The Dangerous Child Curricula: Part VII

The early childhood curriculum which has been excerpted over the past several postings was not developed in a vacuum. It was developed as an important part of an overall approach to the transformation of modern western society into a more ethical and creative society. Here are some excerpts from chapter 6, "An Educational Alternative" to provide a larger perspective into the project:

The curriculum is one that can be started by young children and continued into old age without being exhausted. A person wishing to maximize creativity in the shortest possible time would follow the curriculum approximately in the order given; but anyone should be able to take many different paths within this curriculum, including specializing at any time. All students would be counseled on the consequences of their actions, but encouraged to follow their instincts by doing what feels right for them without fear of making a wrong choice.

The objective is to make the totality of human knowledge readily and easily available to as many persons as possible in such a way that, if they wish it, they are constantly maximizing their rate of growth in creativity relative to their present intellectual and ethical potential. In order to do this we plot an optimal course through the curriculum for all octets or other groupings of students and let them modify the courses according to their own personal inclinations. We also make the feedback on their progress and that of other students readily available to them whenever they wish it, but on a private basis so that any particular student's progress is known only to the student and his/her counselors. All other data is in statistical summaries and protects the anonymity of each student.

The expectation is that, under this system, learning and creativity will be seen as among the most joyful of human experiences. Students will learn to play the Game of Life for the joy it brings--without fear of punishment or expectation of extrinsic rewards. If their studies are disassociated from external reward and punishment and all students are respected for whatever choices they make, the students will optimize the curriculum for themselves. The essential requirements are to have the totality of human knowledge available and accessible at all times without extrinsic rewards or punishments associated with it. This may be done as follows:

We divide the totality of human knowledge into three primary areas, or dimensions, because human beings normally perceive the integrated whole of the cosmos as three distinct types of phenomena. These are the physical, the biological, and the psychosocial. There are many levels of knowledge within each of these dimensions that are normally associated within our archaeological and cultural history. Indeed, what integrates the three dimensions into a whole is the evolutionary perspective (as in the first four chapters) by which we see human history as a continuation of our biological evolution and biological evolution as a continuation of material evolution. Therefore, at each level the student is presented with the three distinct areas of study--plus a fourth discipline, which is an ethical evolutionary-historical-artistic integration of the first three.

Art integrates knowledge at the unconscious level. The entire program integrates knowledge by having ontogeny recapitulate phylogeny at the psychosocial level. Students learn in an order, context, and manner similar to that in which the human race learned the same material and are given an opportunity to rediscover this knowledge. Everything they learn is always related to everything they know in a meaningful, practical way. _Educational Alternative _ Chapter 6 of Creative Transformation

More from John David Garcia's early childhood curriculum:

		Physical		Biological
Avg. Level	Avg. Age	Physical Theory	Physical Practice	Biological Theory	Biological Practice
9.00	11.00	Begin advanced calculus and partial differential equations; detailed study of the work of Lagrange and Euler, the calculus of variations from Newton to Lagrange, elementary probability theory from Pascal to Cauchy and LaPlace; applications in optics, astronomy, theory of heat	Begin construction of simple steam engine, making from scratch, doing all machining of parts by treddle-driven lathes and water and windmill power; check the detailed mathematical models against astronomical observations	Conclusion of the study of human anatomy and embryology	Conclusion of dissections and microscopic observations; the general functioning of the human body has been observed
9.25	11.25	Continue work of previous quarter; detailed theory of steam engine, the work of Lavoisier, Priestley, and Dalton	Continue above project, switching to electrical machinery; do early experiments in electricity by Gauss, Coulomb, Amp^ere, and Volta; the atomic model of chemistry and experiments	Begin study of animal physiology and describe biochemistry through mid 19th century; repeat experiments of Helmholtz in biophysics	Experiments in basic physiology showing how human body consumes oxygen and produces carbon dioxide; human body as a heat engine
9.50	11.50	Continue work in chemistry; the work of LaPlace and Carnot, the laws of thermodynamics, the experiments of Faraday; advanced studies in partial differential equations; wave mechanics in optics; begin study of the works of Gauss	Continue chemistry experiments; finish work on steam engine; test efficiency using Carnot's concepts; begin repeating the experiments of Faraday and empirically derive the basic laws of electricity and magnetism, including Ohm's law	Animal physiology and biochemistry continued; the work and life of Pasteur	Experiments in animal physiology and biochemistry continued
9.75	11.75	Maxwell's work on the wave theory of light and the derivation of Maxwell's equations and their applications; continue study of Gauss' mathematics and physics	Electromagnetic motors and generators, construction of batteries, transmission of electromagnetic waves, early work of Tesla, the telegraph and the wireless constructed	A course in botany and plant physiology; begin experiments in plant genetics after Gregor Mendel	Study and dissection of major plant species; field studies, microscopic dissection, plant breeding per Gregor Mendel

		Psychosocial		Integration
Avg. Level	Avg. Age	Psychosocial Theory	Pyschosocial Practice	Integrative Theory	Integrative Practice
9.00	11.00	Detailed analysis of the American and French Revolutions; detailed analysis of the writings of Jefferson and his correspondence; comparisons between Jefferson, Washington, and Napoleon; how Napoleon betrayed the French Revolution in the pursuit of personal power; how the U.S. government betrayed the Libertarian ethic	Write essays comparing the ethical course of the American and French Revolution; relate the ethics of Spinoza to these revolutions; relate to evolutionary ethics and show where they went wrong	Artistic synthesis in the early work of Goethe and the music of Beethoven; ethical synthesis in the philosophy of Lessing, Goethe, and Moses Mendelssohn and their interpretations of Spinoza	Reorchestrate and perform Beethoven's Grosse Fugue for octet; read Goethe's prophetic poetry; write a sequel to the Sorcerer's Apprentice
9.25	11.25	The philosophy of Kant, biography, The Critique of Pure Reason and The Critique of Practical Reason; compare to Spinoza; Kant's cosmology compared to LaPlace; explain Catholic hostility	Write essays on the scientific and ethical implications of Kant's philosophy; analyze in terms of the evolutionary ethic	Artistic synthesis continued in the work of Goethe and Beethoven; Goethe's Sorcerer's Apprentice and pessimism, the romantic hope and self-delusion	Produce as a group project Goethe's Faust and performance of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony for several octets
9.50	11.50	The philosophy of Hegel--how he could be so wrong and so influential; Hegel and the misinterpretation of Spinoza; Hegel's theory of history and ethics; Hegel as the father of Marxism and Naziism; de Tocqueville as a visionary and prophetic historian	Essay explaining Hegel's influence through present times; a comparison of Spinoza and Hegel--how could Hegel so misunderstand Spinoza and deceive himself and others? Why was de Tocqueville so accurate in his predictions?	The romantic poets, Byron, Shelley, and Wordsworth; the art of Watteau, Houdon, David, and Degas; the music of Berlioz and Liszt; Wagner as the musical equivalent of Hegel	Write epic poetry on a hopeful future from a romantic perspective; do a musical satire on a Wagner opera; paint a heroic romantic painting
9.75	11.75	A history of the world from 1775 to 1910; development of major ideas and philosophies, with particular attention to USA, Britain, France, Germany, Japan, and Russia; basic economics from Adam Smith to Marx and Engels	An essay explaining the Newtonian model and its influence on the intellectual history of the world; why Islam, India, and China were so far behind, why Japan was able to catch up	An ethical analysis of European and American imperialism; libertarian and socialistic ethics; the ethical turmoil of the age of liberty and social obligation; read War and Peace by Tolstoy; the paintings of Turner and the Impressionists	Read and analyze Pushkin, Melville, Dickens, Hugo, Balzac, Dostoyevski, Tolstoy, George Eliot; study the music of Mahler and perform Das Lied von der Erde

It is fascinating how well Garcia's "Creative Transformation" approach parallels a number of other transformative ideas and projects being discussed by people who see many current trends in government and society as providing nothing better than a dead end. Example:

• Become self-sufficient in education, economics, health, defense, and everything else, in this order of priority. Only a fairly large network can become more self-sufficient than a current nation-state.


• Help other [groups], in your own network first and then in other networks, to achieve the same degree of self-sufficiency through education, trade, and mutual defense agreements.


• Extend the protection of the self-sufficiency networks in the form of a libertarian society to any person who wishes to join it on equitable terms. Doing this will provide security for all human beings who need it and eventually leave the central government without power, wealth, or a creative population to govern. Remember that both security and insecurity are illusions. Only the Game of Life is real. The central government and its willing subjects, if they are not nurtured by creative persons, will consist entirely of parasites and will eventually collapse--to be replaced by a libertarian society. It is unethical to nurture parasites.


• Extend the process to other countries through education, trade, and mutual defense until the entire world is a creatively transformed libertarian society on the way to becoming a Moral Society. Never impose your way of life on others by force, but allow them space to be different in their own territory. Human intelligence without human ethics leads inevitably to self-destruction [280]. Similarly, you fight to the death to defend your liberty and that of affiliated octets. It is unethical to tolerate destructive behavior, however strong the culprit. Creativity can only grow through liberty, never through force. Every tyranny is worse than anarchy.

_Creative Transformation Chapter 5

These are clearly dangerous ideas, at least as seen from the viewpoint of the central established order. And yet Garcia's ideas were developed according to a far higher level of ethics than virtually anything one will see in the modern public sphere.

Creativity is dangerous. Transformation is dangerous. But stasis is death. And that is what modern humans are facing in the contemporary synthesis of power structures and societal trends.

Growing dangerous children is not just about chronological age and early childhood development. Remember: It is never too late to have a [dangerous] childhood. (Apologies to Tom Robbins)