Tomorrow's Children: A Blueprint For Partnership Education In The 21st Century

In the wake of the tragedy of the shootings in Littleton at Columbine High School and other killings of children by children, there is increasing recognition of the urgent need for a deep systemic reassessment of what we are teaching our children. Based on the multidisciplinary research conducted by Riane Eisler over three decades, Tomorrow's Children presents a new integrated model for education: the partnership model.This model is an outgrowth of the cultural transformation theory developed by Dr. Eisler in her classic work The Chalice and the Blade. In that book, Eisler identifies a continuum of patterns for structuring relations. At one end of the continuum is the partnership model, which embodies equity, environmental sustainability, multiculturalism, and gender-fairness. At the opposite end of the continuum is the dominator model, which has marred much of our civilization. This model emphasizes control, authoritarianism, violence, gender discrimination, and environmental destruction. Eisler also shows that we today stand at a crossroads, where a shift to the partnership end of the continuum is essential for human welfare, and possibly survival. A new kind of education system is required to effectuate this shift. Tomorrow's Children applies the partnership model to education from kindergarten to twelfth grade and beyond, providing practical guidance for educators, parents, and students. Rather than one more add-on to existing methods and curricula, it provides a systemic approach that offers a more accurate and hopeful picture of what being human means. The curriculum loom and learning tapestry Eisler presents in Tomorrow's Children integrate three primary components of teaching and learning: what Eisler calls partnership process, partnership structure, and partnership content. The book melds Eisler's research and the work of many progressive educators into a cohesive and compelling blueprint for the kind of proactive education children need to meet the challenges of the 21st century. As Nel Noddings, a noted professor of education from Stanford University, writes, the adoption of a partnership model in both schools and the larger society is essential for human life to flourish."

Table of Contents:
* Foreword, Nel Noddings * Prologue: Education for the 21st Century * Acknowledgments Part One: Partnership Education: The Basics * 1. Reconstructing Education: Basic Building Blocks * A journey of discovery * Nurturing childrens humanity * The partnership and dominator possibilities * Partnership process * Partnership content * Partnership structure * Schools as communities of learning * The partnership and dominator continuum * 2. Refocusing and Reframing Education: The Basic Design * Partnership and dominator values * Partnership and dominator structures * Partnership and dominator narratives * Partnership and dominator priorities * Partnership and dominator relations * The partnership curriculum loom and learning tapestry * Weaving the future: partnership schools * Six keys to partnership education Part Two: Reweaving the Educational Tapestry: The Vertical and Horizontal Threads * 3. Beginnings: From the Stars to Us * The unfolding drama * The emergence and evolution of our universe * A more balanced view of evolution * Humans and other primates * The evolution of love and empathy * Love and being human * 4. Our Human Adventure: Patterns and Possibilities * Two views of our cultural origins * The old stone age * The first farmers * The metamorphosis of mythand reality * From prehistory to history * The hidden patterns of history * The industrial or modern age * The postmodern age * Two possible futures * Maintaining domination * Creating partnership * 5. From Counting to Current Events: Making the Three R's Meaningful * The life sciences * Math * Art and art history * U.S. history * Literature * Language * The humanities * Current events * 6. Learning and Living: Interweaving Student Interests and Concerns * The mass media * Our bodies * Love and relationships * Sexuality * Self-regulation and life-planning * Our living planet * Six keys to the vertical and horizontal threads * Epilogue: Our Children's Future * Moving toward partnership education * Moving toward a partnership culture * The partnerships school of the future * Additional Resources * Sample Curriculum Materials and Handouts * More Curriculum Materials and Handouts * More on Books and Videos * Appendix A: Sample Curriculum Materials and Handouts * Appendix B: More on Books and Videos * Appendix C: More Curriculum Materials and Handouts * Endnotes * List of Illustrations * Bibliography * Index

About the Author :
Riane Eisler is best known as the author of the international bestseller The Chalice and the Blade (Harper & Row, 1987). Her other works include Sacred Pleasure (HarperCollins, 1995), The Partnership Way (Holistic Education Press, 1998), and most recently her fictionalized memoir of growing up in Havana, Cuba, as a refugee from the Nazis, The Gate (iuniverse.com). Dr. Eisler is president of the centre for Partnership Studies, keynotes conferences around the world, and lives with her husband in the Monterey Peninsula.