“That learning which thou gettest by thy own observation and experience, is far beyond that which thou gettest by precept; as the knowledge of a traveller exceeds that which is got by reading.”
Thomas à Kempis
“Experience: that most brutal of teachers. But you learn, my God do you learn.”
C.S.Lewis
“One had to cram all this stuff into one's mind for the examinations, whether one liked it or not. This coercion had such a deterring effect on me that, after I had passed the final examination, I found the consideration of any scientific problems distasteful to me for an entire year.
It is in fact nothing short of a miracle that the modern methods of instruction have not yet entirely stamped out the holy curiosity of enquiry, for this delicate little plant arising from stimulation stands mainly in need of freedom without which it goes to wrack and ruin without fail.
It is a very grave mistake to think that the enjoyment of learning can be promoted by coercion and a sense of duty.”
Albert Einstein
“Every act of conscious learning requires the willingness to suffer an injury to one's self-esteem. That is why young children, before they are aware of their own self-importance, learn so easily.”
Thomas Szasz
“Sit down before fact as a little child be prepared to give up every conceived notion, follow humbly wherever and whatever abysses nature leads, or you will learn nothing.”
Thomas Huxley
"I always think that we live spiritually by what others have given us in the significant hours of our life. These significant hours do not announce themselves as coming, but arrive unexpected. Nor do they make a great show of themselves: they pass almost unperceived. Often, indeed, their significance comes home to us as we look back, just as the beauty of a landscape or of a piece of music strikes us first in our recollection of it. Much that has become our own in gentleness, modesty, kindness, willingness to forgive, in veracity, loyalty, resignation under suffering, we owe to people in whom we have seen or experienced these virtues at work, sometimes in a great manner, sometimes in a small. A thought which had become an act sprang into us like a spark, and lighted a new flame within us. If we had before us those who have thus been a blessing to us, and could tell them how it came about, they would be amazed to learn what passed over from their life into ours."
Albert Schweizer
"Sometimes I look about me with a feeling of complete dismay. In the confusion that afflicts the world today, I see disrespect for the very values of life.
Beauty is all about us, but how many seem to see nothing. Each second we live in a new and unique moment of the universe, a moment that never was before and will never be again. And what do we teach our children? We teach them that two and two make four and that Paris is the capital of France. When will we also teach them what they are?
We should say to each of them: Do you know what you are? You are a marvel. You are unique. In the entire world there is no other child exactly like you. In the millions of years that have passed there has never been another child like you. And look at your body-what a wonder it is. Your legs, your arm, your cunning fingers, the way you move. You may become a Shakespeare, a Michelangelo, a Beethoven. You have the capacity for anything. You are a marvel. And when you grow up, can you then harm another who is, like you, a marvel? You must cherish one another. You must work - we all must work-to make this world worthy of its children.”
Pablo Casals - Joys and Sorrows
“Those who are designated ‘bright’ know by that very fact they are being complimented and credited with a valuable attribute. The ‘less able’ understand that they lack the very quality on which the school sets most store; a sense of failure tends to permeate the whole personality, leaving a residue of powerlessness and hopelessness."
David Hargreaves - The Challenge for the Comprehensive School
“One of the deepest needs of the human heart is the need to be appreciated. Every human being wants to be valued….. Every human being craves to be accepted, accepted for what he is….. When I am not accepted, then something in me is broken….. Acceptance means that the people with whom I live give me a feeling of self-respect, a feeling that I am worthwhile.
“They are happy that I am who I am. Acceptance means that I am welcome to be myself. Acceptance means that though there is need for growth, I am not forced. I do not have to be the person I am not.”
Peter van Breemen - A Bread that is Broken
“What constitutes a school? Not ancient halls and ivy-mantled towers where dull traditions rule. Not spacious pleasure courts and lofty temples of athletic fame where devotees of sport mistake a pastime for life’s highest aim. Not fashion or renown or wealthy patronage and rich estate.
No one of these can crown a school with light and make it truly great. But teachers strong and wise who teach because they love the teacher’s task and find their richest prize in eyes that open and minds that ask.”
Henry van Dyke
"He could not describe the beauty that surrounded him:
The soft green dale and craggy hills.
He could not spell the names
Of those mysterious places which he knew so well.
But he could snare a rabbit, ride a horse.
Repair a tractor, plough a field,
Milk a cow and lamb a ewe.
Name a bird by faded feather
Smell the seasons and predict the weather:
That less able child could."
Gervaise Finn - Less Able
E: john@baugh.one
M: +44(0)7734 990534