In your journal, write about one of the following topics.
1 Describe your reaction to one of Holt’s major criticisms of schools or one of his
recommendations for improvement.
2 Discuss whether your own education has been similar to that described in the
essay.
3 Choose a topic of your own related to the reading.
Main Ideas
Answer the following questions, referring to the notes you took when reading the
essay. Then share your answers with a partner.
1 What major criticisms of formal education does Holt discuss in paragraphs 1–7?
2 What are Holt’s recommendations for improving the quality of schools?
Summarize the suggestions presented in paragraphs 8–15.
3 What is the main point Holt is making in the essay? Summarize his central idea
in one or two sentences. Use your own words. Begin with the sentence In the
essay “School Is Bad for Children,” John Holt argues that . . .
Reflecting on Content
Answer the following questions with a partner. When possible, support your
answers with observations based on your own experiences.
1 What do you think might happen if compulsory school attendance were
abolished?
2 What do you think of Holt’s support for the notion of schools without school
buildings?
3 Do you agree with Holt that schools should get rid of grades and exams?
CORE READING 1 School Is Bad for Children
64 CHAPTER TWO Education
A Writer’s Technique: Purpose and Audience
Authors write with a purpose. As you read, ask yourself what the writer’s purpose,
or goal, is. The three most common purposes of writing are these:
To inform The author seeks to provide readers (also called the audience)
with information about a topic or to explain something.
To persuade The author wishes to convince readers to believe something or to
act in a certain way.
To entertain The author hopes to amuse the audience, perhaps through humor.
You can identify a writer’s purpose by asking the following questions.
1 For what reasons has the author written this work?
2 What does the author want the reader to think or feel after finishing the
selection?
3 Who is the author’s audience, and how does the nature of the audience relate
to the purpose?
4 How successful is the author in achieving his or her purpose?
Ask and answer the questions above for Holt’s essay “School Is Bad for Children.”
Share your responses with a partner.
Vocabulary: Synonyms
Studying synonyms is a good way to develop your vocabulary. Synonyms are
words or phrases that have the same or nearly the same meaning. Sometimes the
vocabulary items are so close in meaning that they can be used interchangeably
– for example, “On the whole / by and large, I feel younger than I did ten years
ago.” Be aware, however, that many words have more than one definition and may
not function as synonyms in all contexts. For instance, we can speak of a tender or
caring relationship between two people, but while we can refer to meat as tender,
we cannot refer to it as caring.
Look at these sentences from Holt’s essay and do the following.
● Guess the meaning of each italicized vocabulary item from the context.
● Write down two or three synonyms for each italicized word. Make sure that
the synonyms you choose have the same meaning as the italicized vocabulary
items and can be used in the same sentence.
● Write a sentence of your own, using the vocabulary item in such a way that
its meaning is clear.
Example: [Children learn language] by trying it out and seeing whether it works,
by gradually changing it and refining it until it does work. (par. 1)
Synonyms: improve, perfect, develop
Sentence: The committee refined its proposal for a new curriculum as it got
feedback from students, faculty members, and administration.
65
1 In short, he comes to feel that learning is a passive process, something that
someone else does to you, instead of something you do for yourself. (par. 2)
2 Given no chance to find out who he is – and to develop that person, whoever it
is – [the student] soon comes to accept the adults’ evaluation of him. (par. 3)
3 The child comes to school curious about other people, particularly other
children, and the school teaches him to be indifferent. (par. 5)
4 The child learns to live in a daze, saving his energies for those small parts of his
life that are too trivial for the adults to bother with. (par. 7)
5 We should abolish compulsory school attendance. At the very least we should
modify it, perhaps by giving children every year a large number of authorized
absences. (par. 8)
6 Our compulsory school-attendance laws once served a humane and useful
purpose. (par. 8)
7 In Philadelphia . . . plans are being drawn up for public schools that won’t have
any school buildings at all. (par. 10)
8 In another school I know of, a practicing attorney from a nearby city comes in
every month or so and talks to several classes about the law. Not the law as it is
in books but as he sees it and encounters it in his cases, his problems, his work.
(par. 11)
Vocabulary in Context
Locate the following italicized vocabulary items in the reading and see if you
can determine their meaning from the context. Then think of an example or
situation to illustrate each item, using your personal experience if possible. Do not
just define the italicized words and expressions. When you are done, share your
answers with a partner.
1 a resourceful approach that a student might take to a class assignment (par. 1)
2 a time during your educational career when you were persistent in doing
something (par. 1)
3 a technique that a school administrator might use to pry out information from
a student who has done something wrong (par. 4)
4 a student’s conning a teacher or a teacher’s conning a student into doing or
believing something (par. 4)
5 a reason a student or teacher might bluff about something (par. 4)
6 a time when you worked on a school project for hours on end (par. 4)
7 something a parent might do if his or her child was being bullied at school (par. 4)
8 the high school classes that you think should be compulsory, and why (par. 8)
9 a reason a student or teacher might be resentful of something (par. 8)
10 an educational practice that you think should be abolished, and why (par. 14)
CORE READING 1 School Is Bad for Children
66 CHAPTER TWO Education
Discussion
Choose one of the following activities to do with a partner or in a small group.
1 Make a chart similar to the one on the right.
Fill in the columns with at least six aspects of
schooling that Holt criticizes and your reactions
to these criticisms. If time allows, also consider
Holt’s recommendations for improvement.
When you are done, share your ideas with the
rest of the class.
2 Observe a class at any educational institution. Concentrate on what is being
taught, how it is being taught, and the nature of the student-student and
student-teacher interaction. Then share your observations, reactions, and
conclusions with several classmates.
3 Access the National Public Radio Web site
and search for one of these two broadcast titles (remember to include the
quotation marks when you search): “Standardized Tests: How is Testing
Changing Teaching and Learning” or “Teenage Diary: Nick Epperson.” While
listening to the first broadcast, write a list of the advantages and disadvantages
of standardized testing. If you chose to listen to the second broadcast, write a
list of what Nick disliked about school and liked about home schooling. Then
discuss the points on your list with your partner or group.
Writing Follow-up
Follow up the discussion activity you chose (item 1, 2, or 3) with the matching
writing assignment below.
1 With a partner or by yourself, write an imagined letter to John Holt consisting
of two paragraphs. In the first paragraph, respond to one of the criticisms he
makes in “School Is Bad for Children.” In the second paragraph, discuss one of
his recommendations for improvement. In your letter, focus on why you support
or oppose Holt’s ideas.
2 Write a brief report of the class you observed. Describe the class and your
reactions to the style of teaching that you noticed. Also consider the nature of
the student-student and student-teacher interaction.
3 Write two paragraphs responding to the radio broadcast you listened to. In
the first paragraph, summarize the educational issues discussed; in the second,
explain your reaction to one or more of the points made.
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