TJEd Questions

With the Life of Pi, I relied on questions I found on a website to generate discussion. The questions were not very helpful. This time, I created my own questions based on what I thought about during and after reading TJEd. Hopefully, these questions will prove more useful. I will be posting my responses to these questions and my essay tomorrow (hopefully). Feel free to join the discussion!

1. How well do you feel you were taught “how to think?”

2. Have you written a personal and/or family mission statement/paper/motto—whatever? Are you planning on doing that? If so, what kinds of things are you thinking about including? I know the Eyres had something about learning themselves and then going forth to serve.

3. Is there a leadership crisis today?

4. DeMille lists public education as 75% social and 25% skills. Agree/disagree? And the ever popular: So What? If it is 75% social, what impact does that have on our children and society?

5. People constantly point out the need to “socialize” our children. What does that mean? What are we socializing them for? What behaviors do we want to encourage? What social skills do they need for a normal life in our society? Is school the best place to get those skills?

6. Can you legitimately criticize homeschools for not socializing?

7. What is your plan to socialize your child/children (in and out of school)?

8. What is the advantage of socializing across ages and how do you do that?

9. “Leadership curriculum is individualized.” Do you have any examples in your own schooling of a teacher doing a good job individualizing the curriculum? Was that helpful?

10. According to DeMille, depth and breadth are both vital in education. I feel that I missed the depth part until I got my masters—and now, I feel like I should, as a person with a master’s degree in history, know more about history than the underlying premise of masculinity during WWII. Talk about no breadth! Do you feel the same way?

11. DeMille wrote: “The conveyer belt education system has made us more highly trained as a generation, but less educated.” Do you agree?

12. What is on your classics list? What do you think it is imperative that your child read?

13. Do you aspire to having “wise” children, or are you okay with children who are happily settled into good careers? Is there a difference? Is the question leading and biased?

14. DeMille claims that we learn about human nature through the classics. Do you agree? Have an example? Is learning about human nature important?

15. DeMille wrote: “Learning is difficult but the process is not complex.” Agree?

16. DeMille wrote that one goal for an educated person is the ability to define a problem. He maintains that almost anyone can solve a problem once it is clearly defined, but it is difficult to get to the heart of a problem. Agree/disagree? Do you think leadership training in a DeMille style program the most effective way to produce such a thinker?