As you note, nothing in traditional school is "natural" or even "human" - except for the unfortunate human desire for power and control. William Alcott wrote about this in 1832, Louisa Parsons Hopkins in 1886, John Holt in the 1960s, Postman and Weingartner in 1969, John Bremer in 1971, and my colleague and I have written and spoken about it extensively https://my.aasa.org/AASA/Resources/SAMag/2019/Oct19/Moran-Socol.aspx
https://www.amazon.com/Timeless-Learning-Imagination-Observation-Zero-Based/dp/1119461693
So, as Alcott noted (1832) if you force a kid to sit in a chair for more than 5 minutes straight, you'll create a problem. If you don't work in age-appropriate time, space, and rules, you'll have problems. If the structure of your teaching is anti-child, you will have huge problems. We altered spaces, altered time, altered schoolwork and we solved most discipline problems while also pushing graduation rates up to 98% (in very diverse schools - urban, suburban, rural - very rich and very poor.
We listened, we let teachers invent and we made everything learner-centered. No, it is not impossible, just as the NYPD is discovering that in high crime areas sometimes supporting neighborhood patrols is the best way to make things right.
I've been an educator and I've been a cop. Both professions have those who constantly engage in fights, and those who do not behave that way.
I'm around to keep the conversation going if you'd like.
- Ira Socol
