The Unfinished Revolution: Learning, Human Behavior, Community, and Political Paradox.

In this book, it is argued that the so-called crisis in education is really a crisis in childhood and that the unit of change is not the school but rather the larger community. Schools inherited from the industrial age are structured to develop a mass of students who, at best, are equipped with basic skills and the ability to follow orders. The cadre of creative, lifelong learners is small. To create learning environments that help all children take control of their own learning, a constructivist and apprentice-based approach is proposed that takes account of current understanding about how humans actually learn. The concept of "going with the grain of the brain" is urged as a way of breaking down today's highly partitioned system of education. The case is made that communities have the power to help education blend into a continuum in which learning opportunities permeate the entire culture. This form of dynamic learning will not be seen as a system but rather as a way of life. Learning will be something that all can recognize, encourage, and actively support through formal education, community participation, and the power of the connected world of information communication and technology. (RT)