Back in ye olden days, I had the good fortune (at Redlands Senior High School) of excellent teachers in history and social sciences (Raymond Haight and others), debate and logic (Gertrude Baccus, who was my real writing teacher), English (Mathilda Phillips and others), etc. Plus languages and…
Back in ye olden days, I had the good fortune (at Redlands Senior High School) of excellent teachers in history and social sciences (Raymond Haight and others), debate and logic (Gertrude Baccus, who was my real writing teacher), English (Mathilda Phillips and others), etc. Plus languages and the sciences — but that's for another time.
These are things that people have to learn, and thus they have to be taught.
I believe that a unit in debate ought to be taught in high school English class. It could also be a part of history classes. Making kids argue sides of arguments that go against their personal positions is a powerful way to help them think at a higher level.
such a lovely, thoughtful comment as always, thank you!
so much fun to hear about journalists' backgrounds: there is always something there that made people so curious about the world...we all used to read your writings back in the day, in the trenches of the human rights and refugee rescue movement after the Vietnam War, a movement that you and President Carter championed
There is something beautiful about teachers and mentors that happens at the end of the Mr Rogers documentary, it came out after the Tom Hanks movie. The filmmaker is interviewing the younger devotees and older associates of Mr Rogers, then asks them something that Mr Rogers would ask: without speaking, for one minute, think of someone in your life who made a difference in what you became, who believed in you. He moves from face to face as the person recalls that past time, and that is great cinema.
It is very touching because there is always that teacher, in class or in life, who made a difference, who saw us.
My grandmother was a very quiet, almost timid seeming woman. But she had such a good heart, it was quite extraordinary. Just an ordinary Mainer, Portland Maine, 1892, my grandfather had a shoe repair shop that is still there :)
But there are so many who play that role in our lives, many of them teachers and even journalists who offer the world to us through media.
Again thanks for these enlightening additions!
Back in ye olden days, I had the good fortune (at Redlands Senior High School) of excellent teachers in history and social sciences (Raymond Haight and others), debate and logic (Gertrude Baccus, who was my real writing teacher), English (Mathilda Phillips and others), etc. Plus languages and the sciences — but that's for another time.
These are things that people have to learn, and thus they have to be taught.
I believe that a unit in debate ought to be taught in high school English class. It could also be a part of history classes. Making kids argue sides of arguments that go against their personal positions is a powerful way to help them think at a higher level.
Yes, agree.
such a lovely, thoughtful comment as always, thank you!
so much fun to hear about journalists' backgrounds: there is always something there that made people so curious about the world...we all used to read your writings back in the day, in the trenches of the human rights and refugee rescue movement after the Vietnam War, a movement that you and President Carter championed
There is something beautiful about teachers and mentors that happens at the end of the Mr Rogers documentary, it came out after the Tom Hanks movie. The filmmaker is interviewing the younger devotees and older associates of Mr Rogers, then asks them something that Mr Rogers would ask: without speaking, for one minute, think of someone in your life who made a difference in what you became, who believed in you. He moves from face to face as the person recalls that past time, and that is great cinema.
It is very touching because there is always that teacher, in class or in life, who made a difference, who saw us.
My grandmother was a very quiet, almost timid seeming woman. But she had such a good heart, it was quite extraordinary. Just an ordinary Mainer, Portland Maine, 1892, my grandfather had a shoe repair shop that is still there :)
But there are so many who play that role in our lives, many of them teachers and even journalists who offer the world to us through media.
Yes — and to pick up the theme here, that Tom Hanks "Mr. Rogers" movie really was valuable in ways that last.