vol 5 paraphrase pg 118
vol 5 paraphrase pg 119
vol 5 paraphrase pg 120
vol 5 paraphrase pg 121
'Now, let's get down to the serious business of our meeting. Here we are:
First priority--our desire is for reform! Not a reform through the political process, but if the world can believe it, we truly want to be reformed! And we want it for the good of the human race who will come after us. Just conceiving the concept should give us the right to sit back and let others make it happen!'
'Don't be absurd, Ned,' said Mrs. Clough, 'as if the whole thing was a joke. We're very serious about this, and we can't afford to waste our time joking. Some president you are!'
'Yes, my dear, and that's what's so funny--how can a man preside over a few friends who have done him the honor of dining at his home?'
'Mrs. Clough is right. We want to be 'up and at it!' So, friends, don't let any trivial formalities hinder our work.'
'Well, then, Henderson, since you seem more eager than any of us, why don't you begin?'
Mr. Henderson: 'I'm not sure that what I have to say should
vol 5 paraphrase pg 122
be heard first, but, just to save time and get us started, I'll begin. My main complaint is our overwhelming ignorance--mine, at any rate. You've all seen how magnificent the sky has looked these last few cold nights. Well, my son Tom seems to have an interest in astronomy. 'Dad, look at that bright star! It's big enough to provide light at night even without the moon. It's not always there--do you know what it's called, and where it goes when I can't see it?' My son was in the perfect receptive attitude of wanting to know. Anything and everything I could have told him would have stayed with him for life, his own possession.
'I told him, 'that's not a star, it's a planet,' with a little twaddle about how planets are like our planet Earth, and that's all I had to feed his hungry, wondering mind. When he asked what makes one planet shine differently from another one, I had nothing to tell him. A person can't give what he doesn't have. And then, all on his own, he singled out a group of stars, and then, like Hugh Miller, he created a diagram of them by pricking a pin into paper. He asked me, 'Do these stars have names? What is this one, and this one?' 'These three stars are in the belt of Orion'--which is all I know about constellations, believe it or not! He bombarded me with detailed questions. I tried bits of book knowledge, but he didn't want that. He wanted at least a 'bowing' acquaintance with the glorious objects he saw in the heavens, and he cornered me until his mother finally interfered and said, 'That's enough Tom, stop pestering your father!' It was a minor incident, but would you believe that I didn't get even a wink of sleep that night? Well, actually, I did get to sleep, but then I had a dream that woke me up and I couldn't get back to sleep. I dreamed that Tom was crying because he was hungry, and I didn't even have a bread crust to give him. You know how
vol 5 paraphrase pg 123
vivid some dreams can be. And then the moral of the story came to me in a flash--my son had been crying because his mind was hungry. He had asked me for bread, and gotten a stone. A thing like that really shakes a person. From that moment, I've had a different concept of what a parent's real job is, and my own lack of qualifications. That night I determined to find some way to help ourselves and thousands of other parents who suffer from the same ignorance.'
'But, Henderson, surely you don't think that every parent should become an expert in astronomy, do you? How can a man with so many other pressing obligations take on a study that would require a lifetime?'
Mr. Henderson: 'No, that's not what I mean. But I do think that the way we practically worship science intimidates us from even trying to find out anything about it. In one of his books, Huxley drew a line dividing science from what he called 'common information.' I think he means having a familiarity with the basic facts of what's around us, whether it's in nature, or just in society. It's shameful that I can't even answer the kinds of questions Tom was asking me. Everyone should have some basic knowledge of the kind of things about nature that a child is likely to ask about. But how do we get that kind of knowledge? From books? I guess you can get to know about most things from reading, but as far as knowing the thing itself, I'd rather be introduced by someone who knew it before I did!'
Mr. Morris: 'I think I know what you mean. We need the help of a naturalist, someone who's enthusiastic about nature who would not only teach us, but who would also inspire us with the desire to know more.'
'But, Morris, don't you find that even enthusiasts, if they're men of science, don't really understand the neutral ground of common information that the average person would understand?'
Mr. Morris: 'Possibly. But as far as getting what we need, it's not that difficult. It's a simple question of supply and demand. If you don't mind me talking about myself, I'll
vol 5 paraphrase pg 124
tell you what we did last summer. You might know that I dabble a little in geology--I'm no expert, I just dabble--but even a novice must have noticed how the features of a landscape depend on its geological formation, and not only the way the landscape looks, but what its people do for a living. Well, it occurred to me that if, instead of studying boring 'resources' of a vacation spot, what if we studied the 'scape' of a single formation? The kids would learn that, at any rate, just by looking, and that knowledge would provide a key to other knowledge besides.
'My wife and I love the South Downs [Sussex/Hampshire], maybe for the memories we have there. So we built a farmhouse in the Lavant Valley near Goodwood. Chalk and some kind of blackboard were inseparably associated, and the children were as surprised to see a hill of chalk as they would have been to find that all the trees had been made of cheese. This was a real wonder--wonder, and a desire to know! It's true that a man has joy when he can give an answer from his own mouth! [Prov 15: 23] It was delightfully delicious to pour out answers to their eager questions! And children are so receptive! This was the kind of conversation we had after scrawling on a piece of flint with a chalk fragment:
I asked, 'What's that white line on the flint, Bobby?' 'It's chalk, of course, Daddy,' he said, surprised at my ignorance. Then I unfolded a tale of wonder--about the thousands of beautiful microscopic shells in every scrawl of that chalk, and how each little shell had had its own living sea creature living inside it ages and ages ago, etc. The boys all had wide eyes and open mouths, until skeptical Dick asked, 'OK, Dad, but how did they get here? This is dry land; how could they crawl or swim here when they were dead?' I was able to answer his question, and they had even more to wonder about. 'Actually, this hill we're sitting on used to be part of the bottom of the sea!' They grew more
vol 5 paraphrase pg 125
amazed, and I'm sure that not one feature about chalk will ever be forgotten by any of those children; it's been written in the intimate journal of their souls. They know the soft roll of the hills, the smooth dip of the valleys, the joys of traveling, strange old yew trees, and gathering blackberries in the sudden bottoms of the chalk. The continuous singing of larks--larks are the only songbird there--the trailing shadow of overhead clouds on the hills, the skies of Sussex that are as blue as the skies of Naples--These are permanent possessions for them to hold all their lives, and they're all related to the chalk. My children have gained a sense of the earth-mother, and the way everything is connected, which is a poetic concept.
'And their mother has a fun way of getting the images of the place imprinted into their memories. She picks out a specific view, and then has the children look at it and describe it with their eyes closed. One unforgettable view was saved in this way. 'First, there's grass, and the slopes of hills below us with sheep feeding around them. Then there's a huge field of bright red poppies. There's corn mixed in, too, but we can't see it. Then there are fields and fields of ripe, yellow corn reaching out a long way. There's the sea, which is very blue, and three smallish boats with white sails. A lark is way up in the sky singing as loud as a musical band. And the sun is shining so bright!' That little girl will remember that picture until her dying day, and that's a picture worth having!'
'Mr. Morris's suggestion could have endless possibilities of expansion--you could cover the surface formations of England during summer vacations over the twelve years of school, and in that way, you could give a child a key to the landscape, animal life and plants of most of the surface of the entire earth. It's a good suggestion.'
Mrs. Tremlow: 'What a salvage that would be! The long summer vacations, which can tend
vol 5 paraphrase pg 126
to drag on, would be more productive and busier than even school days, and in learning about the wonders of nature outside. I can imagine how it would work. Think of the river valleys of Yorkshire, where the vivid green from the limestone in the mountains makes a distinct line that joins the dim shades of the heather on the gritty millstone of the moors, and the vast rocky nooks where ferns that grow near limestone--hart's-tongue, oak fern, beech fern, and others--grow in a delicate green color, as perfectly formed as if they'd been grown under glass. Or think of the endless ferns and moss and the beautiful outlines of slate that are typical in the Lake Country and in Wales. Imagine the things children could collect based on the natural geological formation of the area.'
'You're getting excited, Mrs. Tremlow. I personally don't think I could rise to the occasion. It's no fun to hear everyone else saying, 'How beautiful!' 'Gorgeous!' and 'Lovely!' all around, and have no clue what they're going on about. Don't kick me out for saying this, but I feel very strongly against dabbling with science. For example, in your wonderful tour of geology, why in the world would you begin with chalk? You might have started with something more conventional, like Cornwall.'
Mr. Morris: 'That's where we'll need to be firm about how this is to be done. You specialists do one single thing thoroughly--you insist on beginning at the beginning if there's a beginning, and then progress in order to the end, if life is long enough. But we're saying that a specialist's work should be based on a wide foundation of common information, which is different in this respect--you take it as it happens. If a fact comes to your attention, you want to know why it is, and what it is. But its relationships to other facts will have to settle themselves
vol 5 paraphrase pg 127
as time goes on and more facts come up. For instance, a nine-year-old should know a blackcap mushroom by its rich color and straight-standing top, and it shouldn't matter if he ever knows even the name of the species it belongs to.'
Mrs. Tremlow: 'And, Mr. Morris, you could teach history the same way--while you're learning about the 'formation,' as you call it, of different areas, there are great opportunities to make history come to life. For instance, while you're doing the formation of Dorsetshire, you might come across the ruins of Corfe Castle in the dip of the hill, like a trough between two waves. You could make the story of the bleeding prince dragged over the downs at the heels of his horse seem real.'
'Yes, and speaking of the downs, Mrs. Tremlow, are you familiar with the glorious downs behind Lewes, and the castle, and Lewes Abbey [probably no longer there] that were all involved in that great battle, when De Montfort and his men marched across the ridge of Mount Harry while the royal party were partying in the Abbey, and in the gray of the dawn, every man vowed his life to the cause of liberty, laying facedown in the grass with arms outstretched to form a cross? Once you've studied on one of these historic sites, the place and the scene become a part of you. You couldn't forget it if you wanted to.'
'That's really interesting, and it reminds me of something else. Have you noticed that in certain districts, not only are the places themselves associated with important historical events, but they also have monuments of the leading idea of the centuries? For example, the ruined abbeys that still dominate every beautiful
vol 5 paraphrase pg 128
valley in Yorkshire, and the twelfth century churches. In certain English counties, you can come across four or five in the course of a single day's hike. There's hardly any secluded out-of-the-way nook in some counties that doesn't have some example of an ancient ruin. Also, there are endless castles on the border of Wales, and Roman camps on the downs, each of them bearing witness to the dominant thought of its long era, whether that leading thought was war, or something more leisurely when there was a long time with no fighting.'
'And that's not all. Think of how more than half of England's great literature has the flavor of some local area. Think of the thousand spots where an aroma of poetry lingers, and the character of the place seems to get into your mind and stay there, leaving an impression of the author as a real person, and a feeling for his work that you can't get in any other way. The Quantocks, Grasmere, Haworth Moors, the Selborne 'Hanger,' the Lincolnshire levels--I could go on and on listing spots where you might see the raw material of poetry and compare it with the author's finished poems.'
Mrs. Henderson: 'All of that is an inspiring glimpse of what could be possible. But surely, friends, you aren't thinking that a family with children all under the age of fifteen would be able to get in touch with so many wide interests all within a six-week vacation, are you? I don't think that any of us, except perhaps you, Mr. Meredith, and Mr. Clough, have enough of a grasp of historical and personal associations.'
'We'll have to leave that question open, Mrs. Henderson. All I'm saying is that children have an unlimited capacity for whatever knowledge reaches them somehow through their five senses--if they see something and enjoy it, you can
vol 5 paraphrase pg 129
pin endless facts, and tons of associations on it, and children have an amazing capacity to take all of it in. They'll never give you a bored look and vacant expression. Trust me, it's part of their nature to hunger after knowledge in the same way that a hungry man hungers for his dinner. But the thing has to come first, and the words to interpret it have to come second.'
'Do you mean that everything they see should lead to an object lesson?'
'Not at all! Object lesson? Blabber, blabber, blabber about a miserable cut-and-dried bit of information that's hardly recognizable by anyone who's familiar with the thing being talked about? I suspect that it might be better for the child to have no information at all than to get it in that unnatural way. No, let him see the thing in its natural habitat, large and living in front of him, doing whatever comes naturally to it. Specimens out of their natural context may be useful to scientists whose job is to generalize, but they're misleading to children who haven't learned the particulars yet. I'm sure that some intelligent family out there on vacation could easily cover all the ground we've been talking about--but who is going to teach them? The third question our child asks us about a bird or flower is likely to stump most of us.'
Mr. Withers: 'You've hit the nail on the head. I wondered if we'd ever get back to our original topic before the evening was over. Skimming over all of creation in a breezy, casual way is terribly exciting, but from an educational perspective, it's laughable to a father who has a brood of young kids at home and doesn't care about any of these things.'
Mr. Morris: 'Of course they won't care, Withers, if they've never been exposed to it. But give them a chance, that's all I'm saying. Listen to my idea--I'll be happy if any
vol 5 paraphrase pg 130
one comes up with a better one, but we have to come to a point sometime and bring the discussion back to the topic the next time it wanders off on someone's pet subject. Each of us wants to cover all of the ground suggested in our rabbit trail. But the problem remains: we can't teach what we don't know. We're trapped in a corner, and there's only one way out: we need to learn what we should teach. How are we going to do that? Well, why not form ourselves into a club, or school, or whatever? Now, we simply want to know the A-B-C's of lots of different things, the basics. Once we're organized, we'll figure out what our next step should be. Even in our small group here tonight, some of us knew a bit about geology, some knew a little something about history. Whatever we all can't learn from each other, we'll seek outside sources to teach us by finding either amateurs or professionals who are willing to help us. Amateurs would be better, because they'd be learning as well as teaching. Then, when we're organized, we can decide whether we want to exhaust a single district in the way that was discussed, or follow some other plan. But, if we decide to stick to a district, let's please let it be a wide one so that our conversation will be limited to speaking in passing, like ships at sea. Please let's not let it turn into a social thing, with tennis, small talk and tea!'
'If we do this, how often do you think we should have meetings?'
'We can decide that later. Meanwhile, those in favor of Mr. Morris's idea of forming ourselves into a club to consider issues that affect the education of our children, at least what the parents can contribute, say aye.'
'The motion has passed unanimously!'
[That meeting is ancient history now. This idea was fulfilled in the formation of the PNEU--Parents' National Educational Union!]