Comments on: John Gatto: Teacher of the Year Acceptance Speech http://www.home-ed.vic.edu.au/2002/02/26/john-gatto-teacher-of-the-year-acceptance-speech/ Home Education in Victoria Sun, 22 Nov 2009 09:46:00 +1100 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Donna http://www.home-ed.vic.edu.au/2002/02/26/john-gatto-teacher-of-the-year-acceptance-speech/comment-page-1/#comment-63459 Donna Wed, 04 Nov 2009 21:45:06 +0000 http://home-ed.vic.edu.au/wordpress/?p=30#comment-63459 Imagine an inventor that hands you a thing he helped invent and tells you how wonderful it is and it will roll if you push it, it’s called a wheel—but you notice it is in the shape of a square, and you say, hey it won’t roll the way you said it would—what do I need to do to fix it? The inventor answers your question by telling you who originally invented it and how long it’s been around. And you ask again, how do I get it to roll? He continues to answer your question again and tells you if only it were modified in some way, it might roll more like "a wheel" should. Again you think this is crazy, why won’t he answer my original question. So you plead with the inventor to make the necessary changes, and he throws his hands up and as he walks away, leaves you with this—just shave off the corners and it should roll better than it did. That's what you did Mr. Gatto. Imagine an inventor that hands you a thing he helped invent and tells you how wonderful it is and it will roll if you push it, it’s called a wheel—but you notice it is in the shape of a square, and you say, hey it won’t roll the way you said it would—what do I need to do to fix it? The inventor answers your question by telling you who originally invented it and how long it’s been around. And you ask again, how do I get it to roll? He continues to answer your question again and tells you if only it were modified in some way, it might roll more like “a wheel” should. Again you think this is crazy, why won’t he answer my original question. So you plead with the inventor to make the necessary changes, and he throws his hands up and as he walks away, leaves you with this—just shave off the corners and it should roll better than it did. That’s what you did Mr. Gatto.

]]> By: Robert Seviour http://www.home-ed.vic.edu.au/2002/02/26/john-gatto-teacher-of-the-year-acceptance-speech/comment-page-1/#comment-60739 Robert Seviour Tue, 30 Jun 2009 09:43:08 +0000 http://home-ed.vic.edu.au/wordpress/?p=30#comment-60739 That is a most interesting analysis of how a child's time is apportioned. What is clear is that the largest area of change since my youth is in the amount of televsion being watched. I certainly did enjoy my favourite programs 40 years ago, but I also spent a lot of time on my hobbies and with my friends. Observing my own children watching television, I was struck by how engrossed they are. Their concentration is intense, they looked rather like people under hypnosis. The difference between television and other activities is that it requires no action physical or mental. So although it is a medium which delivers much information, it does little to develop any active capacities in children, unlike the hobbies I enjoyed in the past. As long as it is freely available, there will be takers. That seems unfortunate. That is a most interesting analysis of how a child’s time is apportioned. What is clear is that the largest area of change since my youth is in the amount of televsion being watched. I certainly did enjoy my favourite programs 40 years ago, but I also spent a lot of time on my hobbies and with my friends.

Observing my own children watching television, I was struck by how engrossed they are. Their concentration is intense, they looked rather like people under hypnosis. The difference between television and other activities is that it requires no action physical or mental. So although it is a medium which delivers much information, it does little to develop any active capacities in children, unlike the hobbies I enjoyed in the past.

As long as it is freely available, there will be takers. That seems unfortunate.

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