Our Membership in Groups: How do we fit in?

In the “Basic School” Dr. Boyer writes that the early school child learns they do belong to groups and communities, from the time they are born. There is family, extended family and the community that their family lives in as well as their community at school. These subjects are revisited at the start of every school year. For, as each year goes by increased numbers of groups are available to students or are there for them to become aware of.

The “Goal” for all students should be to understand that everyone is a member in any number of groups. Of course this starts with the family. Students will understand how groups or organizations shape our lives, but also and as importantly – how they can shape and change these organizations. By the time one leaves the basic school there is an understanding of what it means to be a meaningful member in society, or a good citizen, and living productively with a voice, within this greater organization.

Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, “We do not make a world of our own, but fall into institutions already made and have to accommodate ourselves to them.”

Membership in Groups, the third of eight commonalities, outlined in the basic school, guides kids to explore a host of questions. “Which groups did I get born into?” “Which groups do I belong to?” “Why do we join groups?””Can I leave a group?” “Why are groups important?” “Does the group make me do things I don’t want to do?” “How do groups help my life?” “What does it mean to be a citizen?”

Starting with the family, which many believe is the center of civilization. Kids will understand the family unit’s importance in society, and their own lives. They will talk about informal groups, often times more important to kids; neighborhood groups, even cliques, sports etc. What is the importance of community groups, service organizations, and religious groups? Why do folks come together in these ways, and how can they help their community.

With a spiraling curriculum older kids may journal about the groups they belong to, list them and keep an inventory of the social relationships they belong to, and consider the ways in which the groups they move in and out of affect them. By the end of their schooling students will investigate Civics, at the municipal, state and federal level. They will investigate documents such as the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. By the end kids should have a firm understanding of the groups that they belong to – the expectations and rights that they have within these organizations. They will gain respect for the organizations at local, state and national levels. Kids will also gain respect for the democratic traditions and good citizenship within their school and society as a whole.


From "The Basic School" by Dr. Earnest Boyer. Excerpts by Matt Emery