FOUNDATION PHILOSOPHY

COPYRIGHT NELLIE JACOBS, 2005

Nellie Jacobs
Author. Speaker. Consultant.
www.gradingtheteacher.com
www.nelliejacobs.com

"Unfortunately, there are teachers who wield their control thoughtlessly.” Nellie Jacobs, Grading the Teacher

Harry van Bommel, Executive Director of Legacies Inc. (www.legacies.ca) sent in the following: "We home school our children based on their request nearly five years ago. Each year they get to choose whether to continue or to go back to school. One of the foundational philosophies we use is in the following quote:

"On the first day of the new school year, all the teachers in one private school received the following note from their principal.

’Dear Teacher: I am a survivor of a concentration camp. My eyes saw what no man should witness: Gas chambers built by learned engineers. Children poisoned by educated physicians. Infants killed by trained nurses. Women and babies shot and burned by high school and college graduates. So, I am suspicious of education. My request is: Help your students become human. Your efforts must never produce learned monsters, skills psychopaths, educated Eichmanns. Reading, writing, arithmetic are important only if they serve to make our children more humane.’*

“ …I could go on forever as learning is such an integral part of what I do personally, within our family and community and in my work. …I love it when I hear more successes than failures when it comes to learning. School can be such a wonderful place. I loved teaching. … It remains one of the highest callings, I believe.”

What do you think about this 'Dear Teacher' letter? Click on the "Post a Comment" button below. If you prefer to communicate with me directly, e-mail nellie@nelliejacobs.com with "Class Action" in the subject line.

(*Source from Michael Steer reproduced in the TIPS Newsletter Vol. 14, No. 2, Aug. 1994: by the Training Institute of Syracuse, New York, 13244-2280.)

-Nellie