John Stuart Mill (1869): Active learning through discourse

A person who derives all his instruction from teachers or books, even if he escape the besetting temptation of contenting himself with cram, is under no compulsion to hear both sides; accordingly it is far from a frequent accomplishment, even among thinkers, to know both sides; and the weakest part of what everybody says in defence of his opinion, is what he intends as a reply to antagonists. It is the fashion of the present time to disparage negative logic - that which points out weaknesses in theory or errors in practice, without establishing positive truths. Such negative criticism would indeed be poor enough as an ultimate result; but as a means to attaining any positive knowledge or conviction worthy the name, it cannot be valued too highly; and until people are again systematically trained to it, there will be few great thinkers, and a low general average of intellect, in any but the mathematical and physical departments of speculation. On any other subject no one's opinions deserve the name of knowledge, except so far as he has either had forced on him by others, or gone through of himself, the same mental process which would have been required of him in carrying on an active controversy with opponents. That, therefore, which when absent, it is so indispensable, but so difficult, to create, how worse than absurd it is to forego, when spontaneously offering itself! If there are any persons who contest a received opinion, or who will do so if law or opinion will let them, let us thank them for it, open our minds and listen to them, and rejoice that there is some one to do for us what we otherwise ought, if we have any regard for either the certainty or vitality of our convictions, to do with much greater labor for ourselves.

John Stuart Mill

"On Liberty" (1869), Chapter 2.

Funds of Knowledge: Genuine School Communities

Luis Moll (1992) develops valuable ideas for home-school relationships. He argues for the importance of identifying skills, knowledge, expertise and interests that families own, which can serve everyone in the classroom. Parents, grandparents and other community members can supplement teachers, providing what Moll calls funds of knowledge: 'cultural practices and bodies of knowledge and information that households use to survive, to get ahead or to thrive' (Moll, 1992, p.21). Funds of useful knowledge include agricultural information about flowers, plants and trees, seeds, water distribution and management, animal care and veterinary medicine, ranch economy, car and bicycle mechanics, carpentry, masonry, electrical wiring and appliances, fencing, folk remedies, herbal cures and midwifery, archeology, biology and mathematics.

Compare Moll's ideas with two other traditions of home-school relations. One traditional view is that language minority homes lack the social, cultural and intellectual stimulation and resources to enable children to progress well at school. Thus, teachers may have low expectations for school performance, particularly when students come from working class or materially disadvantaged backgrounds.

Another tradition is that effective teachers visit the home, to discuss particular problems with the parents, to enlist their help in schoolwork, and to request they help children with homework. This traditional view assumes that the school knows best and parents are valuable for encouragement they give children to adopt school norms and values.

Moll's (1992) radically different viewpoint about language minority homes is that parents and communities possess important historically developed, accumulated knowledge, abilities, strategies, ideals, ideas, practices and cultural events. These are regarded within a household and community as important to their functioning and well-being. Whether parents are farmers or construction workers, there are prized skills, knowledge and cultural practices worth sharing in the classroom.

If parents, community leaders, workers and artists are included in the learning experiences of children, home notions of culture are represented, valued, and celebrated. Different forms of worthwhile knowledge, experience and expertise are shared in the classroom, raising the self-esteem of children, the language minority group and the community. Hidden talents, oral histories, household skills and latent abilities are discovered and shared. These social, cultural and intellectual resources become important curricular elements.

SOURCE:

Baker, Colin (2000) The Care and Education of Young Bilinguals: An Introduction for Professionals. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. (pp. 84, 85)

REFS/FURTHER READING:

Delgado-Gaitan, C. (1990) Literacy for Empowerment: The Role of Parents in Children's Education. New York: Falmer.

Moll, L.C. (1992) Bilingual classroom studies and community analysis. Educational Researcher 21 (2). 20-24.

Moll, L.C. et al. (1992) Funds of knowledge for teaching: Using a qualitative approach to connect homes and classrooms. Theory into Practice 31 (2), 132-141.

Multilingual Resources for Children Project (1995) Building Bridges, Multilingual Resources for Children. Clevedon; Multilingual Matters.