ABSTRACT
Observing pre-school children at play, we are struck by how much they know: how to get information; how to convince others to follow their lead; how to get attention from different people; how to survive and flourish in their homes and community settings. They were not born knowing all these things; rather they have accumulated a wealth of knowledge in a relatively short time period. We also know that this rapid learning is likely to slow down at the time they enter school, but few people question why this is the case. Common sense suggests that there must be some biological phenomenon which slows learning down at about age 6. Uncommon sense suggests that we look at how the environment changes at this time and consider how it affects children’s learning. The environment to which I am referring, of course, is school. Students are the raison d’être for establishing schools-yet few children would elect to go to school, given other options. They go because they are compelled.
