José Duarte; Sérgio Claudino & Leonor Carvalho (org.)

Authors, Editors

2012

Year of edition

Synopsis – [Textbooks and Youth: Boredom or Curiosity for Knowledge?] There is no justification for knowledge (largely embodied in textbooks) to constitute a heavy and hated burden on the backs of our children and youth. Knowledge can be lighter and looked upon with pleasure, even without forgetting that pleasure does not mean idleness, but something to be achieved through hard work. Lighter, yes, if the first principle of organizing a textbook (or, in general, any teaching strategy) is to teach "to use the mind well," and the second principle is "less can be more" (that is, fewer contents but in depth), as proposed by the "Coalition of Essential Schools" in the USA? Or, in the French tradition, if these two principles correspond to one, that of seeking to lead students to have "a well-organized mind and not just full," as proposed by Freinet in the footsteps of Montaigne?