cover image What Are We Trying Teach Them

What Are We Trying Teach Them

Ronald K. Pierce. ICS Press, $19.95 (156pp) ISBN 978-1-55815-239-7

As a parent and as a self-described victim of his own education, the author of this manifesto has a personal stake in the thorny issue of school reform. When he became concerned about the difficulties experienced by his children in the Colorado public school system, Pierce recalled the dull, pedestrian teaching methods that stifled his own early learning pleasures. He argues here that schools traditionally cater to the needs of teachers, not those of children, and calls for schools to serve as ``truly humane and nurturing'' institutions guided by ``a vision that looks beyond the child's cognitive needs to his needs as a human being.'' Pierce, a marketing consultant, cites one alternative school, the Jefferson County Open School in Denver, to demonstrate that a ``child-centered'' program can operate within the public system. However, he bolsters his observations with little other research and his prescriptions are frequently vague. (June)