Lessons for Tomorrow

By Edward L. Davis

Lessons For Tomorrow: Bringing America's Schools Back from the Brink is a comprehensive guide to help parents, educators, and students understand the core flaws in America's public education system.... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0976966107
• ISBN13: 9780976966104
• Release Date: October 2006
• Publisher: Orgone Press
• Length: 294 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.1" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

How can we make this required reading for educators...and parents?

Finally some new ideas! I think parents (I am one)feel beaten down by the educational system that hasn't improved since our own school days. This entrenched methodology has to be replaced by a system that will do justice to our children and give us the well-educated adults we need for them to become. Davis's book is revealing and puts the issues into a greater context that goes beyond merely tweaking the status quo, and gives us a look at what we could accomplish with fresh thinking. I highly recommend this book.

A Must Read for Educators, Parents and Community Leaders

As an educator and single mother of two accomplished young adults, I found Mr. Davis' incredible historical expose and proposition for change absolutely affirming. In my own parenting experience, very early on it was easy for me to clue into and begin nurturing my daughters' inborn curiosities and talents. Understanding infant and early childhood development as well as that of the human brain, perhaps I had a bit of an edge. Nevertheless, as soon as "we" (the girls and I) entered the public schools, it became immediately clear that "the institution", by its design, was hosing the fire for learning -- a fire that is essential to healthy, successful individual and community life. My zeal to continue nurturing my children in a way that allowed them not only to remain eager life-long learners and grow into good citizens, but to also become (within their abilities and interests) all that they aspired to be, put me (and other families with similar concerns) in direct opposition with the system ... this challenge drained large amounts of valuable time, energy and resources that could have been invested in families and community life in other areas of tremendous need! In my professional life over the last 25 years, I have also witnessed the consequence to many communities of the "dumbing down" process. It is a design that, if not replaced by an education architecture such as that so expertly set forth by Mr. Davis, will take us into the abyss. TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE ... "Lessons for Tomorrow" should be required reading of every educator, parent and community leader. Please read this book and share it with others. Thank you, Mr. Davis, for bringing this critical discussion to a new level and providing a workable architectural plan that can meaningfully replace what has long been obsolete.

Lessons we all should learn!

Not only have I read Mr. Davis' book, but I have been fortunate enough to communicate with him about it. I believe this is the ultimate look at a progressive, forward thinking view of where education needs to go. It has inspired me to be more vocal with policy makers in my state, and to be a part of a necessary revolution in the field of education. This book is a MUST READ for anyone in the field of education who is serious about what they do for a living. I would like to thank Mr. Davis for this work and look forward to the next.

A Wakeup Call for America!

Coming from the angle of layperson and concerned parent of two young Montessori students, this book was spot on. The history of educational philosophy, from ancient Greece through Colonial America, to the modern age, gives the reader a strong understanding of educational goals and methods throughout history. The idea that student initiative and interest is essential for true learning blends well with what I believe and have experienced in my short exposure to the Montessori method. Mr Davis is thorough in his documentation of our educational shortcomings (shockingly so I might add), and explicit in his model for education in the 21st Century and beyond. Let's just say, the teachers union will probably argue with many of his suggestions. While the reading can be "heavy" at times, it is approachable for the layperson, and hefty enough for the policy wonks and academics to sink their teeth into. Buy 2 books and give one to your local school principal! Change can only begin with a debate at the local level...

Solid synopsis of the education's deepest issues & interesting ideas for alternatives

After reading a lot of John Taylor Gatto and other critical education writers, I was initially hesitant about a book written by someone who's background was technology-based learning. Like homeschooling, a lot of online and computer-based learning is the same school game in a different package. I was pleasantly proved incorrect. Davis forms a cogent summary of the deep, root issues of modern schooling and why no reform will cure them. Like Gatto, he concludes that a total rehaul of the system is needed. The "learner-centered learning architecture" that Davis elaborates on is a strong blend of focus on individual needs/wants, appropriate use of modern technology (mostly computers), and realistic appraisal of new roles for teachers/mentors/adults. His vision is realizable. Davis' overall strong writing is marred by occasional off-topic chapters, seemingly thrown together at random, and at times his writing feels like a 10th grade term paper with its repititive introductions and conclusions. On the whole, the writing style is strong and commanding. I gave the book 5 stars because his analysis of the schoooling/education problem is excellent, his "prime directives" of learner-centered education are valid, and he makes strong, original suggestions for an alternative system of public education. If you like this book, be sure to check out Gatto, Llewllyn, the Sudbury Valley School books... don't be constrained to the Barnes'n'Noble selection of Kohn, Kozol, and the rest of the progressives!