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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. In what country did the volunteer describe teaching villagers how to read and write their own names?

2. Who is the true school master, according to the quote from Caldwell Cook?

3. How long did Ashton-Warner give the students each day to write their stories?

4. What philosopher said that language must precede a nation's formation?

5. What did the students do with their cards after they were handed out?

Short Essay Questions

1. How did Russian peasant students react to Leo Tolstoy's experimental school?

2. What was the role of handwriting in the Maori students' stories?

3. Why were "key words" so essential to learning to read?

4. Why was it important for the teacher to be a good conversationalist in the classroom?

5. Why did Ashton-Warner believe that standardized reading texts were damaging to children?

6. How did the students perform when they did expressive dancing versus when they learned specific moves?

7. By what process was spelling taught in Ashton-Warner's classroom?

8. Why did Ashton-Warner describe children's minds as volcanoes and how did that affect her teaching?

9. How can a teacher tell when a book is valuable to her students, according to Ashton-Warner?

10. Into what two main categories did Ashton-Warner place many of her students' first words?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

At one point in the book, Ashton-Warner admitted that at least one of her white students would have performed better had he been given access to the "white" readers she hated so much. Did her efforts on behalf of her Maori students come at a cost for her white students? Is it possible to help one previously disadvantaged group while also ensuring that the "advantaged" group does not fall behind? Should teachers base their teaching on reaching specific groups or should all the students, regardless of background, be expected to conform to the standard used in that classroom? Is it possible--or desirable--to differentiate instruction in a diverse classroom?

Essay Topic 2

Ashton-Warner wrote about the "Golden Section" in education and how she incorporated nature into the classroom. What are the benefits of teaching about nature in the classroom? How does nature provide insights into other areas of the curriculum? Ashton-Warner's classroom was somewhat unique in that the nature was right outside and sometimes even entered the classroom. How do teachers living in more urban environments bring nature into the classroom? Is it possible for all teachers to take their students out into actual natural settings or can there be benefits to bringing natural lessons into the physical classroom? How does the natural world speak to children and how can that be harnessed?

Essay Topic 3

Sylvia-Ashton Warner wrote about her attempts to bring some order to the classroom when the students got out of hand. She eventually realized that the first few bars of Beethoven's Fifth on the piano did the trick. Write an essay exploring how music can be used in the classroom to bring calm during difficult times. What is it about music that speaks to all humans, regardless of ethnic or racial background? How does it provide a form of "quiet control" that is more effective than yelling or making other loud noises to get attention? Why were the Maori children entranced by Western classical music?

(see the answer keys)

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