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.
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