John Goodlad, celebrated by progressive/socialist educators worldwide, writes frequently of the importance of state influence in “enculturating” young minds, particularly with regard to morals, social values and politics. At the same time he publicly advocates philosophies that are incompatible with traditional family values. Consider a sample of Goodlad’s writings, compared with traditional family values:
| Goodlad Philosophies | Family Values | |
| Morals | “Educators must resist the quest for certainty. If there were certainty there would be no scientific advancement. So it is with morals and patriotism.” |
Morals defined by God |
| Role of Parents | “Parents do not own their children. They have no ‘natural right’ to control their education fully.”“Most youth still hold the same values of their parents…if we do not alter this pattern, if we don’t resocialize, our system will decay.” | Parents have the primary responsibility to educate their children. |
| Education | “A standardized curriculum of basic skills such as reading, writing and arithmetic cannot prepare people to participate in a democracy.””Enlightened social engineering is required to face situations that demand global action now.”(John Goodlad, Preface to J.M. Becker: Schooling for a Global Age) | Academic excellence is critically important to the future success of the child.Schools should “develop within students the intellectual and personal habits and skills upon which responsible, independent and productive lives are built, in the firm belief that such lives are the basis of a free and just society.”“Teach ye diligently…” |
| Desired Political System | “The state we should strive for is better described in Deweyan terms as a social democracy.”(John Goodlad, 2001: Developing Democratic Character in the Young) | A free Republic (U.S. Constitution, Art 4, Sec 4) |
It is funny to me how the author of this post (jcarman) just happened to neglect the following quote from John Goodlad’s book: ‘In praise of education’ :
“There has not been, for me, any place outside the family, either as child or parent, that has offered equivalent degrees of freedom and unconditional love”
Why do we cherry pick only the quotations that fit our narrow-minded view of a persons character? Before we pass judgement on a man who is well-respected all over the world, let’s make sure we have the whole story! How unfortunate it would be if we condemned the Dalai Lama as a heretic because he believed in reincarnation?
Here are some other pro-John Goodlad quotes the author failed to recognize:
The role of teachers is “to provide for every child the richest kind of environment where the youngster can develop as a responsible human being”
“We must encourage people to recognize freedom as an inherent part of what it means to be human”
“It is our moral obligation to maintain and enhance human dignity results in the human rights to equal freedom, equal consideration, and brotherly/sisterly love”
John Goodlad “believes there to be moral dispositions that should be acceptable to all people in a democratic society: fairness, equality, justice, freedom, caring, community, and relatedness”
“There has not been, for me, any place outside the family, either as child or parent, that has offeren equivalent degrees of freedom and unconditional love”
Chris, thank you for your comment. First (with respect), Goodlad is no Dalai Lama.
Second, Goodlad, like Dewey, Noddings, Ayers, and other popular Progressivist educators, blend happy concepts like “children are our number one priority” with statist concepts like “we need to resocialize” children away from the values of their parents. This is naturally a problem for most parents.
Third, “By their fruits…” Goodlad’s fruits are the NNER and IEI, with their open, aggresive GLBTQQIIAA, social justice and political agendas (“mingled with” nurturing, morals and democracy). Bill Ayers was the keynote speaker at NNER a month ago and Nel Noddings keynoted a year ago.
I’m not saying Goodlad is all bad–nobody is all bad. I’m suggesting that school districts can –and have a moral responsibility to–aim higher, when identifying role models for teachers and students.