Children Learn from Living

Ha, ha. Yes, children learn from living before they go to school. But, in school, it is assumed they learn from the 1)teacher talking, 2) worksheets and 3)textbooks. All three are the worst ways to learn.

Diagnostic Teaching/NEA

I have a booklet published in 1966 by the National Education Association titled "Diagnostic Teaching" by someone with the initials D.M.L. This book is full of enlightened prose on the ways children learn and, even more amazing, ways to teach within that understanding without subjugating children's natural intellectual growth and wonder.

According this N.E.A. booklet,
Beliefs: Children learn from living
Children differ in many ways
The school has an obligation to children
Learning conditions determine effectiveness of learning

Where did these beliefs go? Now,children learn from textbooks and lectures. Life has little or nothing to do with it. Now, all children are taught as if they all came from the exact same background and experiences. (Even those who receive extra help, get the same work and technique-just slower.) Now, children have an obligation to the school, not the other way around. Now, learning is determined to be effective in relationship to how good the learner is at repeating right answers.

Why did the N.E.A. publish and then ignore this work?