Excerpt: The Power of Their Ideas

Lately I've been reading The Power of Their Ideas by Deborah Meier. One might point out here that my reading selection is about a decade behind a lot of thoughtful educators of a certain ilk, to which I would reply that I was also born at least a decade behind many of those educators. I'm still playing catch-up, so bear with me.

Most of this book resonates with my former work in a progressive school environment, and a lot of it flies in the face of my experience in a traditional comprehensive high school. Here is an excerpt that succinctly summarizes some of the key ideas this book presents:

1. Schools should be small and highly personal. Where schools are large they should be broken into interdisciplinary houses.
2. Cooperative learning is a key to successful learning.
3. There should be integration of curriculum: history and literature, math and science, etc.
4. Academic periods should be longer in high schools--at least an hour, ideally two hours.
5. High school homerooms should be full-length periods and serve as serious advisory places, and teachers should stay with the same homeroom for two years or more.
6. Fewer subjects, taught thoroughly, are better than lots of courses taught superficially.
7. Decisions about curriculum, pedagogy and scheduling should be made by on-site professionals.
8. Parents should be informed and involved in their children's education.
9. Students should be expected to demonstrate their abilities directly--to "show" what they know and can do. Multiple-choice tests are not a substitute for the real performance.
10. Students should be expected to engage in socially useful work, and should learn about the world-of-work through school-directed work experiences. (Meier 1995)
    

References:
Meier, D. (1995). The Power of Their Ideas, (65). Boston: Beacon Press.