Wasted by Frank Furedi
A polemic against progressive
interdisciplinary and child-centric education that would make for an
interesting counterpoint to prevailing pedagogical philosophies if it
wasn’t so badly put together. Furedi’s main point is that
education is about passing on a body of knowledge from generation to
the next and requires adult authority to work; he cites declining
standards of classroom behaviour as a symptom of a pedagogical
culture that has forgotten the value of adults as mentors and
leaders. This is perhaps an understandable worry since some of the
more radical proponents of ‘child centred’ education can sound as
if they want teachers to have their role paired down from knowledgeable instructors to that of a glorified babysitter.
Unfortunately,
Furedi’s attempt to critique interdisciplinary education involves
recycling the lie that such an education necessitates the abandonment of traditional subjects; and many of his sources which ‘prove’ the existence of the trends he complains about are nothing more than hyperbolic tabloid articles. It’s nice to get
a sense of what ‘the other side’ thinks if you are a progressive
educator but empirically and philosophically, this book is a bit of a let
down.
Brighton Rock by Graham Greene
Exciting
at first, then dark. A young boy caught up in gang culture is
desperate to prove that he is man while simultaneously being too
traumatised to ever really grow up - this is the picture painted as
we follow Pinkie in his attempts to keep a murder under wraps. Vivid
and heart-breaking portraits of both desperate and beautiful people
punctuate a gripping thriller.
The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis
Witty and incredibly astute in its observations of the inner lives of humans. It’s somewhat funny, highly caustic and extremely cynical, enough so that its author declined to write more from the perspective of Screwtape less the titular characters' outlook poison his own view of humans. Conservative in a very old school way and so it is interesting that the book still appeals to people today.God: A Human History of Religion by Reza Alsan
Pantheist
is the wrong term, Aslan likes to think of all religion as the
narration of a couple of key human themes. The book starts with an
incredibly interesting look at paleolithic religion and moves forward
from there exploring the way God/s became God, mimicking the
transition from tribes towards kingdoms via the principle of
politicomorphism, to ideas of a personal God, God in the Flesh and then to God
as Unity. The book has a number of unexpected
detours but all of them entertain and inform in a way that leads us
back to the central story richer for the experience. Utilising examinations of Neanderthal cave art, to debates over whether Judaism actually started as a monotheistic religion, or whether that was a later
affection, this is a fantastic introduction to religious history.
Free to Learn by Peter Gray
Possibly
the most interesting and impactful read this year. Peter Gray is an
advocate for the importance of free unsupervised play in the
development of the emotional and intellectual lives of children.
Balancing on a log over a stream is an exercise in assessing risks
and managing fear; playing softball with children of different ages
is a natural lesson in kindness and, as Gray argues, children pursuing products and endeavours of their
own choosing learn far more about self determination and problem
solving than they ever could in a classroom.
Peter
Gray draws attention to independent schools where compulsory teacher
directed classes are non-existent and continue to have, anecdotal, success in producing well
adjusted and intelligent young people. He puts his offspring where his mouth is too - his own son is enrolled in
such a school, Gray successfully calls into question the legitimacy
of state-mandated compulsory schooling and elevates free play above
all. An incredibly philosophically challenging read but one that I really welcome.
