Has anyone read the book 'A Thomas Jefferson Education' by Oliver DeMille?
Any thoughts on it?
It is geared toward homeschoolers and my understanding is that it presents a different philosophy on education in general (even for adults). From my understanding it presents how Thomas Jefferson was educated (as well as many of the other founding fathers) which is very different than the type of education model we normally use today, especially in the public school systems.
They have a website as well - http://www.tjed.org/
I'm just trying to get to know all I can about it.
A Thomas Jefferson Education
A Thomas Jefferson Education
“The Underground Church is a poor and suffering church, but it has few lukewarm members.” - Richard Wurmbrand
Re: A Thomas Jefferson Education
Never heard of it, but it sounds intriguing!
Re: A Thomas Jefferson Education
I went ahead and read the book “A Thomas Jefferson Education by Oliver DeMille” and thought I’d go ahead and give a quick review on it in case anyone else was interested.
As I stated before, it is a book about a different way of doing education altogether. Not that it’s a new way of education because this philosophy has been around for ages; but simply a different way of education in that we don’t see it operative in our culture very much anymore.
As you probably imagined, the name ‘Thomas Jefferson Education’ came from the way Thomas Jefferson himself was educated and mentored by a man named George Wythe (pronounced ‘with’). It has also been commonly called ‘Leadership Education’. It seems the author simply uses Thomas Jefferson’s name and biography as a springboard to present the philosophy itself.
The author talks about 3 types of education that have always existed throughout history…
1. Conveyor Belt Education ~ Teaches people what to think. This is the most common way of education in our culture today and is found in most public school systems. This system gives the student predetermined curriculum and usually expects the student to learn that curriculum within a specific time frame.
2. Professional Education ~ Teaches people when to think. This is very similar to the ‘Conveyor Belt Education’ except the standards are much higher. This would refer to a specific field of study such as a doctor, mechanic, pilot, engineer, etc…These people are consulted when there is an issue in their related field of study but not outside of that field.
3. Leadership Education ~ Teaches people how to think. This system seeks out the student’s desires, interests, strengths & weaknesses and encourages them to identify and follow their passions. This system is designed to allow the student to develop in their own time by the use of Classics & Mentors. Classics are not limited to just literature but are also classic arts, sciences, communications, architecture, math and on and on. Almost everything has classic work involved with it. The idea is to ‘rub mental shoulders’ with great minds so that it spurs the student think for him/her self, wrestle with great issues and ultimately be exposed to great thinking. The mentor is there to guide, encourage, offer advice, provide material or tools, etc… but stays out of the student’s way of learning – the student drives while the mentor is along for the ride.
Although the author clearly prefers the ‘Leadership’ model, he still believes we need all 3 systems of education in order to be a balanced and prospering nation. His argument is that when we neglect one of the 3 types of education our nation is not as strong as it could be and ultimately declines as a result.
He also makes it clear that this way of education is not just for homeschoolers but could also be implemented in public, private, and even college institutions as well. However homeschoolers will be more likely to benefit the most since they have the most influence over their child as they are growing into adulthood.
A while back I wrote down a quote from one of Steve’s audio teachings in which he said…
“Students will learn and retain things that they were already curious about. They are much less likely to retain and learn things that they hadn’t any curiosity about when you decided to tell it to them."
This is exactly what the Thomas Jefferson Education philosophy is based on – students wanting to learn because they are curious about something and encouraging them to pursue it.
Overall, as a homeschool parent this book got me excited! The only negative I encountered was that there seemed to be times when the information was a bit choppy or wasn’t as formatted as well as it could have been. I hear the 2nd edition is a bit better. Or it could have just been my sporadic reading
.
There is much more in this surprisingly small book than I have mentioned here, and I highly recommend it to everyone.
As I stated before, it is a book about a different way of doing education altogether. Not that it’s a new way of education because this philosophy has been around for ages; but simply a different way of education in that we don’t see it operative in our culture very much anymore.
As you probably imagined, the name ‘Thomas Jefferson Education’ came from the way Thomas Jefferson himself was educated and mentored by a man named George Wythe (pronounced ‘with’). It has also been commonly called ‘Leadership Education’. It seems the author simply uses Thomas Jefferson’s name and biography as a springboard to present the philosophy itself.
The author talks about 3 types of education that have always existed throughout history…
1. Conveyor Belt Education ~ Teaches people what to think. This is the most common way of education in our culture today and is found in most public school systems. This system gives the student predetermined curriculum and usually expects the student to learn that curriculum within a specific time frame.
2. Professional Education ~ Teaches people when to think. This is very similar to the ‘Conveyor Belt Education’ except the standards are much higher. This would refer to a specific field of study such as a doctor, mechanic, pilot, engineer, etc…These people are consulted when there is an issue in their related field of study but not outside of that field.
3. Leadership Education ~ Teaches people how to think. This system seeks out the student’s desires, interests, strengths & weaknesses and encourages them to identify and follow their passions. This system is designed to allow the student to develop in their own time by the use of Classics & Mentors. Classics are not limited to just literature but are also classic arts, sciences, communications, architecture, math and on and on. Almost everything has classic work involved with it. The idea is to ‘rub mental shoulders’ with great minds so that it spurs the student think for him/her self, wrestle with great issues and ultimately be exposed to great thinking. The mentor is there to guide, encourage, offer advice, provide material or tools, etc… but stays out of the student’s way of learning – the student drives while the mentor is along for the ride.
Although the author clearly prefers the ‘Leadership’ model, he still believes we need all 3 systems of education in order to be a balanced and prospering nation. His argument is that when we neglect one of the 3 types of education our nation is not as strong as it could be and ultimately declines as a result.
He also makes it clear that this way of education is not just for homeschoolers but could also be implemented in public, private, and even college institutions as well. However homeschoolers will be more likely to benefit the most since they have the most influence over their child as they are growing into adulthood.
A while back I wrote down a quote from one of Steve’s audio teachings in which he said…
“Students will learn and retain things that they were already curious about. They are much less likely to retain and learn things that they hadn’t any curiosity about when you decided to tell it to them."
This is exactly what the Thomas Jefferson Education philosophy is based on – students wanting to learn because they are curious about something and encouraging them to pursue it.
Overall, as a homeschool parent this book got me excited! The only negative I encountered was that there seemed to be times when the information was a bit choppy or wasn’t as formatted as well as it could have been. I hear the 2nd edition is a bit better. Or it could have just been my sporadic reading
.There is much more in this surprisingly small book than I have mentioned here, and I highly recommend it to everyone.
“The Underground Church is a poor and suffering church, but it has few lukewarm members.” - Richard Wurmbrand