ABSTRACT
During the 1970s students undergoing teacher-training devoted a lot of time to discussing what was the best approach to educating young people. One school of thought was that young people should be seen as empty pots, waiting to be filled with knowledge which we, the teachers, defined as valuable. Our level of education and experience, so the argument went, provided us with the necessary authority to decide what was best for the pupils in our care. This was challenged by those who saw children as being more like delicate plants which, when provided with the right environment, would develop naturally to reveal their full beauty. Too much shaping and pruning, it was argued, would hinder development. What was needed was stimulation not control.
