Principles of TJED

Recently on TJED Muse, a Yahoo Group for TJED families, there was a thread posted about negative blogs about TJED. I've seen them before. What inevitably ends up happening is a confused outlook on what TJED or Leadership Education really is. So, I responded to that post and decided to share it here.

Principles of TJED

I think the thing many miss is that all of the TJED books are about Principles, not a formula for how everyone should "do it". I love "Leadership Education: the Phases of Learning" because it explains the Principles of TJED.

Worldly Example: Tithing

Principle: The scriptures state that believers in Christ should pay one tenth of their increase in tithes to the Lord (or their church).

Practice: One person obeys this principle by paying one tenth after each paycheck is received. Another pays on a monthly basis, while yet another is self-employed and pays on a quarterly basis based upon profit. Still another person saves the money all year and pays once a year.

Who is doing it "right"? All of them! 

TJED Example:  Kidschool - Ingredient #4 - "Leadership Education: The Phases of Learning" pages 70-74

Principle: Gather the children together each day to share "What is Mine".

Practice: Rachel DeMille gives her examples in the book. I gather my children for religious devotional, read aloud book(s), and discussion of the books we read together and what they are reading and I gear it towards my Scholar age children and allow the little ones to play. Another family does Kidschool for older children during nap time while the little ones sleep. Another mother has Science on Monday, History on Tuesday, Literature on Wednesday, etc. Yet another mother gears Kidschool in the morning towards her younger children which leaves her free for the afternoon for older children. In another family, the father shares what he is passionate about in the evening after dinner.

Who is doing it "right"? All of them! Each family applies the principle in the way that meets their needs. Sometimes those needs change and are re-vamped as the needs of the family change. The principle of Kidschool is mother/father sharing what they feel inspired to share with their children to show passion and life-long learning. It doesn't matter when. It doesn't matter what they share. The principle leads to success in TJED because the children see their parent(s) passion for learning.

It is easy to get caught up in "the right way" to do things or the "only way to succeed" mentality. That is our conveyor-belt training! Whenever you think in absolutes when it comes to TJED, STOP! Ask yourself, "What is the Principle?" and then "How should I apply that Principle?"

New Service - Mentoring Adults and Youth

Finding Your Path to Mission

I am excited to enter a new level of mentoring! I've been asked on occasion to mentor individuals and feel I am ready to open my services to more individuals. My website with more information will be coming soon!

Mentoring Adults
My experience with mentoring adults largely revolves around helping people over come conveyor-belt hangovers. Simply put, it is challenging to overcome our conditioning of the conveyor-belt education most of us had to thinking like a mentor. This takes time and practice. Having a mentor helps to redirect thinking into the right path through a weekly check-in call and personalized mentoring feedback.

In addition to mentoring personal calls via phone or Skype, I provide some direction and focus through exercises meant to help the student/mentee find their Mission and the path to Mission. I do not profess to know another person's Mission. Not at all. However, I provide a sounding board for ideas, plans, and classics to help you on your way.

I am not a fit for every person. If you would like a consultation about what I might be able to help you with, please feel free to email me here. Some areas I offer are:

• Support in learning and implementing the 8 Keys of Great Teaching.
• Ideas for implementing the Ingredients for Success.
• Coaching for jumping off and staying off the Conveyor-belt and thinking like a Mentor.
• Determining Phase of Learning level.
• Help in planning home culture that supports family work, creates an environment to Inspire, and a path to personal success.

Mentoring Youth
I have mentored my own youth for the past seven years. I have one adult child at college who is in Scholar Phase and was also public schooled. She is studying to be a Pharmacist. My second child is 17 and transitioning from Self-Directed to Mentored Scholar. She attends part-time college online at BYU-I and will begin her second year there this Fall. My youngest is 15 and transitioning between Practice and Project Scholar. He loves anything technology based and has his own online business.

I provide the same type of service for youth to help them determine what phase they are in and point them towards the Path to Mission. This service is not intended to take the place of Parent Mentoring, but to provide a different level of Mentoring to help those new to Leadership Education provide an outside mentor while the parents get themselves more education on how to be a mentor.

Types of Mentoring
For more information on the types of Formal Mentors please see the book "Thomas Jefferson Education for Teens" pages 49-50:

1. Coach
2. Facilitator
3. Leader
4. Manager
5. Advocate
6. Guide

More information will be coming soon about the various types of Formal Mentors and how I may be able to help you and/or your young adult. See our Mentoring Services page for more information.

Need more information? Go here to send me an email.

 

Key #5 - Inspire, Not Require

Another installment on Leadership Education principles:

One of the hardest principles to implement from the Eight Keys of Great Teaching is Inspire, Not Require. Most of us grew up with a Conveyor Belt Education where we were "required" to finish certain educational goals whether we were emotionally, mentally, or physically ready to accomplish them. Because of this, we have a very hard time grasping the concept of how to Inspire, Not Require. I know it was very hard for me at first...maybe I'm the only one, but I don't think so.

Let's think about this example:
When we teach our children to walk do we stand them up in the middle of the floor and say, "OK, little Johnny, you are going to learn to walk today. You have until 3:00 pm today to learn to walk. We have discussed how to balance, how to place one foot in front of the other, switch our weight to that foot and then place the other one. I've even shown you every day how this is to be done. If you don't learn how to walk today, then we will have to hold you back from learning to eat by yourself."

This may seem ridiculous, but it is how we educate children around the country, even around the world. Do we take into consideration if the child knows how to balance? Or how to place their feet? In learning to walk, it seems that all parents instinctively know that it is up to the child to master this concept as time goes by, eventually mastering the process without any formal instruction. We allow them to toddle around the couch, hold onto our fingers, we clap when they take their first steps without help, and we laugh with them joyfully when they can walk by themselves across the room.

So why don't we continue this process for all education? Is it so far fetched to think that there are other things besides learning to walk that can be applied in this way? I say, "No!" We can teach our children in this way in most subjects; physical, mental, and emotional.

How does this apply to Inspire, Not Require?
Let's think about why children want to learn to walk. They see other people walking. They think, "Walking seems faster than crawling. Maybe I want to do that too. If they can do it, I can do it!" The child then begins to imitate what they see - they are inspired by others to do what they do.

Children and young adults naturally want to do what others around them do, especially if it seems important to them. All that this key principle really means is that the adults and other peers in a child's life show them what an education looks like, feels like, and smells like. Reading books is enjoyable because the stories are interesting and bring ideas to our minds that we never thought about before. Math is important to learn because Dad uses it to measure for shelves in the closet and Mom uses it to make cookies. Science is fun because we learn about animals, nature, and the world around us. So you see, it is not nearly as mysterious as it sounds. We have already parented and educated our children in this way in younger years. We now just need to continue to use this method as they grow into adulthood.

Key #7 - You, Not Them

One of the areas that I've had the hardest time getting off the conveyor-belt is in the concept of "You, not Them." I tend to want to focus on what they (the children) need, what they are doing, how much they are learning, etc. In implementing TJED in our home, I struggled with focusing on me and not the kids.
Some helps that I found are the 1 - Education Self-Assesment, 2 - Family Vision worksheets, and 3 - Master Actualization Plan (MAP) by Donna Goff at Moor House Academy. These worksheets helped me to plan what I am going to do for my education, what I envision for our family, what I can do as the mentor of each person, etc. This turned the focus to me and what I can do in our family to bring about the end results that I hope to bring about.
Another area these worksheets helped me was to get down to the basic elements each child needs from me. Things like learning style, temperament, social needs, etc. can be addressed as I take the time to ponder each person's needs and then assess my own education to see if I have what it takes to meet those needs.
This process is an ongoing project. It is not for the faint of heart! I am still working on this and find it rewarding to see my progress and the progress of our family as we all work towards a Love of Learning and Scholarship together.
NOTE: It is important to do them in the following order: 1) Education Self-Assessment, 2) Family Vision, and then 3) MAP.

Key #3 - Quality, Not Conformity

Conformity is what the Conveyor Belt education plan is all about. Children are taught the same things at the same age in their lives regardless of if they have mastered the topics before, their learning styles, or if they are emotional ready. This is a great tragedy for many students.
In the Leadership Education model, quality is the focus. Quality materials, the classics, are used in place of watered down textbooks. Quality in time replaces meaningless busywork. Mastery of topics is the key regardless of how long it takes.

How We Use This Key

We pick reading materials from the Classics for Youth list for almost all of our literature and English studies. Mathematicians are People Too (Vol. 1 & 2) are fantastic stories of famous mathematicians to study how they came to their conclusions. Spiritual Lives of the Great Composers in addition to CD's of the classic music pieces add to a rich study of music. My children can now recognize certain composer's music in movies and TV. So can I!
Real world experiences in fieldtrips and hands-on projects replace the stale classroom environment. My children can engage in projects based upon both their education goals and the topics we are studying together. This year we have also added the Four-Year Plan in which we are studying Genealogy. This year-long project will teach us more about our ancestors while we progress the Lord's work here on earth. We are so excited to include our own memory books and personal time lines as part of our education.

Key #2 - Mentors, Not Professors

One of the greatest examples of a mentor is our Savior, Jesus Christ. He modeled what He taught and was the highest example of a great mentor. His words are repeated and revered throughout the generations as He taught all of us with love and patience.

Professors

A professor or teacher is often presented with several students in which to teach. In the public school system, this is often 30 or more students. A central curriculum is followed regardless of ability or interest and each student is taught in the same way, at the same time.

Mentors

A mentor is an educated person, or one strongly seeking an education, who provides guidance as to a student's individual needs, education goals, and abilities. Special attention is given to the learning styles of each student, giving the student a specialized and highly motivational educational path. Challenging as this may seem, my children seem to find this more exciting and easier than a standardized curriculum. They "own" their education as it is specific to them.

How We Apply This Key

We started with having each person make their Education Goals list. This list changes throughout the year and I evaluate each person's list during my Six Month Inventory time. During my education in education (I went to school to be a teacher but did not complete the degree) I learned about learning styles and multiple intelligences (See Multiple Intellegences by Dr. Howard Gardner). I believe that children and adults have specific ways that they learn best. I have spent time determining how each of my children learn best and work to provide ways to model and teach the subjects as needed.
In learning to be a mentor I think the hardest thing for me is what we call "staying off of the Conveyor Belt". Since I was educated using the Conveyor Belt method, it is hard for me to apply a different way of educating my family. Yet I find that as I continue to study the Leadership Education book by Dr. Oliver DeMille, I am able to find ways to apply this method and find it easier and easier to stay on the right path.

Key #1 - Classics, Not Textbooks

Public School Curriculum

Curriculum is chosen by a school board in the form of a list of textbooks and basic outline or "scope" of what is to be taught. Each grade at a school is presented with this information. Some schools have a standardized curriculum handed to each teacher that they must teach, including the tests. Others allow the teachers more leeway into how they will use the textbook and scope provided. Many good teachers supplement materials and follow the scope in a way that will best suit their students in any given year. I have witnessed other schools that make it very difficult for teachers to supplement, add, or take away from the given curriculum.
Textbooks are changed virtually every year. Why? To make money. The writers are looking for a way to continue to force schools to spend money on the "new edition" of the same information. The school then spends tax dollars on this supposedly "new" information which is not new at all, just simply reformatted with maybe a new chapter here or there. Not only is this an enormous waste of resources, but the textbooks are boring and many "pure and precious truths" are often removed, paraphrased, or just plain changed from their original context.

Leadership Education Curriculum

The curriculum for a Leadership Education is much simpler and costs much less than the public school curriculum model. The curriculum standard is to read the classics. I have posted pages with lists for Classics for Young Children, Classics for Youth, and Classics for Adults. Many of the classics can be found at your local library, which is where we get most of ours except the more hard to find versions. It is a tragedy that the libraries cater more to the modern idea of entertainment rather than stocking up on the truly classic works.

What is a Classic?

Quoted from "Leadership Education" by Oliver and Rachel DeMille:

A "classic" is a work worth studying over and over again, because the student learns more each time. There are classics in each and every field from history, science and literature to computer design, gene-mapping and the digital age, and even surfing, cycling, gardening, and so forth.

Why Classics?

Classics are the original works of the great minds of history and modern times. Why read someone else's interpretation of the great books? The classics are considered classics for a reason. They are time honored works of greatness that generation after generation returns to read, quote, and make movies about.

How We Apply This Key

As I looked over the classics lists provided in "A Thomas Jefferson Education" by Oliver DeMille, I realized that I had read most of the classics for Young Children and Youth and only a few from the Adult list. I believe this had to do with the fact that once I became a teenager I turned largely to entertainment reading. How sad is that? I could have filled my time with classics rather than the romantic drivel I read as a late teen and early adult. None of that had any value, just a big time waster.
My first classic that I read after reading Oliver's book was Emma by Jane Austen. I have loved many of the movies based on her books and decided to start there. My next challenge was to begin the 5 Pillars Certification list (suggested reading for adults starting on a Leadership Education path). I have since read Laddie, Little Britches, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, Great Expectations, etc. have you noticed I have not said anything about my children yet? That is because I started by focusing on Me, not Them (another key). If I want to model a great education, I better GET a great education first.
I have felt strongly that I am starting late with my kids. They are currently 16, 13, and 11 years old. There is a bit of work, or should I say work to undo in my kids. There are several misconceptions they have about education that we are trying to overcome. So we started with teaching them the Leadership Education model. They know the Four Phases of Learning and what the phases mean. They can tell you they are a Love of Learner or a Practicing Scholar.