Page 20 RAIN August/September 1979 Think back to the years we spent ill the classroom. Were we encouraged to care about the quality and purpose of our work, our relationships, our community:> Why was the emphasis on competition and the expendiel1cies of the educational system rather than cooperation alld trust-building? Teaching Human Dignity, a compilation of 60 teachers ' essa.ys, goes beyond askil1g these questions and offers workable solutions. It is an educational philosopby - broad concepts such as humaneness and justice are translated illto practical s,')ool experience that students can grasp Ol1to and absorb. The following essay is fro m Teaching Human Dignity, Social Change Lessons for Every Teacher, Marian Wolf-WasSi!rman and Linda Hutchinson, 1978, available for $7.95 from the Education Exploration Center, P.O. Box 7339, Minneapolis, MN 55407. - PC by Will Cummings . . . While docility, subordination and unquestioning acceptance of authority are necessary conditions to the successful operation of modern monopoly capitalism, they would be antithetical to humanitarian socialism, with its emphasis on autonomy and personal responsibility over one's life. What is needed is not obedience to authority but a system of built-in "crap-detecting ;" not competitiveness but a sense of comradeship and cooperation; not mindless consumption but an awareness and concern about the implications of such an act.. . . I, like many concerned teachers, liberal and radical alike, felt the winds of change in the late sixties and responded by experimenting with various classroom techniques ranging from allowing students to decide their own grades to turning the classroom into modified group therapy sessions. The "word" of the day was that schools and teachers were authoritarian; that thc student knew best what was important to learn and that he or she would blossom as a flower if only an atmosphere of freedom and trust were present. The often heard refrain was "It ain't what ya teach, but how ya teach it that matters." Education, according to this view, was seen as therapeutic, with tbe goal of increasing one's awareness of self and one's surroundings, with the ultimate aim of leaving the individual ALL WISDOM DOES NOT FLOW FROM THE TOP DOWN open to new cxperienees, life styles, and for some, to new poIi t ics . Experience and reflection have pointed out serious defects with this philosophy. For one thing, the freedom to express oneself in the elassroom can never be a substitute for acquIring reasonably precise knowkdge about the conditions and forces that shape our lives. .. . Second, an educational theory resting upon sclf-actuali'l..ation can be intensely individualistic and lead one into a false sense of isolation from society. . .. Third, and most important, the "New Way" doem't work. Certainly there was some emotional catharsis that made everybody feci a little better, but it was like taking a warm bath; it is great while you're in the tub but the feeling doesn't last very long .. . . My primary teaching assignment is in San Diego, California, at Grossmont College, a two-year community college that enjoys a reputation as an innovative, high quality institution, governed by a progressive, liberal administration. ... As in most colleges, economics is thought of as a tough, boring course to be avoided by all but the most daring.. .. To deal with this situation, I've developed a methodology that can be summarized by the following three general principles: Perennial Crops 4l c 3 -I if i: :I Q. ~,. ." C ;l Return Agriculture around the world is facing the threat of reduced food production due to massive soil loss. One solution to this problem may bc the development of highly productive perennial grains to replace the annual cereals now in usc. Soil loss averages 9 tons per acre annually in the grain producing states of the U.S. This problem is even more devastating in developing countries where either economic incentives or the threat of starvation compel farmers to cultivate marginal acreages. In effect, these farmers are "mining the soil," or living off the capital stored by plants over millenia. Eventually the efforts of the tiller to increase production will collidt: head-on with the soil's reduced productivity- bringing disastrous consequences. The problem of erosion stems from two roots: the predominant use of annuals and the planting of several crops in succession. Since its inception 10,000 years ago, agriculture has used annuals almost exclusively for stapk foodstuffs. These opportunists leave the land bare for part of the year, allowing the soil to wash and blow freely. Permitting the land to lie dormant used to be a common practice, but the economic blackmail of high-tech agribusiness has forced many a small farmer to grow crops continually. Consequently, the soil is never replenished, and its texture is desuoyea, exacerbating its pell-mell wash to the sea. In a natural plant ecosystem perennials dominate. Their massive intermingling root systems (85 percent of the prairie plant's mass) grip the soil all year round. Economics arc " down to earth," and OVe r the centuries the land experiences a net gain, rather than loss. For farming to succeed in the long run realities must change. Ecosystems
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