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Home > Portable Practical Pediatrics > The Gardener and The Carpenter, by Allison Gopnik (Book Review Pedcast by Doc Smo and Sonya Corina Williams)
Podcast: Portable Practical Pediatrics
Episode:

The Gardener and The Carpenter, by Allison Gopnik (Book Review Pedcast by Doc Smo and Sonya Corina Williams)
Category: Kids & family
Duration: 00:09:56
Publish Date: 2020-05-09 18:53:22
Description: I'm always looking for interesting books that I think parents will find thought-provoking. In today's pedcast, I am going to introduce you to a book that will do just that. So kick back and enjoy our take on The Carpenter and The Gardener, by Allison Gopnik Purchase, The Gardener and the Carpenter with the link below and you will not only get Amazon's best price but you will help this blog/podcast. Gardener and the Carpenter Musical Intro Overview of Gardener/Carpenter It’s not every day that you find a developmental psychologist and a philosopher with a strong interest in evolution, writing a parenting book giving advice to today's parents. I must say that her unique background and scientific perspective makes this a very interesting read and probably explains why she has gleaned so much attention from the media.  As her title reveals, Dr. Gopnik divides the craft of raising children into two broad categories - the precise and measured process a carpenter uses to build something of wood versus the skill of growing a garden, with all the environmental variables and obstacles one encounters there. Professor Gopnik sees the techniques used by a carpenter as inflexible and prescribed whereas the gardener being the opposite - flexible and changeable. Dr. Gopnik sees modern parenting (and education for that matter) as following the carpenter model rather than the gardener approach, even though she contends that there is a wealth of scientific evidence that the adults a family ultimately produce, has little to do with the carpenter decisions that today's parents think are essential to effective child-rearing. Interesting things I Learned from Dr. Gopnik If you choose to read The Gardener and the Carpenter, expect to encounter many new concepts, many of which are rooted in experimental biology. For instance, Dr. Gopnik thinks that much of the uniqueness of humans stems from our long childhoods.  All the time human children spend under the protection of elders allows them to learn a lot, develop large brains compared to other species, and gives their parents a longer time to teach and invest in their children. Add to this the fact that humans have traditionally shared child rearing duties and have a tendency toward "Pair bonding" with tribal living arrangements. All of this Dr. Gopnik argues has given human children evolutionary advantage with respect to brain development. In fact, she points out that long childhoods explain the known fact that human children are experiencing what is known as the Flynn Effect ( an inter-generational increase in I.Q. over time). Yes, evidence is strong that, on average, children have a higher IQ than their parents! Our Opinion About the Essence of Gardener/Carpenter Dr. Gopnik's book provoked a strong reaction in us likely due to the fact that I am one of those people who have written two of the thousands of parent advice books of which she disparagingly speaks and  I am both a woodworker and gardener in my spare time.  First, our thoughts with regards to the advice books.  Writers of parenting books all have their own perspectives on the subject of raising healthy children. To lump them all into the same category and trivialize their value is convenient but simple minded. As part of my blog, I have read and reviewed many parenting books and I find value in each that I have encountered - each bringing fresh insights from the authors unique experiences. Now, for the carpenter versus gardener analogy.  I think the differences between the two activities are a useful way of thinking about the role of a parent. The resume building carpenter parent is often disappointed with their results and the gardener parent is often surprised to discover passions and talents in their children that the carpenter parent might overlook or not discover. However, I feel that Dr. Gopnik missed the most important aspect of raising happy children, that being a strong trusting,
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