We now have – oh, I guess around
the United States – several dozen.

But we'd be in a very
much stronger position

if we had many
hundreds of them.

Let's see here.

Excuse me a sec here.

Amazing machines here.

I think these
small tape recorders –

and they now have really
quite astonishing sound quality –

are one of the great
educational tools of our time.

And for all the talk
about computers,

I think this is a gadget which has
many other kinds of possibilities,

which I don't think we have done
as much with as we might.

Like typewriters, this is a machine which
is really fascinating to a lot of children –

the experience of saying things into it
and then hearing them back –

very strange,
very powerful.

All right.
Now, let's see.

So, I was talking about
a very large network –

hundreds, thousands –
of alternative schools,

independent schools around the country
– in some cases, public schools –

because there are public schools
that also offer this kind of support.

The number is not very large,
but it's also growing.

All right, now.

I want to switch to a different –
in the last part of this talk,

to a look at the future
in a quite different sense –

not the future of homeschooling,
or the future of alternative schooling,

but the future of the world –
particularly of this country.

First thing I have to say
is that everybody

who talks about
the future is guessing.

Nobody knows~
There is no future.

It doesn't exist.

It isn't as if we're
riding along on a train

and 20 miles down the track,

there was a station that
we were going to pull into,

and it was just a matter of
talking about what it was.

The future isn't there~
We make it as we live.

{Most of the people}

I'm extremely skeptical,
I have to say,

of most of the people
who are making a living –

and quite a lot of them are,
and they're living a lot fancier than I am –

talking about this future.

And mostly what they do is they find
some kind of a graph that goes up to 1985,

and then they just keep
running it up the page.

Well If predicting the future
were that easy, we'd all be billionaires,

because we'd just look at
the stock market quotations,

and see what stock had been going up
for the last week, and then buy it.

The problem is the graph
doesn't always keep going up.

There are an awful lot
of high-powered people

in this country connected
with the oil business,

connected with the government,
connected with the defense industry

who made it their business to know
what was going on in the world of oil.

And none – not one,
not a single one of these people –

predicted what came
to be called the "oil crisis –

when was it, ten years ago?

Nobody predicted it.

And nobody, with
a few possible exceptions –

maybe Amory Lovins,
maybe a few conservationists –

once we were in the middle of
that terrible crisis –

predicted that in five or less than 10 years,
we were going to be out of it,

because we would smarten
up and start saving energy.

The oil crisis came by surprise
and went by surprise.

So, it's not easy.

One of the big
future books that's –

boy, I wish I had 10%
of the money that it's made –

talks about the Sun Belt
and the motion of industry,

the economic flight from
the North to the Sun Belt,

and it says this is a major
trend in American history,

and it's irreversible,
and it's going to continue.

We can just see more and
more of this happening.

Well, I get a certain
wry amusement out of this.

I come from the old Frost Belt
up there in New England,

and we are the most –
as regions go at the moment –

probably the most economically
prosperous region of the country.

We have the lowest
unemployment rate.

My home state
of Massachusetts has

the lowest unemployment rate 
in any industrial state.

My home city of Boston has what they call
an office vacancy rate of 1%.

Of course, Houston
has about 30%.

So, the old Frost Belt
isn't doing too bad.

Right now what we're
worried about is drought.

But that's going to be
a big problem for the whole country.

Very, very hard.

But there are some indicators.

Nothing is certain.

There are some indicators
that give us, I think,

a pretty strong indication of
the way some things are likely to go.

There are really big, big,
deep sort of trends,

and I want to talk about
just one of them tonight.

[Coughs]
Excuse me.

The Boston Globe, our local bladder,
[laughter] is a kind of nice paper.

I don't know how much
news is in it,

but it has a lot
of good writers,

and they have
quite a lot of fun.

So, it's an entertaining sheet,
and not bad, as these things go.

It had an article
a year and a half ago, maybe,

about wages in different parts
of the world – industrial wages.

And there's a map,
a nice big-page article.

And they were comparing a
verage hourly industrial wages

in the world's manufacturing countries.

Now, economists, I guess,
could spend the whole weekend

talking about how you
achieve these figures,

and how you balance out
this versus that,

how you figure out benign climates
versus cold climates,

and what do you do
about fringe benefits,

and this, that,
and the other.

And I'm going to accept those figures
more or less as they were given to me.

And what it said was
that the United States

had the highest average
hourly industrial wage.

They didn't say what is
industrial and what isn't –

not to get into that.

And it was something like
$10.77 an hour.

And there was Canada
pretty close behind,

and Switzerland, and then
a bunch of the Western European nations –

$8.00 or so – $7.50.

And then, Japan, $5.50.

And then Mexico, Brazil,
some down to the $2.00, $2.50 range.

And then we got down to
what they call the Pacific Rim nations:

Taiwan, Hong Kong, South Korea,
a couple of others maybe,

and these were running
$1.25, $1.50 an hour.

And then India –

the figure they gave
was $0.39 an hour –

and Sri Lanka – which
us old cats used to call Ceylon –

near India –
was $0.21 an hour.

Now, those are very,

very, very significant figures
their legs will carry them –

At one point in the article,
they quoted a young woman

who's working in one of these
new electronic shops in Hong Kong

where the American
computer manufacturers

are fleeing just as fast as
their legs will carry them –

those that are still
in business at all, I should add.

And that little future balloon
went down in a big hurry,

and has yet further to go,
I will add.

That revolution lasted about
two or three years.

But someone was talking
to this young woman

who's earning $1.22 an hour,
making whatever it is,

and just happy as a clam
to be enjoying this wage

which was probably ten times,
five times higher

than anything they
had seen a decade before.

And she said, "Of course, we know
it's only going to be a matter of time

before the jobs all go to
someplace like Sri Lanka,

where they only have
to pay $0.21 an hour.

And the picture for me is of jobs
as a kind of great flock of migratory birds,

which fly from one place to another
and settle down and deposit

a certain amount of wealth
there while they're there,

but soon they'll
take off again

l ooking for some other place
where the wages are even lower.

And that's not
a bad figure of speech.

We saw that happen in this country
when the northern industries –

this was certainly true of
the mills in New England –

went down south where they could get
non-union and cheaper labor.

With the modern mobility of capital
in the multinational corporation,

jobs do in fact tend to –
many of them anyway –

are pretty free to migrate
to where the wages are lowest,

and that's where
they're going to roost.

Now, one of the things
that struck me

about that article was that
nothing was said about China.

And I found myself wondering,

"Hey, where do the Chinese
fit into this picture?"

Why, they're probably
under a dollar an hour,

$0.50 an hour maybe, I thought.

At any rate, it had to be
a pretty low figure.

Under a billion people
in that country.

Recently, my question was answered
more or less reliably by another article,

this time in the "Christian Science Monitor,"
and this wasn't about economics at all,

it was about
a British rock group called "Wham,"

which has
just gone to China

and caused a great upheaval
of various kinds there.

But like all
things Western,

it's very popular with
the young people in the new China.

The article described
a young Chinese workman

standing in line
for five or six hours –

just like his American counterparts –
to buy a ticket to hear Wham.

And it said in passing that
he had to pay – for this ticket –

he had to pay 5 yuan –
parenthesis, $1.75 – or 2 days' wages.

Two days' wages.

If you figure an 8-hour day,
we're talking about

just a little bit more
than $0.10 an hour.

And there are
a billion people over there,

most of whom are ready and eager
to work at that kind of wage.

Now, this is bound to have
a lot to say about not only our future,

but the future of
all of what we think of

as the highly-developed wealthy countries
of the North Atlantic, let's say, community.

Given, again,
the mobility of capital,

there is no possible way that
the wealthy countries of the world

are going to be able to employ
their populations at $10 or $9 or $8 or $7,

or for that matter Japan,
$5.50 an hour.

They're not going to
be able to do it.

In other words, as nearly as
one can say anything about the future,

it is certain that
the rich countries of the world

are going to get a lot less rich,
as we have defined rich.

And what the consequences of
that may be, we've talked for a long time –

there could be
whole conferences –

I hope someday here will be
if there are not any yet –

about what this really means.

None of the people who were
running for election in the last campaign –

even those who talk
glibly about new ideas –

none of them seem to have
the faintest idea that this is going on,

or what this means,
or what they might do with it.

This is going to call for
a lot of hard thinking.

To say just a very
short thing about us,

I'd say we're going to have to
rediscover thrift in this country.

We're going to
have to discover

that efficiency is not the same thing

as making a lot of stuff.

We're going to
have to rediscover –

learn how to do
the most with the least.

Old New England motto:
"Wear it out –"

Let's see, no.

"Use it up, wear it out,
make it do, do without" –

the old Yankee saying.

Or old Ben's,
"A penny saved is a penny earned."

We're going to rediscover
the truth of that.

We're going to start learning
how to darn socks again.

I don't think
that's a bad thing.

I think we'll be probably
a very much better,

more interesting, more equitable country

if we learn to revise our ideas
about what is true wealth,

what is true efficiency.

But that's a big topic,

and it's not really the topic
we've come here to discuss.{I just}

If we're going to be talking
or thinking about the future,

I think this is an element in it
that we can't afford to neglect.

Okay, well that's all
for the big formal speech,

if it struck you that way.

So now we can move into
some kind of questions, discussion,

comment on whatever
you want to talk about.

I mean, we can talk about
any of the things I've talked about,

or if you came here wanting
to talk about something else,

we can talk about that too,

unless I don't know
anything at all about it,

I will tell you.

I can tell you how to
begin on the cello.

I can't tell you how to become
a "magnificent" player.

Well, as soon as I learn,
I will tell you that.

Sir.

Jerry Mintz: Hi.

Jerry Mintz from
Shaker Mountain  

School in Vermont.
{We can't hear you.}

John: Oh, hi, Jerry.
{I just hope}

Jerry:One thing I was thinking
about is that you missed,

somewhere between
Ceylon and India,

the wages of
alternative school people.

[Laughter]
John: Yes. Yes.

Jerry Mintz: It may mean that
the industry may flock to the free schools.

I'm not sure.
[Laughter]

One thing I was wondering about is
what you think the difference is

between parents who are
exposing their kids to education

or to learning
without coercion

and schools that are exposing
their kids to learning without coercion.

And our school doesn't require kids
to go to any particular classes.

And on the other
side of the coin,

the difference between parents
who are coercing their kids

and schools that are
coercing their kids.

John: Well, the key difference
for me is the difference

between coercion
and non-coercion.

In other words, if I thought that
the homeschooling movement

was made up
largely or entirely 1:00:00.760,1:00:03.240 of people who wanted
to coerce their kids 1:00:03.240,1:00:05.760 and just thought they could do
a better job of it than schools could, 1:00:05.760,1:00:09.440 I wouldn't have spent
two minutes on this activity. 1:00:09.440,1:00:11.160 My interest in homeschooling, 1:00:11.160,1:00:12.840 and, for that matter,
alternative schooling – 1:00:12.840,1:00:14.760 and I was interested
in alternative schools 1:00:14.760,1:00:19.120 before I became
interested in homeschooling – 1:00:19.120,1:00:23.120 my interest in it is that
it makes it at least possible – 1:00:23.120,1:00:25.320 for those people who want
to give their children 1:00:25.320,1:00:29.600 a natural, organic, uncoerced
learning experience – to do so. 1:00:29.600,1:00:32.280 Not everybody is going
to use it that way. 1:00:32.280,1:00:37.120 People start schools
which they hope will be 1:00:37.120,1:00:39.920 even more coercive
than the schools that exist. 1:00:39.920,1:00:42.640 There are certainly some people
who teach their children 1:00:42.640,1:00:45.400 thinking that they can
pound in learning faster than 1:00:45.400,1:00:47.040 the local schools
were doing it. 1:00:47.040,1:00:48.960 I don't think many of them
stick it out very long 1:00:48.960,1:00:53.160 because they find out
it doesn't work. 1:00:56.560,1:01:02.600 No, I mean, if I look
far enough down the line, 1:01:02.600,1:01:12.400 I like to think of schools as
learning-experiment activity centers, 1:01:12.400,1:01:14.480 somewhat analogous
to public libraries, 1:01:14.480,1:01:17.000 although rather
wider in scope, 1:01:17.000,1:01:20.240 places to which people can come
if they feel like coming, 1:01:20.240,1:01:22.320 to do the things
that they want to do 1:01:22.320,1:01:24.920 for as long as
they want to do them. 1:01:24.920,1:01:31.360 And {I kind of – } I would hope that
somewhere we would find a way 1:01:31.360,1:01:34.840 to call these places
something other than schools 1:01:34.840,1:01:37.160 because they're really
very fundamentally very different. 1:01:37.160,1:01:42.520 "Club" would be nice if we just
kind of dared to do it. [Laughter] 1:01:42.520,1:01:44.680 We have a film
that a friend of mine, 1:01:44.680,1:01:45.720 my friend Peggy Hughes, 1:01:45.720,1:01:48.320 made in Denmark
of the preschool there. 1:01:48.320,1:01:51.160 The film was called
"We Have to Call It School." 1:01:51.160,1:01:54.200 And the film begins with
this young Danish teacher 1:01:54.200,1:01:56.920 there saying in English, 1:01:56.920,1:02:00.120 "We have to call it school
because if we didn't, 1:02:00.120,1:02:01.720 they wouldn't let
the children come here." 1:02:01.720,1:02:03.680 [Laughter] 1:02:03.680,1:02:06.600 But it would be nice if,
in our minds, 1:02:06.600,1:02:12.560 we thought about these
non-coercive gathering-and-activity places 1:02:12.560,1:02:15.080 as something
other than a school. 1:02:15.080,1:02:15.920 I like "club." 1:02:15.920,1:02:18.380 I mean, club has a – 1:02:18.380,1:02:20.800 But you can pick
what word you like, 1:02:20.800,1:02:24.000 or invent a brand new one. 1:02:25.040,1:02:29.520 Ultimately, I suppose I'd like to see
all schools evolve this way. 1:02:29.520,1:02:32.640 I don't think, certainly
not in my lifetime, 1:02:32.640,1:02:34.880 and not in any future
that I can see, 1:02:34.880,1:02:38.160 can I imagine
legislatures striking 1:02:38.160,1:02:42.320 compulsory attendance laws
off the books. 1:02:42.320,1:02:44.640 But I can imagine
more and more schools 1:02:44.640,1:02:48.240 defining attendance
in just the way you define it, 1:02:49.880,1:02:51.640 so that the difference 1:02:51.640,1:02:53.880 between being in school
and not being in school 1:02:53.880,1:02:56.920 gets so fuzzed over
that you can't tell any longer 1:02:56.920,1:03:02.040 when somebody is in
or when somebody is out.{now I don't} 1:03:02.040,1:03:03.240 Have I spoken
to your point, 1:03:03.240,1:03:05.140 or was there something other
you'd like to get out? 1:03:05.140,1:03:07.560 Jerry: In other words,
do you consider 1:03:07.560,1:03:10.760 that it would be
advantageous for a parent 1:03:10.760,1:03:14.000 to homeschool their kid
in a non-coercive way, 1:03:14.000,1:03:19.945 rather than let them go to
a school that was non-coercive? 1:03:19.945,1:03:21.480 John: Well, if you're
a homeschooling parent 1:03:21.480,1:03:24.080 and there was
in your area 1:03:24.080,1:03:27.400 a non-coercive school
that kids could go to, 1:03:30.200,1:03:33.440 I would be ready to leave it up to
those children and those parents 1:03:33.440,1:03:35.840 to decide how much
they wanted to make use of it. 1:03:35.840,1:03:40.120 Some families, the kids
would be there a lot of the time, 1:03:40.120,1:03:42.480 and other families, they might
not be there much of the time. 1:03:42.480,1:03:44.680 I think of my friends,
the Wallaces in Ithaca, 1:03:48.080,1:03:51.720 their public school system,
as a matter of fact, said to them, 1:03:51.720,1:03:53.360 "You're free to
come and use us 1:03:53.360,1:03:56.000 anywhere you want
or anytime you want to." 1:03:56.000,1:03:56.960 In fact, there's nothing in 1:03:56.960,1:03:58.720 the public school
for them to do there. 1:03:58.720,1:03:59.720 These are, by now, 1:03:59.720,1:04:01.720 two extraordinarily
accomplished musicians, 1:04:01.720,1:04:05.480 and they spent six, seven, eight,
nine, ten hours a day working on music. 1:04:05.480,1:04:07.440 What in the world
are they going to do? 1:04:08.160,1:04:09.520 What has school
got to offer them? 1:04:09.520,1:04:13.120 But if you were very interested in
the kinds of things 1:04:13.120,1:04:16.200 that are likely to be done at school,
or something that needed more people – 1:04:16.200,1:04:20.880 let's say drama, which is
a hard thing to do in small groups – 1:04:20.880,1:04:29.720 well, then it might be
very interesting for you to. 1:04:29.720,1:04:31.240 So if these resources were there, 1:04:31.240,1:04:33.480 we'd say to people,
children, their parents, 1:04:34.280,1:04:36.200 "Those of you who want to
use them a lot, use them a lot. 1:04:36.200,1:04:39.680 Those of you who want to use them
occasionally, use them occasionally. 1:04:39.680,1:04:45.040 I wouldn't try to make
that decision for anybody. 1:04:45.040,1:04:47.240 I think most homeschoolers
would be very glad 1:04:47.240,1:04:51.240 to have some kind of
gathering resource. 1:04:51.240,1:04:52.840 One of the advantages
of such a place 1:04:52.840,1:04:53.400 is that, of course, 1:04:53.400,1:04:57.800 a gang of people can
get together and buy things 1:04:57.800,1:05:00.880 which none of them by themselves
might be able to afford, 1:05:00.880,1:05:02.200 – make sufficient use of. 1:05:02.200,1:05:04.000 Well, they can do it now,
but the question is then, 1:05:04.000,1:05:05.120 "Whose house is it at?" 1:05:05.880,1:05:07.400 There get to be
problems like that. 1:05:08.120,1:05:11.280 If there is a central gathering
and meeting place, 1:05:11.280,1:05:12.960 well that's all the handier. 1:05:12.960,1:05:16.960 Now, one of
the reasons that I went from 1:05:16.960,1:05:19.920 thinking about alternative schools
to thinking about homeschooling 1:05:19.920,1:05:26.440 is that most of the alternative schools,
in the sense that we're using it here – 1:05:26.440,1:05:28.360 I mean, the word has
gotten so fuzzed up 1:05:28.360,1:05:29.840 in the public-education system 1:05:29.840,1:05:32.200 that it no longer has
any real meaning. 1:05:32.200,1:05:35.720 Most of the true alternative schools
of the late '60s and the early '70s 1:05:35.720,1:05:38.240 have long since gone,
mostly for lack of money. 1:05:38.800,1:05:40.240 You know how hard
a struggle it is, 1:05:40.240,1:05:46.360 even with Sri Lankan wages.
[inaudible]. [Laugha] 1:05:46.360,1:05:48.480 Even with those
kinds of sacrifices, 1:05:48.480,1:05:51.600 very few schools
were ingenious enough, 1:05:51.600,1:05:54.880 or resourceful, or lucky,
or whatever to keep going. 1:05:54.880,1:05:56.600 We had a gang
up in the Boston area. 1:05:56.600,1:06:00.960 I don't think one –
maybe one, right? – 1:06:00.960,1:06:01.800 they've all disappeared. 1:06:01.800,1:06:03.240 A lot of them were
doing wonderful work. 1:06:03.240,1:06:08.040 So I began thinking,
what can people do 1:06:08.040,1:06:11.320 who are not able to get
one of these places going 1:06:11.320,1:06:13.000 and keep it together? 1:06:13.000,1:06:15.040 I suppose one of the things
we have to learn is 1:06:15.040,1:06:17.920 how can we do this
in a way that costs less money 1:06:17.920,1:06:22.040 without starving and
not going into Ethiopian wages, 1:06:22.040,1:06:23.680 or something like that.
[Laughter] 1:06:23.680,1:06:25.560 We don't want
to do that. 1:06:27.320,1:06:29.840 All right, now I'm going to do
a little number thing with hands, 1:06:31.040,1:06:33.640 just so I don't forget,
or so we keep some kind of order. 1:06:33.640,1:06:34.720 Is it one here? 1:06:34.720,1:06:38.110 Did you all –?
I thought so. 1:06:38.110,1:06:38.144 Woman: I'm going to
ask a question. 1:06:38.144,1:06:38.920 John: All right.
You'll be number one. 1:06:38.920,1:06:42.000 And the second?
All right, second here. 1:06:42.000,1:06:43.520 Third here. 1:06:43.520,1:06:47.840 Fourth?
Lady in the red dress shirt. 1:06:47.840,1:06:48.600 Okay. 1:06:49.720,1:06:55.880 All right.
Five. 1:06:55.880,1:06:57.640 Okay.
Now, you have to remember. 1:06:57.640,1:06:58.600 Six?
Okay. 1:06:58.600,1:07:00.280 You have to
remember your numbers, 1:07:00.280,1:07:02.500 and you have to remember
where I am in the numbers, 1:07:02.500,1:07:09.560 because I'm not going to remember
either of those things! [Laughter] 1:07:09.560,1:07:10.269 Yes. 1:07:10.269,1:07:12.080 Woman: I'm number one. 1:07:12.080,1:07:14.640 If our children
are most interested in 1:07:14.640,1:07:18.194 the things that we
are most interested in – 1:07:18.194,1:07:19.060 John: They aren't hearing you. 1:07:19.060,1:07:21.903 Woman: They're not hearing?
John: No way in the world. 1:07:21.903,1:07:22.540 [Laughter]
Woman: Okay. 1:07:22.540,1:07:24.840 John: Got to sing out.
Woman: Okay. 1:07:24.840,1:07:28.055 John: I mean, it is possible. 1:07:28.055,1:07:29.520 Woman: [Laughs]
There are a lot of people here. 1:07:29.520,1:07:31.480 Woman: If our children
are most interested 1:07:31.480,1:07:33.880 in the things that
we are most interested in, 1:07:33.880,1:07:38.674 are we not then as homeschoolers
rearing lopsided children? And – 1:07:38.674,1:07:40.234 John: Everybody's lopsided.
Woman: Okay. 1:07:40.234,1:07:41.680 John: I'm lopsided.
You're lopsided. 1:07:41.680,1:07:45.113 All God's children
are lopsided. [Laughter] 1:07:45.113,1:07:46.600 Woman: And will they fill out? 1:07:46.600,1:07:48.360 John: Yeah.
Woman: Okay. 1:07:48.360,1:07:50.120 John: That doesn't mean to say
they're going to wind up 1:07:50.120,1:07:52.960 knowing everything about everything,
because nobody does. 1:07:52.960,1:07:55.120 But your life
is not just you. 1:07:55.120,1:07:56.640 You've got friends.
They come here. 1:07:56.640,1:07:59.280 You know people.
They have interests. 1:07:59.800,1:08:03.600 The child lives in kind of
bunch of concentric circles of family, 1:08:03.600,1:08:06.520 and then larger family,
and close friends of family, 1:08:06.520,1:08:10.280 and neighbors, streets. 1:08:10.280,1:08:13.520 And this world, as I say,
has many different layers in it. 1:08:13.520,1:08:17.800 And some of your children
may meet people 1:08:17.800,1:08:19.480 who happen to be
very interested 1:08:19.480,1:08:21.360 in things that you're
not much interested in, 1:08:21.360,1:08:23.080 and they may
pick up that interest. 1:08:23.080,1:08:25.040 That's okay. 1:08:25.040,1:08:27.920 As long as –
as I say, as long as – 1:08:27.920,1:08:29.120 as far as we're able to, 1:08:29.120,1:08:32.120 we make it possible for children
to move into the world 1:08:32.120,1:08:33.920 in whatever ways
they want to do it, 1:08:33.920,1:08:35.120 they're going to
find enough there. 1:08:35.120,1:08:37.160 Nobody's going to
die of starvation. 1:08:37.160,1:08:39.480 I don't care whether you live
on an isolated farm, 1:08:39.480,1:08:42.920 or this sterile suburb that
everybody loves to talk about, 1:08:42.920,1:08:45.800 or the wicked big city
that I live in, 1:08:45.800,1:08:50.240 the fact is that human life,
as people live it, 1:08:50.240,1:08:53.800 has got more than enough
food for thought 1:08:53.800,1:08:56.080 for children to bite into
and to grow. 1:08:56.080,1:08:57.600 As they feel the need of more, 1:08:57.600,1:09:04.120 they're going to know more about
where to go to look for it. 1:09:04.120,1:09:07.000 All right.
Now, let's see, two? 1:09:07.000,1:09:09.600 Woman: May I just
say to my friends here, 1:09:09.600,1:09:12.630 wait until
they get married. 1:09:12.630,1:09:13.640 John: The chldren?
Woman: Right. 1:09:13.640,1:09:15.560 Then their lives
will widen up. 1:09:15.560,1:09:17.120 Because our first just did. 1:09:17.120,1:09:19.640 I'm still at homeschooling
with a six-year-old. 1:09:19.640,1:09:22.320 I just want to thank you,
John, from my heart 1:09:22.320,1:09:24.200 for having helped us
very much here. 1:09:24.200,1:09:25.720 And I don't
have a question. 1:09:25.720,1:09:26.640 But I wanted to tell you 1:09:26.640,1:09:29.680 that today, my sister-in-law
had to hang up the phone 1:09:29.680,1:09:34.080 in order to go across the street
to walk her third-grader home 1:09:34.080,1:09:38.280 because she has been molested
within 400 feet of her own home. 1:09:38.280,1:09:41.440 And this doesn't even state
how I feel about the fact 1:09:41.440,1:09:43.160 that they're not learning going
to these places 1:09:43.160,1:09:48.040 that are supposed to be teaching –
or pouring it in, as you say. 1:09:48.600,1:09:51.320 I don't think that
we have to defend ourselves 1:09:51.320,1:09:53.560 any more than if you're
walking down the street 1:09:53.560,1:09:55.400 and someone starts to kill you, 1:09:55.400,1:09:57.560 because I believe
taking my children out of 1:09:57.560,1:09:59.960 the public school system
saved their lives, 1:09:59.960,1:10:05.200 not just morally, religiously,
mentally – every way possible. 1:10:05.200,1:10:07.880 And I appreciated
the story in GWS 1:10:07.880,1:10:11.480 about the little girl who was
diagnosed as terminally ill 1:10:11.480,1:10:15.280 because this was worth
all the pennies I paid, 1:10:15.880,1:10:18.160 the pink wage we
pay you for GWS. 1:10:18.160,1:10:25.320 Thank you, John,
very much. 1:10:25.320,1:10:25.480 John: Well, you're welcome.
[Applause] 1:10:25.480,1:10:27.920 We had an interesting story
in the Globe the other day. 1:10:29.440,1:10:30.520 I cut out the clipping. 1:10:30.520,1:10:33.480 We always have about three times
as much stuff to print in GWS 1:10:33.480,1:10:37.400 as we ever have room to print,
which is frustrating. 1:10:37.400,1:10:38.555 This was about
a young man – 1:10:38.555,1:10:44.720 he's now 18 –
and he was autistic, 1:10:46.280,1:10:48.200 which is,
to this day, 1:10:48.200,1:10:52.560 by the supposed official experts,
called "incurable". 1:10:52.560,1:10:54.800 "Autistic" and "retarded,"
they're not the same thing. 1:10:54.800,1:10:58.480 I mean, he just had a whole bunch
of these labels stuck on him. 1:10:58.480,1:11:01.560 It's hopeless –
"vegetable," "institutionalized." 1:11:01.560,1:11:03.320 If you can get him
in and out of the bathroom, 1:11:03.320,1:11:05.800 that's probably
as much as you can do. 1:11:08.000,1:11:11.560 And somebody got
interested in this boy 1:11:11.560,1:11:13.040 when he was
seven or eight, 1:11:13.040,1:11:18.240 noticed that he seemed pretty
energetic and lively, and liked moving, 1:11:18.240,1:11:24.080 and they got him started running –
and running distances. 1:11:25.800,1:11:28.187 Took him on long runs
or this, that, the other 1:11:28.187,1:11:29.920 – and they got him
into this running world. 1:11:29.920,1:11:32.280 The boy's now 18,
I think. 1:11:32.280,1:11:33.760 I don't remember whether
this was because he was 1:11:33.760,1:11:36.080 getting ready to run in
the Boston Marathon or not. 1:11:36.080,1:11:38.560 But at any rate, he's become
an extremely good runner. 1:11:39.760,1:11:44.080 Incidentally, he has not
caught up with his age, 1:11:44.080,1:11:47.960 but he talks intelligently
and intelligibly, 1:11:47.960,1:11:48.860 reads –
I don't know – 1:11:48.860,1:11:50.120 something on
a 6th, 7th grade level. 1:11:50.120,1:11:51.280 But all this is going up. 1:11:52.480,1:11:55.960 He's become
a fully-functioning human being – 1:11:55.960,1:11:57.800 because he was allowed and helped 1:11:57.800,1:12:01.800 to do the things
that he liked best. 1:12:02.600,1:12:05.240 People grow through their strengths,
not their weaknesses. 1:12:05.240,1:12:06.960 One of the many simple truths, 1:12:06.960,1:12:12.000 which the giant educational,
psychological, medical, etc. institutions 1:12:12.000,1:12:14.080 don't seem to be able
to learn is just that: 1:12:14.080,1:12:17.560 that people learn by and
grow through their strengths, 1:12:17.560,1:12:20.840 not by having people pound
away at their weaknesses. 1:12:20.840,1:12:22.680 Somebody had
the wit and the imagination 1:12:22.680,1:12:25.360 to see that this boy
had a talent, 1:12:25.360,1:12:30.280 a gift, a love,
something he wanted to do. 1:12:30.280,1:12:32.680 And then all this other stuff
kind of went along with it. 1:12:32.680,1:12:35.140 Well, we know that, 1:12:35.140,1:12:37.836 and they don't know it
out there. [Chuckles] 1:12:37.836,1:12:42.819 And it's going to be
a long time before they do – 1:12:42.819,1:12:44.400 which is interesting.
Okay, now let's see. 1:12:44.400,1:12:45.880 Yes. 1:12:45.880,1:12:50.760 Woman: I have a lot of resentment
against my public school education 1:12:50.760,1:12:54.000 and further education here
at the University of Michigan, 1:12:54.000,1:12:55.680 although I learned,
as you said, 1:12:55.680,1:12:58.680 to play the games very well
and got good grades, 1:12:58.680,1:13:01.960 but felt that I didn't
develop a lot of interest, 1:13:01.960,1:13:04.240 because I was too busy
playing the games. 1:13:04.240,1:13:06.920 But I wondered how
you would answer the question, 1:13:08.160,1:13:09.560 if I hear you correctly, 1:13:09.560,1:13:14.240 that you allow a child to choose
what he wants to learn. 1:13:14.240,1:13:17.000 I can't imagine how
a person would ever choose 1:13:17.000,1:13:20.200 to learn things
like trigonometry, 1:13:20.200,1:13:23.600 or things that they say maybe
later that you're going to need. 1:13:23.600,1:13:25.800 John: Well, you will
need trigonometry 1:13:25.800,1:13:29.560 if you're a surveyor –
in no other place and way. 1:13:29.560,1:13:30.380 I'm glad you picked that. 1:13:30.380,1:13:31.840 Woman: Well,
I didn't take trigonometry, 1:13:31.840,1:13:33.924 but the algebra
I used, for example. 1:13:33.924,1:13:33.953 John: Now, now
[inaudible] – 1:13:33.953,1:13:36.760 Woman: I didn't enjoy learning it,
but I've used it a lot. 1:13:36.760,1:13:39.040 John: Okay, well,
if you had not learned it, 1:13:39.040,1:13:41.080 and if you got to
a place in life 1:13:41.080,1:13:43.160 where you needed it to do
something you wanted to do, 1:13:43.160,1:13:45.040 then you would
learn it very quickly. 1:13:45.040,1:13:47.080 It's no mystery.
It's not hidden. 1:13:47.080,1:13:48.753 The time to learn stuff is – 1:13:48.753,1:13:50.907 Woman: So you learn things
when you need them, 1:13:50.907,1:13:53.000 not when the school system says,
"This is geometry year." 1:13:53.000,1:13:56.560 John: Right, right.
You learn things when you – 1:13:56.560,1:13:58.320 As a species,
as a living creature, 1:13:58.320,1:14:01.080 we human beings
are incredibly good 1:14:01.080,1:14:02.840 at learning stuff
when we need to – 1:14:02.840,1:14:06.960 if we have not been convinced that
we're so stupid that we can't do it – 1:14:06.960,1:14:10.040 which, unfortunately,
in a great many places, does happen. 1:14:10.040,1:14:12.200 Man: I don't know who
you're on right now, 1:14:12.200,1:14:15.080 but I just want to point out that
I'm enjoying learning algebra. 1:14:15.080,1:14:19.976 I'm alternatively educated.
[Laughter] 1:14:19.976,1:14:19.994 Woman: [Inaudible] 1:14:19.994,1:14:21.460 John: Good.
And thank you. 1:14:21.460,1:14:23.160 Woman: What kind of school
are you in now? 1:14:23.160,1:14:24.760 Man: Well, actually,
it's a public school, 1:14:24.760,1:14:28.440 but it's an attempt at being
an alternative school. 1:14:28.440,1:14:31.360 And it's not as close as
the school I went to before it, 1:14:32.960,1:14:37.600 but it's closer than
the standard public schools, 1:14:37.600,1:14:40.400 and it has the atmosphere
of an alternative school. 1:14:40.400,1:14:47.120 But many of
our classes are chosen, 1:14:47.120,1:14:50.680 I mean, rather than – 1:14:50.680,1:14:53.640 Beyond the state requirements that
the public schools have to follow, 1:14:53.640,1:14:54.640 most of our classes
are chosen. 1:14:54.640,1:14:59.040 Woman: Do you have
friends in regular public school? 1:14:59.040,1:15:01.440 What I wonder is if you feel,
in comparison, 1:15:01.440,1:15:03.600 that you're getting
a far better education. 1:15:03.600,1:15:05.100 Man: Well, the –
Woman: Obviously, you do. 1:15:05.100,1:15:08.280 Man: I was in the public schools
until 7th grade. 1:15:08.280,1:15:10.360 And 7th grade,
I jumped around, 1:15:10.360,1:15:13.000 and it was
because of just 1:15:13.000,1:15:15.320 all sorts of problems
I was having in public schools. 1:15:18.560,1:15:21.280 Yeah, I think my education
since I've gone into alternative schools 1:15:21.280,1:15:24.960 has been infinitely better. 1:15:24.960,1:15:27.280 John: Good.
Well, I'm glad to hear that. 1:15:27.280,1:15:30.920 But I do want to make clear,
as far as I'm concerned, 1:15:30.920,1:15:34.240 I'm not trying to make –
never have tried to make 1:15:34.240,1:15:38.440 a distinction between public and
conventional private schools. 1:15:39.040,1:15:41.920 If you remember
"How Children Fail," 1:15:41.920,1:15:46.960 you'll remember that
somewhere along in the book I wrote, 1:15:46.960,1:15:51.160 "School is a place where
children learn to be stupid." 1:15:51.160,1:15:51.240 [Laughter] 1:15:51.240,1:15:53.720 Now, let me tell you about
the school about which I was writing. 1:15:53.720,1:15:54.600 I was not writing about 1:15:54.600,1:15:59.480 some poor old PS 111 in the middle of the downtown, 1:15:59.480,1:16:03.680 I was talking about
an extremely exclusive, 1:16:03.680,1:16:07.400 high-powered, selective,
private elementary school, 1:16:07.400,1:16:09.600 one of the two or three
outstanding such schools 1:16:09.600,1:16:12.480 in the whole
Boston-Cambridge area – 1:16:12.480,1:16:16.640 the top of the top
of the top of the top! 1:16:16.640,1:16:19.000 They had an admissions policy 1:16:19.000,1:16:21.440 under which a kid could
not get into the school 1:16:21.440,1:16:24.520 if she or he did not
have an IQ of 120. 1:16:24.520,1:16:27.120 That was the cut-off! 1:16:27.120,1:16:31.200 It was at that school
that I wrote, 1:16:31.200,1:16:33.760 "School is a place where
children learn to be stupid." 1:16:33.760,1:16:36.680 So I'm not drawing a line –
[chuckles] never have drawn it. 1:16:36.680,1:16:38.360 I'm not drawing it here saying, 1:16:38.360,1:16:41.040 "Ooh, look at all these terrible,
rotten public schools on one side. 1:16:41.040,1:16:42.640 Ooh, look at these –" 1:16:42.640,1:16:45.520 What I was saying then
is that what I came to realize 1:16:45.520,1:16:47.240 in that school
with these kids 1:16:47.240,1:16:51.800 is that you cannot coerce learning
or attempt to coerce it 1:16:51.800,1:16:54.160 without making people stupid – 1:16:54.160,1:16:57.960 without making them afraid,
shifty, evasive, clever tricksters. 1:16:57.960,1:17:01.960 Yeah, the cleverest tricksters,
they'll sail on to Harvard, MIT, Yale – 1:17:01.960,1:17:03.800 I did that game. 1:17:03.800,1:17:07.040 Dope out the teacher,
guess the exam. 1:17:07.040,1:17:09.680 Everybody knows
how it goes. 1:17:09.680,1:17:12.440 And everybody who does it
knows that 90% of that stuff 1:17:12.440,1:17:17.120 you throw out just like dirty dishwater
as soon as the exam is passed. 1:17:17.120,1:17:19.360 How many people on
any university faculty 1:17:19.360,1:17:20.960 could pass an exam – 1:17:20.960,1:17:24.200 other than, perhaps basic
English reading and writing – 1:17:24.200,1:17:28.440 outside of their own specialty? 1:17:28.440,1:17:33.720 I mean, just very, very few –
and they know it. 1:17:33.720,1:17:36.800 I mean, this idea that there's
some great body of knowledge 1:17:36.800,1:17:38.960 which they all share –
it's just nonsense! 1:17:38.960,1:17:40.440 Never was true –
not true now. 1:17:40.440,1:17:42.120 It's a fraud. 1:17:42.960,1:17:44.640 I mean, I think
a lot of people say it sincerely. 1:17:44.640,1:17:46.640 I don't think they're lying
when they say it. 1:17:46.640,1:17:49.440 But I mean, it's a fraud
because it's just not so! 1:17:49.440,1:17:53.880 Nobody remembers that stuff. 1:17:53.880,1:17:55.440 Harvard University – 1:17:55.440,1:18:00.440 if you're taking some big course,
they announce an exam. 1:18:00.440,1:18:04.600 Some professor's going to
have an exam in his or her course. 1:18:04.600,1:18:05.640 Professor announces it: 1:18:05.640,1:18:07.760 "We will have such an exam
on such and such a day, 1:18:07.760,1:18:10.280 and it will cover such and
such and such a topic." 1:18:10.280,1:18:14.600 And then you spend a certain amount
of time discussing this in review. 1:18:14.600,1:18:17.160 Nobody springs surprise exams
on their students 1:18:17.160,1:18:20.800 because they know
perfectly well what would happen. 1:18:20.800,1:18:24.791 No, it's a very – 1:18:24.791,1:18:25.000 All right.
[Laughter] 1:18:25.000,1:18:28.560 I'll get out of that.
I'll go on all night. 1:18:28.560,1:18:29.200 [Laughter] 1:18:29.200,1:18:31.360 Let's see, now,
where are we in our numbers? 1:18:31.360,1:18:32.960 John: Yes. 1:18:32.960,1:18:36.984 Dorothy: I'm 4.
John: Good. 1:18:36.984,1:18:37.340 Dorothy: I help coordinate 1:18:37.340,1:18:40.480 a homeschooling
support group in Chicago, 1:18:40.480,1:18:44.480 and I'm noticing
more and more 1:18:45.880,1:18:50.440 the split that you have alluded to
in homeschooling as well 1:18:50.440,1:18:54.480 between those who wish to
coerce learning and those who don't. 1:18:54.480,1:18:59.280 And those who do
are very much interested – 1:18:59.280,1:19:00.720 as it happens in Illinois – 1:19:00.720,1:19:04.480 in keeping those of us
who don't want to coerce 1:19:04.480,1:19:09.960 in a semblance of unity with them
vis-à-vis the state. 1:19:09.960,1:19:12.040 And it's becoming
more and more difficult, 1:19:12.040,1:19:13.920 I think, for that to happen. 1:19:13.920,1:19:17.520 And I wonder if you would
comment on that, and also on – 1:19:17.520,1:19:20.720 There is a definite
one-way flow of energy happening 1:19:20.720,1:19:24.720 because those of us
who do not wish to coerce 1:19:26.280,1:19:31.280 give support and assistance
very often to those who do, 1:19:32.920,1:19:35.760 because they believe they
have the right to choose. 1:19:35.760,1:19:38.080 And those who
wish to coerce 1:19:38.080,1:19:41.280 really don't think that the rest of us
do have the right because, 1:19:41.280,1:19:43.480 "We're not doing it
the right way, you see." 1:19:43.480,1:19:46.880 So, would you
comment on that? 1:19:46.880,1:19:51.400 This is not a problem I want solved
because I don't see it being [inaudible] 1:19:51.400,1:19:52.947 John: That's good,
because it's – 1:19:52.947,1:19:53.880 Dorothy: – we're
not going to do that. 1:19:53.880,1:19:56.720 But I would like a comment
from you, if you will, on that, 1:19:56.720,1:20:01.320 especially vis-à-vis legislation,
and that sort of thing, 1:20:01.320,1:20:07.000 when our interests tend to be
moving further and further apart. 1:20:07.000,1:20:12.354 And what would you think we should do
in terms of strategies about this? 1:20:12.354,1:20:13.840 John: Thank you, Dorothy. 1:20:15.400,1:20:18.000 I first think of something
a friend of mine used to say: 1:20:18.520,1:20:23.985 "This isn't a problem,
it's a predicament." 1:20:23.985,1:20:24.180 Dorothy: Right.
[Laughter] 1:20:24.180,1:20:28.600 John: The word "problem"
kind of cooks up in our mind 1:20:28.600,1:20:30.960 a picture of something
which we could make go away 1:20:30.960,1:20:32.880 if we could just figure out
the right thing to do. 1:20:33.440,1:20:35.988 Things like death and taxes
are predicaments, 1:20:35.988,1:20:38.280 and they're just
part of reality. 1:20:38.280,1:20:41.680 Yeah, this is a part of reality,
and we are living with it, 1:20:41.680,1:20:46.840 and we're going to be living with it
as far in the future as I can see. 1:20:47.400,1:20:50.640 It doesn't trouble me that – 1:20:50.640,1:20:54.400 I'm going to
respond in several sections. 1:20:54.400,1:20:55.320 First place,
I don't think 1:20:55.320,1:20:59.000 it's a cause for worry
or concern or distress 1:20:59.000,1:21:01.400 that we may be
helping people 1:21:01.400,1:21:05.740 to get rights which they
would not help us to get. 1:21:05.740,1:21:07.320 Dorothy: I'm not worried
about that. 1:21:07.320,1:21:11.240 John: Now, there's
no reason in the world 1:21:11.240,1:21:13.640 not to work
together with people 1:21:13.640,1:21:16.720 with whom we disagree
about many things 1:21:16.720,1:21:19.120 on those things
about which we agree. 1:21:19.120,1:21:23.160 Because when we improve
the legislative situation, 1:21:23.160,1:21:25.160 then we've made things
easier for all of us. 1:21:33.760,1:21:37.600 Another thing
I would have to say is – 1:21:37.600,1:21:39.360 Well, first of all, 1:21:39.360,1:21:43.820 a lot of the people who begin
as coercive homeschoolers change. 1:21:43.820,1:21:46.434 Dorothy: I've seen
a lot of that [inaudible]. 1:21:46.434,1:21:51.640 John: Their children teach them [laughter]
about how learning really works. 1:21:51.640,1:21:54.240 And if – and this is
very, very often true – 1:21:54.240,1:21:58.880 if they care enough about their children
to pay attention to their feelings 1:21:58.880,1:22:04.640 and pick up these messages,
they become educated, 1:22:04.640,1:22:08.840 and they become
less and less coercive – 1:22:08.840,1:22:11.320 minimally coercive. 1:22:11.320,1:22:13.840 My experience is that the people
who do not make that change 1:22:13.840,1:22:17.280 don't stay in
homeschooling very long. 1:22:17.280,1:22:19.240 That is, people who – 1:22:19.240,1:22:21.360 whether for reasons
religious or other, 1:22:21.360,1:22:24.680 believe in high-pressure coercion, 1:22:24.680,1:22:27.880 soon find ways to get together with
other people who feel the same way 1:22:27.880,1:22:30.000 and they start
some kind of coercive school. 1:22:30.000,1:22:31.720 I don't think
you're very likely 1:22:31.720,1:22:35.280 to find people doing
coercive homeschooling 1:22:35.280,1:22:37.720 for four or five
years in a row. 1:22:37.720,1:22:39.480 I mean, their children
would hit the road, 1:22:39.480,1:22:45.680 if nothing else happened.
[Laughter] 1:22:45.680,1:22:49.880 I'm untroubled
by having people start 1:22:49.880,1:22:53.920 in a position which is
very far from my own, 1:22:53.920,1:22:56.520 partly because I believe people
should have the right to do this 1:22:56.520,1:22:58.640 however they want to do it,
not just if they agree with me, 1:22:58.640,1:23:01.400 and partly because I have
a lot of confidence, as I say, 1:23:01.400,1:23:02.880 that they will learn
from their children, 1:23:02.880,1:23:05.800 that they will move
away from coercion. 1:23:05.800,1:23:09.040 As I have said
at teachers' colleges, 1:23:09.040,1:23:11.760 one reason homeschooling
works well in practice 1:23:11.760,1:23:16.200 is that the home is an absolutely
splendid teacher-training institution. 1:23:16.200,1:23:17.720 [Laughter] 1:23:17.720,1:23:19.000 The numbers
are small enough 1:23:19.000,1:23:24.600 so you can really hear the messages
that your children are sending. 1:23:24.600,1:23:26.760 And you're in a position where,
if you choose to, 1:23:26.760,1:23:28.420 you can learn from them. 1:23:28.420,1:23:32.240 Now, when I first discovered,
as a fifth-grade classroom teacher, 1:23:32.240,1:23:34.440 that a lot of children
were so scared 1:23:34.440,1:23:36.600 of the weekly
arithmetic test 1:23:36.600,1:23:39.120 that they couldn't
think about arithmetic, 1:23:39.120,1:23:40.480 I stopped giving the tests. 1:23:40.480,1:23:41.960 And it wasn't more than
about two weeks 1:23:41.960,1:23:43.280 before the school administration 1:23:43.280,1:23:45.120 told me that I had to
start giving them again, 1:23:45.120,1:23:48.560 and they fired me
at the end of the year. 1:23:48.560,1:23:50.600 So I was not
in a position to do 1:23:50.600,1:23:53.600 what my conscience and
intelligence and instincts 1:23:53.600,1:23:55.120 told me needed
to be done. 1:23:55.120,1:23:56.960 Parents aren't
in that position. 1:23:56.960,1:23:58.400 "You can start
with a little desk, 1:23:58.400,1:24:01.300 an American flag,
a schedule on the blackboard – 1:24:01.300,1:24:01.800 [Laughter] 1:24:01.800,1:24:06.080 – but the day you find out
it isn't working, you can say, 1:24:06.080,1:24:07.640 "We're going to do
something different." 1:24:07.640,1:24:10.666 You have that
freedom to move – 1:24:10.666,1:24:12.775 [Recording ends prematurely]