Guido- A fair enough request.
Summary: Schooling is not the same as education. Any country seeking to develop is not going to improve itself in the 21st century by adopting an outdated child management method called "schooling" -- which even in the USA has been discarded by the parents of about one to two million homeschooled and unschooled kids (and growing). Efforts to change schooling with open ended technology have a history of failure (e.g. Lego/Logo) as the school system micromanages them to neutralize their potential. Propping up such schooling systems may be ultimately counterproductive and simply prolong the suffering, as opposed to investing funds into newer ideas, like "free schools" or home-based "unschooling". Ideally, instead of a school, put a free-admission science and technology museum and library as an educational resource center in every community which kids can visit whenever they want (100 successful demonstration centers might change public opinion). Focus investments where the solutions are coming from, not where the problems are caused. A future "educational Python" should focus more on being a good match for those new educational paradigms than trying to prop up the old failing one. So, design an educational Python evolved from Squeak ideals that is good for use in TuxLabs, Fablabs, science centers, libraries, and homes. If it is also helpful to kids at school, that would be a nice bonus. --Paul Fernhout A mantra for those who would help others who are disadvantaged with less likelihood of alienating them (especially in other countries): "I help you not out of charity, but out of a realization that my own liberation is bound up with yours. I hope someday you pass on this gift to others when you are able to." Guido van Rossum wrote: > Paul, > > Is there any way you could say this in less than 20 lines? As it > stands it's way too long for me to read. > > I'd like to present Shuttleworth's POV in capsule. > > South Africa's educational system is bankrupt (not literally but > practically). With limited means compared to the SA department of > education (see the financials downloadable from tsf.org.za) > Shuttleworth is trying to provide something useful for SA's poorest > kids to prevent a whole generation from being lost. I severely doubt > that whatever might fix the US educational system will work in SA. > > --Guido _______________________________________________ Edu-sig mailing list [email protected] http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig
