Madeline L'Engle's Take on Education

Madeline L'Engle, who wrote A Wrinkle in Time which won the Newbery Award in 1963, said in her acceptance speech:

"Because of the very nature of the world as it is today our children receive in school a heavy load of scientific and analytic subjects, so it is in their reading for fun, for pleasure, that they must be guided into creativity. These are forces working in the world as never before in the history of mankind for standardization, for the regimentation of us all, or what I like to call making muffins of us, muffins all like every other muffin in the muffin tin. This is the limited universe, the drying, dissipating universe, that we can help our children avoid by providing them with “explosive material capable of stirring up fresh life endlessly.

1963.

And bravo to Linda Myrick who posted this on Facebook who said:

It seems that today's muffins have multiplied astronomically with technology and the addictive appeal of data that can be sliced and diced into so many tasty treats for those who seem to be convinced of their unquestionable value. 

MentalFloss had this article - 12 Fantastic Facts about A Wrinkle in Time - also food for thought.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Madeline L'Engle, one of my favorite authors! Wrinkle in Time is one of my favorite books from when I was young and one of the few Newberry books I actually liked as a kid.

HP
4/13/15, 7:19 AM
Anonymous said…
Thanks for posting this. L'Engle was a fantastic writer.

Momof2
4/14/15, 9:08 AM
dan dempsey said…
Back in the day
GE's slogan was =>
"Progress is our most important product"

Arne Duncan should proclaim =>
"My goal is to produce as many uniform muffins as possible."
4/14/15, 11:41 AM
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