Family of Learners: Hogwart's Lessons for American

People are motivated by different things—some by the desire to acquire material goods, some by the desire to compete, and others—like the Booth family—by the desire to know, to learn about the world.

The Booths have lived in the United States and several African countries and have spent time in England as well. Dr. Alan Booth is a well-known writer and researcher of African history who also specializes in the history of espionage. Dr. Margaret Booth, who taught high school in Kenya as a Peace Corps volunteer before getting her master’s and doctoral degrees from Ohio University, is an associate professor of educational psychology at BGSU. She has recently completed a nine-year study of education in Swaziland. Daughter Grace is a 12-year-old who has attended schools in Africa and the United States.

Grace is also a serious fan of Harry Potter. And, having become familiar with British-style schools in various African nations and in England, she read the books (five in all now) with a different perspective from the average American reader.

Family discussions of the education Harry was getting at his rather unusual school led Grace and her mother to write an academic paper titled “Learning from the Cultural Context and Practices of a Somewhat British Institution: Or What Americans Can Learn from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.” They presented their findings at the prestigious Midwest/Northeast Comparative and International Education Society conference last November in Pittsburgh. They will also be featured in a fall issue of Phi Delta Kappan magazine.

To learn more about Margaret and Grace Booth’s presentation or to read their academic paper, please click the links below:
www.bgsu.edu/offices/pr/monitor/pastissues/08-11-03/booth

To learn more about Margaret Booth’s research, please click on the link below:
www.bgsu.edu/organizations/cfdr/about/facultymembers/booth

Learning from the Cultural Context and Practices of a Somewhat British Institution: Or What Americans Can Learn from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
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