Introduction

Taking children seriously is an educational philosophy that takes seriously the idea that human beings are fallible. Instead of interacting with our children coercively, we are trying to create consent with them. It's actually a new view of children in that the standard view of children is a bit like the view of women before they were emancipated or say black people when they were slaves in America. We're born with human minds, not just animal minds, but we have this human mind as well. And it just doesn't make sense to think in terms of rationality and creativity being turned on at some later stage.