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Mrs. Weber herself studied philosophy and sociology at the University of Virginia, shifted to teaching in nursery schools and before long was directing a cooperative school in New York. She began demonstrating some of her ideas in a public elementary school in 1968. A natural teacher, she soon captivated the restless children with her improvisations. Example: to demonstrate a principle of weights and measures, she borrowed a baby from a visiting mother and had the children weigh it.
Pumpkin Play. Mrs. Weber's chief importance nowadays is as a teacher of teachers. In her workshops, she hacks up pumpkins and blows on pinwheels and encourages her students to do the same, so they can learn what many find surprisingly difficult—to see "with the child's eyes." She then offers a childish question and asks them to imagine how a child might pursue it. In one workshop, for instance, the problem was: "How many questions can you think up about feet?" The answers from the student teachers ranged from counting toes to evolution.
Since informal methods free teachers from lecturing most of the time, Mrs. Weber wants them to become, in effect, individual tutors. They must observe carefully what attracts each child and then guide him to "extend" his curiosity into systematic knowledge. But the child must not be allowed to drift. Since children in informal classrooms do not all cover the same subjects, Mrs. Weber believes they should compare experiences in group discussions. The teacher should keep a diary on the progress of each child.
Costs v. Gains. One problem with the method is that in large classes it requires teachers' aides, and many school systems cannot afford them. In New York City, recent staff cuts have forced some informal teachers to concentrate on keeping unruly children from interrupting, and to neglect unassertive children. But the method does bring results. After three years of open classrooms, third-graders at P.S. 144 were among the few in Harlem reading up to national standards. More important, the children show qualities that tests cannot measure: self-discipline and eagerness to work on their own.
Despite such results, the open classroom is still widely opposed. "Some teachers will never be comfortable with informal education," concedes Mrs. Weber. But far from trying to coerce the traditionalists, Mrs. Weber opposes the cyclical upheaval of educational revolution and counterrevolution. What she wants, she says, are "small changes that will last."