John Holt's Discipline is a Great Teacher

Introduction

            John Holt is a famous educationalist.  “Discipline is a Great Teacher” is an extract from his famous book Freedom and Beyond.  In this, he talks about three disciplines that would help a child learn things to emerge as an individual. They are the Discipline of Nature or Reality, the Discipline of Culture or Society, and the Discipline of Superior Force.

The Discipline of Nature or Reality

            The discipline of nature or reality is the most important teacher for a child.  If a child is doing something wrong or if it is not able to do something right nature would teach it perfectly. For example, while playing with blocks, if he fails to build a plastic building on a slope, he never gets weary. Instead, He learns not to build on a slanting surface. While learning through this discipline the child would get immediate feedback.  Nature is a good teacher, which will not be partial and indifferent.

The Discipline of Culture or Society

           Holt says that man is a social and cultural animal. Culture and society teach a lot to the children.  Children learn to follow agreements, customs, habits and rules binding them with society. Most probably they want to become a part of it. Children, as they grow, look at their parents’ behaviour in public places.  A child might be adamant in its house but when taken to a church he stays quiet. If a child’s parents are courteous, the child will also be courteous.  So, Holt concludes that a child’s behaviour is also developed by the practices in society.

Discipline of the Superior Force

          The last form of discipline could be used at the time of unavoidable need. This can be applied to children to avoid them having too much danger. A child learns from its superiors who stop a child from doing something harmful.  They do some kind of threatening to make them understand dangerous things.  This is one way of protecting the child.  In the beginning, the child thinks of not doing the bad thing to avoid the punishment but later he understands nature. It is like that of giving a lesser danger to avoid a great danger For example, we can use strict force to stop a mischievous child wandering in a busy street. In Mexican streets, children learn to walk alone on the streets without anybody's help but here the child cares for its safety by nature. . 

Merits and Demerits of the Superior Force

    To learn the moves of classical ballet, one should have good training. In ballet dance training, the learner has to follow the trainer’s methods otherwise he cannot dance the ballet. If the teacher is not happy about the performance of the student he can kick the student out of the class. So the student should submit himself to the superior force. However, superior force is not always good for a child’s character.

 Conclusion

            The author concludes by saying that these three disciplines overlap each other at some point or other.   A child cannot learn things by one single discipline.  For example, a ballet dance teacher may teach a child about the nuances of the dance but there could be no perfect teacher because ballet had been there for a long time.  A child learns in his own interest and becomes an expert.  Similarly, many football players could play well even without a coach who yells at them. Hence, Holt concludes that the Discipline of Nature is a great teacher and considers the other two types secondary to them.