A day after reading about learner-centered teaching, I find via the Command Post this New York Times article on counterinsurgency: Professor Nagl's War. The parallels are striking.
In Exiting, Ms. Chew describes how her students reacted when she organized the classroom to remove herself as the focus and make each student responsible to himself and his peers. At first they were confused and hostile: this was not the way classes were "supposed" to be run, therefore Ms. Chew must be a bad teacher. It took a series of discussions about responsibility, working with others, and the nature of learning before a class could operate with the new structure. When the transition was finally made, the kids became much stronger, learning more and benefitting in other areas of life.
A similar transition is happening in Iraq now, albeit on a much larger scale and with more serious consequences. Iraqi society is no longer focused toward a central figure and Iraqis are having to come to terms with the lack of structure. It shows in how they test the U.S. occupation forces through demonstrations and standoffs. As Major Nagl says ''We're into the behavior-modification phase." Iraqis, especially those who benefitted from the Saddam regime, are having to be taught a new way of interacting with each other, to take responsibility for their own lives and to develop a civil society. It is vitally important that we stay until the majority of them have internalized these values, even if it takes years. If we don't, Iraq will be taken by the bullies and descend into chaos.