Video Credits

Education as collaboration, warmth and understanding

Submitted by Jean Tully (not verified) on April 30, 2008 - 09:02.

I am nearly 80 years old...you say we are on the threshold of understanding this way of being teachers. I thought so in the '70s when I was involved in such an exciting project called Confluent Education. We taught using all of the "little pieces of the quilt" you speak of and taught others; the majority of teachers bought in. As I say, that was in the '70s...what happened? One of the problems was getting administrators on board. They felt they were losing "control" of the classroom and no amount of showing them that discipline was in taking responsiblity could assuage the fear. We teachers and trainers loved the classrooms we were part of. So a conservative government declared the program not useful after 5 years in all the schools in Manitoba. We taught teachers in Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia in Canada. Check out the program's history in Santa Barbara and the Manitoba Project. You will find lots of material and what we learned in the process of developing strategies. Good, good luck in what you are trying to do. Maybe you will find the secret to longevity of these wonderful and absolutely necessary idea.

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