[MD] Barfuersserkirche (ZMM & Dewey)

[ARLO J BENSINGER JR]

[David M]
There should be no curriculum only opportunities for exploration that can be
taken up or not. Free, dynamic, explorative and directed by curiosity.

[Arlo]
Do children, and college kids, *not* benefit from the guidance of an expert? In
selecting or suggesting readings, for example? If the expert plays no role, why
have classrooms at all? Why *not* just have a library? I don't mean these
questions antagonistically, I think they are genuine questions relating to the
role of The Academy. And they apply at the curricular level as well as the
classroom level.

Again I think we need to be clear that the "creativity beaten out of kids" is
not a function of only "schooling". Family, church, peers, social groups,
teams, sports, etc. all exert the same type of power-structurating on the
child. Some would argue ANY social field, by its very nature, exerts "violence"
on the child/person. And this is not necessarily a BAD thing. Conforming to
social norms of behavior and thought is what has allowed the social level to
emerge from the biological, and persist over generations, AND (way, way back)
provide the foundation for the emergence of intellectual patterns.

This type of conforming pull, I'd argue, is what makes a static pattern (on any
level) a static pattern. The intellectual level persists because it conforms
our way of thinking towards certain things. If we could abolish conformity
outright, the levels would collapse. Not to say that you, or anyone, proposes
such an extreme, I say this only to highlight that the often called "sweet
spot" is what is important. Balancing static conformity with enough "freedom"
to allow evolution forward (redundant on purpose), and not either leveling or
regression.

Seen this way, the role of The Academy *should be* to provide the ongoing
conformity necessary to prevent collapse, but in a way that fosters enough
freedom to allow for evolution. No? Getting there without significant reforms
will be, no doubt, difficult. (One reason, I'd argue again, is the changing
nature of The Academy from a place where those who are interested in pursuing
intellectual patterns in their own right to a place where people come looking
for skills and certifications to get a job... the whole "grade" issue Dan
brought out recently).

Just some thoughts...