Lois Mason (L) and Rosemary Plumstead, (R) speaking on Eli Siegel Day in Baltimore |
Aesthetic Realism is the greatest opponent of injustice I know. (That is why a few selfish people are angry and lie about it). It explains we have two opposing drives all the time, one towards respect & seeing meaning, the other for contempt. Eli Siegel, the great poet, critic & educator who founded Aesthetic Realism, identified contempt as the addition to self by the lessening of other things. It is the root cause of racism and war. The study of respect & contempt is an emergency.
Sunday, April 03, 2005
The Aesthetic Realism Teaching Method: Lois Mason
Lois Mason was a history teacher and one of the teachers of the Aesthetic Realism Teaching Method workshop.
Her success as a New York City teacher was phenomenal, and I learned so much from her, professionally and personally, including about how social studies is a means of successfully combatting racism and evoking good will for people of different places, backgrounds, religions, and ethnicities. Educators the world over can read for themselves instances of what she showed, week after week, year after year - how relevant history and geography really are to young people and to teachers.