Topic: Critical Thinking as an Integrative Process: Debating Wolves in Yellowstone.

Presenters: Lynn DeJonghe

A frequent presenter for Cobb Institute on educational matters, Lynn DeJonghe will share the lecture she gave at this month’s International Whitehead Conference in Munich.  She thinks of this as the “missing 15th chapter” of her book, Starting with Whitehead:  Raising Children to Thrive in Treacherous Times (Hamilton Books, a subsidiary of Rowman & Littlefield.)  She brings Whitehead’s wisdom to the educational task by reflecting on the experience of 8th graders debating this resolution: 

“Resolved: In light of the successful reintegration of gray wolves into Yellowstone Park and surrounding areas, gray wolves should be removed from the endangered species list in Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho.”

Dr. Lynn Sargent De Jonghe has had a long career in progressive education that spans more than forty years. She served as the founding Head of East Bay Sierra School, which later merged with another school to form Prospect Sierra School, to become one of the preeminent schools in the San Francisco Bay Area. Prior to her work in independent schools, Lynn spent fifteen years in public education administering federal funds to innovative programs, advocating for project learning as an alternative to textbooks, and pushing for integration in Massachusetts schools. She received her BA degree in History from Harvard University and a MS in Library Science from Simmons College before completing her PhD in Education at Cornell University. Her doctoral work on children’s problem solving led her to push for challenging educational programs that encourage all students to pursue learning in depth and to use problem solving skills, collaborative learning, and exploration of values in an integrated curriculum. More broadly she is committed to social justice, to moving society from divisiveness to compassion, and to saving the sentient and becoming-sentient life on our planet.

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