Saturday, August 01, 2009

Living Well

Robert Heinlein was correct when he stated that "specialization is for insects." I am distilling my educational philosophy more and more. I want my students to learn how to "live well." That will mean they need to gain education that is useful. They will need to develop the "barbarian virtues" at the same time they acquire the civilized ones. They must become servant leaders who cultivate self-discipline, accountability, frugality, good manners, curiosity, a sense of the possible, and the ability to be dangerous in pursuit of the good.

Developing a school culture that teaches these things has been/will be difficult in a culture that looks to imposed discipline, nice hall displays, and standardized test scores as the measure of a good school. It's not popular to point out that academic achievement often does not correlate to happy and successful living.

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