Too much, not enough...

Jane Roland Martin believes that schooling focuses on “productive processes” (rational, objective, generalizable knowledge) to the exclusion of “reproductive processes” (caring, subjectivity, emotional expression) and argues that the concepts of a liberal education and an “educated person” must change to reflect both these qualities.  What you do think of her assertion? How could you successfully incorporate both these ways of knowing and experiencing into the classroom? 

       Jane Roland Martin's belief that schools focus too much on the productive processes and not enough on the reproductive processes is right on point.  Today's schools are so much more than students learning the three r's.  Unfortunately we as educators still tend to look only at test scores or AEIS reports as a measure of our success.  Subjects like art and music are taking a backseat because of budgetary concerns and this (Martin would argue) is unacceptable.  Teaching the whole child should be our goal and as any "educated person" would tell you includes many other areas than just the core subjects.  We have spoken about hidden curriculum and I feel that this is one way to incorporate more reproductive processes into schools.  Other areas include higher order thinking skills specifically through the use of writing.  Writing in itself is often an underused tool that educators should incorporate into every area of academics.  The thought processes that go into writing spill over into every area of a well rounded student.  Also, mentioned in an earlier post is the balance between the two.  There cannot be too much of one or not enough of the other.  For students to truly be "educated" they should be able to incorporate both.