WHAT DO I DO MONDAY?
There is no great gulf fixed between teacher and taught: both are pursuing the same ends, engaged on the same theme, enriched by mutual interests.—C.M. Mason
A few years ago, I was sorting through the ‘Education’ books at the annual library sale. I suddenly wondered whether there would be any John Holt, and in the next box I found him. What Do I Do Monday? the yellowed spine asked. I immediately added the 1972 paperback to my purchases.
John Caldwell Holt is recognized as the ‘Father of the Homeschooling Movement,’ a movement he passionately advocated when he decided—after writing many of his definitive books, including What Do I Do Monday?—that he had been trying to fix a flawed system.
Today, Holt is largely unknown to home-schoolers other than ‘un-schoolers’—a faction the others tend to regard askance; but, although I do not agree with all of Holt’s perspective, I believe much of what he shared is valuable to anyone who lives and works with children.
‘What do I do now?’ parents and educators wanted to know, after reading books like How Children Fail and How Children Learn. In his book What Do I Do Monday? Holt suggests tactics for change in a school situation that is less than ideal. Knowing long-term goals, he believed, helps us make the best of the short-term changes under our hand.
In the opening chapters, Holt introduces a holistic vision of learning as being immersed in the continuum of human experience. Our minds are designed to engage with and assimilate knowledge with great skill and power, but this knowledge must be connected to the life and desire of the learner. Holt explains that many educators feel threatened by this perspective of learning, because it threatens the dominance of their ‘role’ {a word Holt says suggests a teacher’s lack of personal authenticity with students}.
The best teaching is simply good human communication—with all its dynamism, fluidity, and difficulty—and ‘there can be no real talking without listening.’ Education involves mutual humility and exchange. {See the quote by Charlotte Mason introducing this blog post.}
Instead, educational ‘experts’ have long claimed knowledge as their personal domain, barricading it with jargon that keeps the student separate from the teacher and the material. {Holt gives a great example of how this is done with Shakespeare.}
Holt instead takes the modest role of the philosopher, who seeks to give knowledge into the possession of his students and readers. {Some readers may feel this book is a long invitation to read other people’s books. Holt quotes extensively and makes frequent recommendations.}
Holt suggests his readers take the chapters of his book in whatever order, an invitation I gladly accepted. After reading the introductory chapters—which lay a foundation for the methods—I read the chapters in serendipitous order.
The method chapters can be roughly divided into arithmetic and language arts. Although we do not branch far from the three R’s, Holt’s approach to the basics takes a wide view.
Holt describes in his chapter ‘Fractions and Other Bugaboos’ how poor understanding, sloppy language, and monotonous drills have given mathematics its reputation for being difficult and uninspiring. He recommends that children be given the opportunity to discover mathematical concepts by self-directed experimentation, rather than being drilled on problems they have been taught how to solve. ‘We must resist the temptation,’ he wrote, ‘to say “Here is an easier way.” In looking for that easier way he is doing mathematics, real mathematics.’
He gives examples of mathematical problems teachers might suggest to students, and the motivation students find in real work. Holt argues the need to begin with mathematical realities rather than abstractions, with full language rather than mathematical shorthand.
The chapter ‘From Talking to Writing’ introduces the idea that before we can write well, we must experience that sense of safety that allows us to speak honestly with another person. In the ensuing chapters, Holt describes how recording equipment helps children gain awareness of their own voices, suggests how even the supposedly ‘cut-and-dried’ task of forming letters can be made interesting, and shares ideas for writing activities that help children regain a sense of play and of connection—connection with themselves and the world around them.
Writing in school has been separated from the purpose and motivation of real writing, which is human communication of impressions and convictions. This disconnection, Holt maintains, is one example of why students engage their schoolwork as a task rather than the learning process intended by their teachers. Holt asks that we stop teaching writing as a skill children will use later to write things that are important and meaningful, and instead give them the real and interesting work to do.
The final section of Holt’s book addresses in an introductory manner the practice of ‘Marking and Grading’ {pointing out that grade averages punish slow learners, even those who ultimately master the material}, working with ‘Troubled Children,’ and working towards creating ‘New Spaces for Learning.’ He closes with an overview of recommended resources for those who want to learn more.
If you enjoy this book, you might also enjoy: Home Education {Charlotte M. Mason}, How Children Learn {John Holt}, The Lives of Children {George Dennison}, Making Connections {Caine and Caine}, My Country School Diary {Julia Weber Gordon}.
• cover image from What Do I Do Monday? by John Holt •
October 6, 2015