In 1957, The Soviet Union launched the Sputnik satellite which drove a drastic fear into Americans. For the first time in the Cold War, the nation realized it had lost technological and scientific advancements of the Soviet Union, and the realization caused fear of nuclear annihilation (Urban 260.) During this time, new thinkers developed ways upon how to motivate students for better results in the classroom - as education was now being seen as the way to win the space race. One thinker, however, did not believe reforming schools would not solve the nation's learning problem. This man was John Holt. Holt believed that the regular school curriculum should be ditched instead for a type of learning that peaked the curiosity and interests of the child. He beleived students would not retain knowledge if it was not interesting to them. Basically, he pushed for a more individualistic style for learning.
Holt first believed schools were a nervous place. He believed homeschooling or alternative schooling would be more likely to teach succesful students (Frazer 264.) While I do agree school can be a nerve-racking setting, I do believe alternative schooling is weaker to normal schooling. Fear of school may disrupt some studies, yet the curriculum at normal school will be relevant to most future learning. Learning about something individualisticly at home may not actually have a real world application, and alternative schooling lacks the real socialztion of public schools. Will homeschool children be able to carry themselves in a conversation once in the real world? Holt then goes on to state that schools should teach students what they want to be taught. I agree with this statement whole heartedly. Teaching students what they want will help them succeed, yet make sure classes are actually relevant to real world applications and learning.
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