We will not find the solution to problems of violence, alienation, ignorance, and unhappiness in increasing our security, imposing more tests, punishing schools for their failure to produce 100 percent proficiency, or demanding that teachers be knowledgeable in the subjects they teach. Instead, we must allow teachers and students to interact as whole persons, and we must develop policies that treat the school as a whole community.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes that addressing social issues in education requires a holistic approach rather than punitive measures.
Nel Noddings argues that the root causes of violence, alienation, ignorance, and unhappiness in education cannot be resolved through stricter security measures or standardized testing. Instead, the focus should be on fostering meaningful interactions between teachers and students, recognizing their humanity, and creating educational policies that nurture the school community as a whole.
In practice
A teacher could use this quote in a faculty meeting to advocate for changes in school policy.
My contention is, first, that we should want more from our educational efforts than adequate academic achievement and, second, that we will not achieve even that meager success unless our children believe that they themselves are cared for and learn to care for others.
Beware of letting small faults pass unnoticed under the idea it is a little one. There are no little things in training children; all are important. Little weeds need plucking up as much as any. Leave them alone and they will soon be great.
Let there be nothing harmonious about our children's playthings, lest they grow up expecting peace and order, and be eaten alive.
There are more men ennobled by study than by nature.
We, as we read, must become Greeks, Romans, Turks, priest and king, martyr and executioner; must fasten these images to some reality in our secret experience, or we shall learn nothing rightly.
Reading to our children and our grandchildren is something we can all try to do every day of the year. Not only does it give us pleasure but it leads them on a voyage of discovery and enrichment that only books can bring.
Studies serve for delight, for ornaments, and for ability.
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