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

Ph.D. Riane Eisler (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 13, 2001

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.”

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

From the three little pigs to Shakespeare's tragedies, the literature children study and absorb throughout their school years smacks of trickery, cruelty, and heroic violence. Similar examples can be drawn from science (ruthless genes "competing on the evolutionary stage") and from religion (man as "a species irretrievably flawed by 'original sin'"). Dr. Riane Eisler offers an alternative course of action for educators worldwide: the partnership model (previously outlined in her 1987 international bestseller, The Chalice and the Blade), an educational tapestry that focuses on working together, invites exploration, promotes self-confidence in youth through encouraging their active participation, and fosters creativity rather than squelching it. Her well-documented premise--directed primarily at the American teaching audience--is that much of our current curricula promotes and glorifies a dominator society, valuing control, violence, and gender discrimination. Such lessons, often emphasized out of tradition, can unintentionally encourage kids to choose from one of three lonely roles in an authoritarian world: lead, follow, or get out of the way. Eisler packs Tomorrow's Children with counter examples from mythology, history, math, science, art, the humanities, and other subjects--all in support of teaching lessons about effective partnership and the impact each earthly creature has on its environment and on its fellow creatures. It's a tough but valuable read, requiring careful attention and demanding group discussion. The last quarter of the book offers a huge supply of additional resources, including over 30 sample curriculum materials and handouts, detailed notes corresponding to each chapter, and Eisler's inspirational epilogue that highlights achievements in schools already using partnership models. --Liane Thomas --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

In The Chalice and the Blade, Eisler described the evolution of Western society in terms of two competing forms of social organization: the "dominator" model, characterized by authoritarian relationships, war and male domination, and the "partnership" model, characterized by democratic, egalitarian social structures and gender equity. Now she brings her theory of cultural transformation to bear on education and the complex problem of how to prepare children for a "partnership" society, or, how to encourage them to become nonsexist, nonracist, "healthy, caring, competent, self-realized adults." Eisler has done her homework, demonstrating a sophisticated grasp of learning theory, child development, interdisciplinary curricula and the complex social contexts of education. Though many of her suggestions--such as teaching a multicultural curriculum that emphasizes examples of partnership and "asking questions that do not have yes or no 'right' answers but, instead, provoke thought"--are familiar, she synthesizes a variety of classroom techniques into a compelling framework for developing lessons that speak to the urgency of the environmental and social challenges facing us in the next century. Inviting readers to think outside conventional boxes of educational reform, this is an ambitious, imaginative and practical guide to a better educational future.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 392 pages
• Publisher: Basic Books (August 13, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0813365694
• ISBN-13: 978-0813365695
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,070,688 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Riane Eisler is internationally known for her bestseller The Chalice and The Blade, now in 25 foreign editions, as well as Sacred Pleasure, The Power of Partnership, and Tomorrow's Children. Her newest book, The Real Wealth of Nations -- hailed by Archbishop Desmond Tutu as "a template for the better world we have been so urgently seeking" and by Gloria Steinem as "revolutionary" - proposes a new approach to economics that gives visibility and value to the most essential human work: the work of caring for people and for our natural environment.

She is president of the Center for Partnership Studies and keynotes conferences worldwide, with venues including invitations by Rita Suessmuth, President of the German Parliament, and by Vaclav Havel, President of the Czech Republic.

Dr. Eisler is a leader for peace, environmental sustainability, economic equity, and human rights - pioneering the extension of human rights protection to "women's rights" and "children's rights." With Nobel Peace laureate Betty Williams, she co-founded the Spiritual Alliance to Stop Intimate Violence (SAIV), www.saiv.net. She is president of the Center for Partnership Studies, www.partnershipway.org,, has received many honors, including honorary Ph.D. degrees, the Alice Paul ERA Education Award, and the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation's 2009 Distinguished Peace Leadership Award, and is in the award-winning book Great Peacemakers as one of 20 leaders for world peace, along with Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Teresa, and Martin Luther King.

She can be contacted at [e-mail].
Her websites are http://www.partnershipway.org and http://www.rianeeisler.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

64 of 65 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Tomorrow's Children: An innovative educational model, January 31, 2000

By 

Wayne Benenson - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tomorrow's Children: A Blueprint For Partnership Education In The 21st Century (Hardcover)

Riane Eisler's Tomorrow's Children is a thought provoker and conversation starter. So many education books are about getting the knowledge and skills to "fit in" to society's opportunities. Tomorrow's Children challenges the reader to expand their vision and expectations of education. This follow-up to the Chalice and the Blade offers practical and hopeful examples of how to access the "hidden curriculum" beyond textbooks and polemics. If you want to know how to find materials to encourage meaningful and relevant learning, this book is for you. If you want to know the specifics of making change in your local schools (concerning the content, process and structure of education) this book is for you. If you are interested in finding kindred spirits to promote practical examples of collaborative problem-solving, a peaceful response to adversity, gender equity,and environmental sensitivity this book is for you. If you appreciate thoughtful and thorough and careful writing free from jargon this book is for you. If you are interested in specific references of books, websites, curriculum packages and supportive organizations this book is for you. I am a Professor of Education. I am fussy about what I read in this field. I am drawn to clear and concise writing which honors the intelligence of the reader. Tomorrow's Children does not disappoint.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars New futures for all, September 17, 2000

By 

Sohail Inayatullah (Mooloolaba, Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Tomorrow's Children: A Blueprint For Partnership Education In The 21st Century (Hardcover)

Riane Eisler's new book is a stunning contribution to multicultural pedagogy. Using her macrohistorical theory of dominator/partnership swings, she offers a new framework, structure and content for education. This is one of the most important books to come around in a long time. I hope my children will grow up in a world that has realized the blue print for partnership education that she offers. Rigourously argued, detailed in documentation, this book offers and creates a new future for all.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must for Every Educator, April 24, 2002

By 

Rona Zollinger (Forest Knolls, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tomorrow's Children: A Blueprint For Partnership Education In The 21st Century (Hardcover)

Tomorrow's Children is an innovative and remarkable book for the contemporary educator. It provides an indepth understanding of the struggles of teaching and is an amazing resource for people looking to reform the educational framework of our country. This book needs to be in the hands of every parent, teacher and educator.