Moapa Valley Progress Newspaper

Home

News

Sports

Opinion

Upcoming Events

	What is a Thomas Jefferson Education? Part 2

	By John Pulver Submitted April 23, 2008 “A Thomas Jefferson Education,” is the title of the book on classics-based education written by Dr. Oliver Van DeMille. In it, he describes the kind of education that created some of the greatest leaders in history—Thomas Jefferson being the main example. A common question is raised: can Thomas Jefferson Education be used in conjunction with any other educational system? Indeed, any parent can utilize this approach with their children simply by exposing them steadily to the original classic sources and materials. Parents who desire to create an atmosphere of learning in their home can use the principles within TJEd to create a passion for learning and discovery that will generate from within their children. The key is providing the space, time and climate for growth within the home environment and to minimize distractions from the learning process. In part one of this series, which appeared in the March 26 issue of the Progress, I discussed the two keys of Inspire not Require and Mentors not Professors. What follows are two more keys which are used in Thomas Jefferson Education. Classics, not textbooks: One result of the Industrial Revolution was specialization, where each person performed a certain job which was part of the overall machinery of society. People became specialists. This carried over strongly into education. Knowledge became divided up into specialties, majors, disciplines, fields and jobs. Gaining a broad understanding of life and things was replaced by a set of ‘knowledge bites’ for each area. Each area began to grow and develop and the ‘expert’ was heralded and relied upon in each field. Textbooks were developed to attractively present the minimal levels of understanding which naturally lead to the winnowing down of information into explainable terms to the masses. Mass schooling was also in full force by the early 20th century and developed its requirements for subject mastery in each field. Unfortunately, over time the pure ideas, original writings, and historical contexts morphed into whatever these ‘experts’ thought most important and much of original thought was lost to the average person. The textbook movement largely taught students ‘what’ to think, rather than ‘how’ to think. By contrast, a classic original writing usually contains elements of the great debates about life that have been going on since the dawn of the written word. It requires an engagement of thought by the reader and he or she must decide what they think of what is being presented. In short, the great writings of the past and present stretch the mind. This then becomes our challenge- to know what they knew, to expose ourselves to the difficult questions of life, and to know what makes the positive difference in any given situation. So if you want to be successful in creating leadership education, in preparing students to lead their families, communities and careers, teach them how to think. How? Get them into the classics, do it with them, accept only quality and apply it to real life. It’s about you, not them: Adults should not be asking their children to do something they are not willing to do themselves. Adults lead out by example, study hard and pay the price in their own learning. As everyone in the learning environment is involved in gaining a truly great education, the motivation of each person is enhanced. Children tend to rise to the educational level of their parents, and maybe a little above if their parents have shown them that this is important. Parents can gather together as desired to discuss what they are learning in book clubs, or through the internet; thus providing a support network for their continued educational efforts. TJEd lights or rekindles the fire of learning in all, children and parents alike; which then becomes contagious within the home. The purpose of the NorthStar Commonwealth, in part, is to mentor future leaders who can take their place in homes, communities and in the nation to make a positive impact. NorthStar invites all who are interested in further information about Thomas Jefferson Education to attend a free Community Information Forum which will be held in the Overton Community Center on Thursday, April 24 at 7:00 P.M. Laura Bledsoe, a national speaker and a promoter of the principles in TJEd and John Pulver will be the principle presenters. John Pulver is a Professor of Sociology at the College of Southern Nevada and serves as Vice-Chair of the NorthStar Commonwealth as well as Chair of the Moapa Valley College of Southern Nevada Advisory Committee.