Every child has amazing capacities inherent in him, and these gems of inestimable value must be polished. Most parents and educators alike are more than eager to do so, but the question remains: how?
Who better to ask this question to – and get an answer from – than Rafe Esquith. He has been a teacher at Hobart Elementary school for over twenty years, and his classroom, Room 56, has made quite a name for itself for all the right reasons.
His first book, There Are No Shortcuts: Changing the World One Kid at a Time, introduced us to Room 56 and its magic. His second book, Teach Like Your Hair’s on Fire, is filled with great advice on how to make that magic happen. In his third book, Lighting Their Fires: Raising Extraordinary Children in a Mixed-up, Muddled-up, Shook-up World, Rafe Esquith continues sharing insights gained from his more than 20 year’s worth of experience as a teacher, expanding on some of the themes covered in his first book, to expand the magic beyond the classroom.
These aren’t only books about inspiring children to become great students. After all, that’s not what’s the most important about education. Rather, these books are about how to inspire children to become thoughtful and honourable people, making good decisions at each crossroad they encounter during their lives and whose every action is imbibed with wisdom.
And you know you’re getting good advice when the person dispensing said advice is following it, too. This reality leaps out of the pages of this book, as Rafe Esquith strives to make parents and educators understand why he is giving the advice he is giving, rather than simply giving out a list of do's and don’t's.
The other thing Rafe Esquith does is to place the advice he gives in the context of his own personal learning experiences. The overarching plotline of this book is a Dodger’s game to which he took five of his students, but other stories from day-to-day encounters with his students and various programmes Rafe Esquith started fill the gaps.
The success of Rafe Esquith the teacher is probably linked to his true love for teaching, as well as his confident yet humble approach to ten-year-old children; for those of you who have had the experience, you know that an arrogant person cannot hope to achieve a working, two-way relationship with a youngster that age – the type of relationship which is the basis of Rafe Esquith’s teaching method.
Article comments
1 - Christy Corp-Minamiji
Nice review, Sahar. I'm always a bit suspicious about self-help/instructive books, but this one piqued my interest. Though, as a mother of three, I'm not sure I agree with you about the innate altruism of kids! :) Perhaps, I think that the seed is there, but that it is frequently out-competed by other factors/desires. I guess I'd say that it needs to be taught but not implanted.
2 - Sahar
Christy, I defer to your good judgment since you are a mother :)
As a Junior Youth animator, I noticed that most if not all my junior youth (which at this point would near the 100 mark) all have that inner altruism, but some have it hidden under layers of anger or confusion.
As a mother, do you think that perhaps children take you for granted? I know I took my poor mother for granted for way too long, and all the catching up I try to do will probably not come close to what she did for me :)
If you do decide to buy the book, I would so appreciate hearing from you! Again, it would be fascinating for me to hear a mother's point of view and compare it to my own.
3 - Christy Corp-Minamiji
Sahar, I think perhaps my children take each other for granted. :) What I have noticed with them and with their peers is that altruism varies relative to self-interest. I guess I view the role of parent or teacher, with regards to altruism, as that of coach. The inherent talent is there, the practice and skill building need to be encouraged. I'll probably look into the book once I've finished with all of my review material. ;)
4 - Sahar
Good luck with your review material, and I do hope to hear you POV on this book one day :)