Reinventing School: 5 Insights from Hannah Frankman (aka Rebel Educator) and Michael Strong on Unique Minds

A good discussion leaves you with more information

But a GREAT discussion leaves you thinking

I recently listened to a discussion that did just that. I wanted to share with you the most inspiring ideas (and my thoughts on them) from a recent discussion between Hannah Frankman, of the Rebel Educator, & Michael Strong, from Socratic experience.

1. "Love your child's mind" Every child is unique & special. If you want to educate them you have to love their beautiful, unique minds. Not every child will love math or reading or history or science but they will all love SOMETHING. Foster that love. Feed it with knowledge & opportunity. Help children grow into what they are supposed to be not the cookie cutter person that society wants them to be.

2. "One size fits all is destroying maternal instincts" I feel this deep inside. All of my deepest regrets are around when I listened to others instead of myself with regard to my children. "Daycare is good for them" "Cry it out" All of these went against my strongest instincts. The idea that all children are the same and thus can be served by the same situations is laughable but also deeply disturbing. Every child deserves to be loved for exactly who they are and no one knows them best than their parents.

3. "Focus on a lifelong purpose" Michael Strong discusses the importance of a lifelong purpose in education. Our society has slowly become consumed by NOW and the ephemeral. Ancient people used to work to build things they themselves would never see. Plant trees whose shade they would never sit under. Children have an innate desire to serve their world but it is squashed out over time. Let's fight to foster their love for community and help them think of their lifelong purpose to change the world into a better more peaceful place.

4. Teachers aren't trained to think logically. Michael Strong laments having to stop teaching Socratic style in some schools because the teachers didn't know how to break things down into logical arguments. It's as shocking as it is expected. No one is teaching logic in schools so why would teachers who are a product of school have this ability. As someone who predominately teaches in the Socratic style, students truly struggle when asked to come to the answer themselves but it also awakens something beautiful in them.

5. "You have to believe there is meaning in the text" It's easy to dismiss fiction as just entertainment but stories are vehicles to help us become better people. Good literature entertains but great literature changes your soul. Read your children the best. Find the meaning there & remember the meaning doesn't have to be what someone ELSE said it was. There are too few having these discussions about how to make education better.

There are too few having discussions about how to make education better. I hope these ideas fill your head with beautiful ideas for a better future. The full podcast is here.

~Claire Honeycutt

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