Taking Children Seriously
Encyclopedia
Taking Children Seriously (TCS) is a parenting movement and educational philosophy whose central idea is that it is possible and desirable to raise and educate children without either doing anything to them against their will, or making them do anything against their will.
It was founded in 1994 as an email mailing-list by the libertarians Sarah Fitz-Claridge and David Deutsch
. Deutsch is also a theoretical physicist
at Oxford University.
TCS begins with the observation that most traditional interactions between adults and youth are based on coercion
. The TCS model of parenting
and education
rejects this coercion as infringing on the will of the child, and also rejects parental or educator "self-sacrifice" as infringing on the will of the adult. TCS advocates that parents and children work to find a common preference, a solution all parties genuinely prefer to all other candidate solutions they can think of.
The TCS philosophy was inspired by the epistemology of Karl Popper
. Popper was a professional educator himself before he started to do philosophy. In fact, philosophy was only a second option for him at that time, to be able to emigrate to escape the imminent Anschluss
. He was active in the Wiener Schulreform (Vienna school reform) movement, and there are connections between the psychology of learning, on which he did his doctoral thesis, and his philosophy. However, as a philosopher, he did not advocate any concrete pedagogy, although he had some general views on the issue. TCS views Popper's epistemology, as Popper himself, as a universal theory of how knowledge
grows, and tries to work out its profound implications for educational theory
.
It was founded in 1994 as an email mailing-list by the libertarians Sarah Fitz-Claridge and David Deutsch
David Deutsch
David Elieser Deutsch, FRS is an Israeli-British physicist at the University of Oxford. He is a non-stipendiary Visiting Professor in the Department of Atomic and Laser Physics at the Centre for Quantum Computation in the Clarendon Laboratory of the University of Oxford...
. Deutsch is also a theoretical physicist
Physicist
A physicist is a scientist who studies or practices physics. Physicists study a wide range of physical phenomena in many branches of physics spanning all length scales: from sub-atomic particles of which all ordinary matter is made to the behavior of the material Universe as a whole...
at Oxford University.
TCS begins with the observation that most traditional interactions between adults and youth are based on coercion
Coercion
Coercion is the practice of forcing another party to behave in an involuntary manner by use of threats or intimidation or some other form of pressure or force. In law, coercion is codified as the duress crime. Such actions are used as leverage, to force the victim to act in the desired way...
. The TCS model of parenting
Parenting
Parenting is the process of promoting and supporting the physical, emotional, social, and intellectual development of a child from infancy to adulthood...
and education
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
rejects this coercion as infringing on the will of the child, and also rejects parental or educator "self-sacrifice" as infringing on the will of the adult. TCS advocates that parents and children work to find a common preference, a solution all parties genuinely prefer to all other candidate solutions they can think of.
The TCS philosophy was inspired by the epistemology of Karl Popper
Karl Popper
Sir Karl Raimund Popper, CH FRS FBA was an Austro-British philosopher and a professor at the London School of Economics...
. Popper was a professional educator himself before he started to do philosophy. In fact, philosophy was only a second option for him at that time, to be able to emigrate to escape the imminent Anschluss
Anschluss
The Anschluss , also known as the ', was the occupation and annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany in 1938....
. He was active in the Wiener Schulreform (Vienna school reform) movement, and there are connections between the psychology of learning, on which he did his doctoral thesis, and his philosophy. However, as a philosopher, he did not advocate any concrete pedagogy, although he had some general views on the issue. TCS views Popper's epistemology, as Popper himself, as a universal theory of how knowledge
Knowledge
Knowledge is a familiarity with someone or something unknown, which can include information, facts, descriptions, or skills acquired through experience or education. It can refer to the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject...
grows, and tries to work out its profound implications for educational theory
Philosophy of education
Philosophy of education can refer to either the academic field of applied philosophy or to one of any educational philosophies that promote a specific type or vision of education, and/or which examine the definition, goals and meaning of education....
.
External links
- Taking Children Seriously Website.
- Elliot Temple's education and parenting posts
- Fallible Ideas Reprinted in the Utne ReaderUtne ReaderUtne Reader is an American bimonthly magazine. The magazine collects and reprints articles on politics, culture, and the environment from generally alternative media sources, including journals, newsletters, weeklies, zines, music and DVDs...
|title=Taking Children Seriously (TCS) and Anarchy |accessdate=11 November 2008 |work=(I)An-ok |publisher=Green Anarchy |date=Fall 2002 }}