Reflection on Jesse Stuart's the Thread That Runs so True

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Instructions - Submit a written reflection on Jesse Stuart's The Thread That Runs So True. I enjoyed reading Jesse Stuart’s book, The Thread That Runs So True. I was very inspired by his character and approach to education. As I read this book I tried to envision and construct what I believe Mr. Stuart’s philosophy of education would be. Mr. Stuart’s curriculum was directed by both society and the learner. There were several young men in his school were very reluctant to pursue an education. Mr. Stuart “hooked” them into buying into school by promising to teach them how to compute bushels in a wagon bed, acreage, and other matters practical to the agrarian community in which the students lived. Once these students discovered that schooling was practical and useful for their lives, their curiosity was stimulated to discover other subjects taught in Mr. Stuart’s school. I can speculate that Mr. Stuart may have read about natural education as proposed by Rousseau and expanded upon by Pestalozzi. However, I also believe Mr. Stuart also believed in the benefit of a traditional curriculum since he teaches algebra, geometry, language arts, history, and science. Personally, I believe Mr. Stuart was very wise to show relevance to his students before continuing to more theoretical concepts. This aspect of the book further cemented my belief that when students understand how the subject is relevant to them, learning is activated and students are more engaged from the beginning. While reading the book, I realized that Mr. Stuart’s methodology of teaching seemed to evolve throughout his teaching experiences, as do all teachers who actively reflect on their practice. During his first teaching assignment, he primarily relied on recitation as a form of teaching. He states that the first graders learned their alphabet on the same chart that the eighth
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