Saturday, February 21, 2015

I have to throw this one in: process vs. product in teaching

"It is true that some of the kindergarten paper work and drawings are in themselves pretty enough, in their childish way, to deserve attention on their own merits. But with regard to such objects two things must be observed. First, that the beauty of the result has no relation whatever to the value of the work which produces it. Secondly and chiefly, that a consideration of the results in themselves gives rise to a strong temptation to neglect the most profitable ways of attaining results, and to adopt easy methods of producing striking but uneducative results." ~~ Sir John Adams, The Herbartian Psychology

Take that, Ontario EQAO testing, and all the rest of your kind.

3 comments:

Silvia said...

Anne, I read some of your Herbatianism posts, but, since I cannot read your book yet, I am reading them all at once and having a blast. A very educational blast.

Mama Squirrel said...

Thank you!!

Amanda said...

What a great quote! And oh so tempting sometimes to produce results/products to show off.