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Authors:

John Holt quotes

American Educator April 14, 1923 – September 14, 1985

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Quotes

We can best help children learn, not by deciding what we think they should learn and thinking of ingenious ways to teach it to them, but by making the world, as far as we can, accessible to them, paying serious attention to what they do, answering their questions -- if they have any -- and helping them explore the things they are most interested in. John Holt
Real social change is a process that takes place over time, usually quite a long time. At a given moment in history, 99 percent of a society may think and act one way on a certain matter, and only 1 percent think and act very differently. In time, that 1 percent may become 2 percent, then 5 percent, then 10, 20, 30 percent, until finally it becomes the dominant majority, and social change has taken place. John Holt
Why do people take or keep their children out of school? Mostly for three reasons: they think that raising their children is their business not the government’s; they enjoy being with their children and watching and helping them learn, and don’t want to give that up to others; they want to keep them from being hurt, mentally, physically, and spiritually. John Holt
Someone asked the other day, "Why do we go to school?" Pat, with vigorunusual in her, said, "So when we grow up we won't be stupid." Thesechildren equate stupidity with ignorance. Is this what they mean when theycall themselves stupid? Is this one of the reasons why they are so ashamed ofnot knowing something? If so, have we, perhaps un-knowingly, taught themto feel this way? We should clear up this distinction, show them that it ispossible to know very few facts, but make very good use of... John Holt
Only to the degree that people have what they need, that they are healthy and unafraid, that their lives are varied, interesting, meaningful, productive, joyous, can we begin to judge, or even guess, their nature. Few people, adults or children, now live such lives. John Holt
The book will be a demonstration that children, without being coerced or manipulated, or being put in exotic, specially prepared environments, or having their thinking planned and ordered for them, can, will and do pick up from the world around them important information about what we call the Basics. It will also demonstrate that "ordinary" people, without special schooling themselves, can give their children whatever slight assistance may be needed to help them in their exploration of the... John Holt
John Holt quote: "People should be free to find or make for themselves the kinds..."
People should be free to find or make for themselves the kinds of educational experience they want their children to have. John Holt
John Holt quote: "Much of what we call History is the success stories of madmen."
Much of what we call History is the success stories of madmen. John Holt
If I had to make a general rule for living and working with children, it might be this: be wary of saying or doing anything to a child that you would not do to another adult, whose good opinion and affection you valued. John Holt
To trust children we must first learn to trust ourselves...and most of us were taught as children that we could not be trusted. John Holt
By now I have come to feel that the fact of being a ‘child’, of being wholly subservient and dependent, of being seen by older people as a mixture of expensive nuisance, slave and super-pet, does most young people more harm than good John Holt
John Holt quote: "The biggest enemy to learning is the talking teacher."
The biggest enemy to learning is the talking teacher. John Holt
It is not the teacher's proper task to be constantly testingand checking the understanding of the learner. That's the learner's task, andonly the learner can do it. The teacher's job is to answer questions whenlearners ask them, or to try to help learners understand better when they askfor that help. John Holt
John Holt quote: "To a very great degree, school is a place where children learn..."
To a very great degree, school is a place where children learn to be stupid. John Holt
Books ... rarely, if ever, talk about what children can make of themselves, about the powers that from the day or moment of birth are present in every child. John Holt

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