K-12 Email Discussion Group Archive
February, 2003

From: Quaden@aol.com
Date: Sat, 1 Feb 2003
Subject:Langheim: Idea for an ISDC session
To: k-12sd@sysdyn.mit.edu, K-12SD@MITVMA.MIT.EDU I would be willing to participate, depending on the specifics. Are we talking
about administering a series of relatively brief 'tests' to a number of
different classes?

Rob Quaden
Carlisle Public Schools

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Date: Mon, 03 Feb 2003
Subject Booth-Sweeney: Montessori approach?
From: Kathy Minardi <k.minardi@aidanschool.org>
To: k-12sd k-12sd@sysdyn.mit.eduDear Linda,At the Elementary level students approach the year's
curriculum with a number of over-arching "great stories" that create a
context for studies in all disciplines. The Third Great Story is "The
Coming of Human Beings." This is the context for approaching the study of
cultural history, discovery and invention, natural history and social
studies from the perspective of the "needs of humans" as dependent,
independent and interdependent.

As children look at a culture, you will
hear them discussing and diagramming what the needs of those humans are and
how they developed or are affected by their geography, historical time etc.
The Great Stories are connected stories that span the enormous historical
time frames of time and space. They are a cosmology. They each lead to the
detailed academic disciplines, but provide a unifying thread that develops
conviction in the child around the themes of progress and interdependency.
The stories present not only the changes the earth has undergone since its
beginnings, but also the ways in which each new animal or plant affects all
the others.

My work has been to introduce to our children the simple
archetypes of systems thinking as further tools for metacognitive work as
well as enhancing understanding of their current curriculum. The original
question in the email was about losing our natural ability to see the world
as interrelated. Of course, all humans become "separate" after leaving the
very early years after birth. But a classroom can create an environment
that encourages rather than minimizing this emotional and psychological
process.

Children really can retain this natural ability in an environment
prepared for it. Another key area in Montessori education is the multi age
community of approximately three age levels in a classroom. Inherent in the
classroom work is a highly cooperative, collaborative way of relating.
Children see themselves socially as very interdependent, and their world as
such as well. We see it in practical ways as well as more metaphoric ways.
Perhaps I should begin collecting observations that are evidence of this.
It is the norm so we take it for granted. When you are in Washington, DC you
are welcome to visit.
Kathy Minardi

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Date: Mon, 6 Jan 2003 14:10:52 -0500
To: k-12sd k-12sd@sysdyn.mit.edu
From: Linda Booth Sweeney <linda_booth_sweeney@harvard.edu>
Subject: Re: Minardi: When do we lose our natural ability to see the
world as whole and inter-related
Hi Kathy,Can you say more about how the Montessori approach is systemic. Is
there an example you can give?
Linda
Linda Booth Sweeney
Harvard Graduate School of Education
e-mail: Linda_Booth_Sweeney@harvard.edu
tel: 617-354-1390
fax: 617-812-8935

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Date: Thu, 06 Feb 2003
From: EVScott7@aol.com
To: k-12sd@sysdyn.mit.edu (k-12sd)
Subject: Re: Minardi: Montessori approach?
This is an elegant description of what goes on in a Montessori
environment and does an excellent job of framing the systems approach
within the context of student directed learning. Well done.
Elane V. Scott
Consultant to The Boeing Company
Future Workforce Development

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Date: Wed, 26 Feb 2003 11:44:12 -0500
Subject: Change of address for the list serve
From: Lees Stuntz <stuntzln@clexchange.org>
To: ListServK 12 < k-12sd@sysdyn.mit.edu>Dear Members of the K-12SD list serve,We are undergoing a change of location and server for this list. The maintenance of the list is being moved over to the Creative Learning Exchange and the list itself will be run from the clexchange.org location. The changes which you will experience are:
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