Melissa Bradford (mbradford@mediaone.net)
Wed, 2 Feb 2000 20:02:40 -0600
This Dr. Leon Botstein was actually the guest on Oprah Tuesday.
I watched the show, and I was impressed that Oprah was actually willing to
consider such an alternative. This was one of a series of shows she is
doing on education, prompted in part, I believe, by what happened at
Columbine.
I think what is prompting Oprah to give consideration to something radical
is that she actually bothers to talk to children about what they think is
wrong with school, and, even crazier, she listens to them and values their
opinions. Imagine that.
Certainly there were things said on the show with which I disagreed, and
felt that the solutions presented were not as revolutionary or satisfactory
to me as something like a Sudbury school. What I appreciated was that this
type of national discussion will hopefully begin to open others' minds to
more radical educational change than the standard "pay teachers more", "have
higher standards", or the ever-popular "back to basics".
I have to say, some of the things Dr. Botstein said on Oprah made me wonder
if he had lifted them from Daniel Greenberg! On the other hand, I haven't
read Botstein's book, but much of what he said on the show sounded more like
reform than revolution. Nevertheless, it is a start.
I've got to get a ticket to the Oprah show so I can give her a copy of Free
at Last!
Melissa Bradford
Liberty Valley School
PS - If you want to put in your two cents to the Oprah staff about looking
into the Sudbury model, go to her web site at www.Oprah.com. I e-mail her
show every few months in the hope that they will look into it one day.
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