[mightybyte]

In the trading game that aided the formulation of the teachers' ideas, it didn't sound like there was a way for the children to add value.

It's interesting that the article's core attitude is based on the idea that eliminating inequality is (or should be) the main concern. It would seem that socialist societies have demonstrated that when you focus on inequality, you end up stifling productivity. Maybe there should be more focus on productivity and advancement rather than inequality, although that's harder to do in the domain of Legos. When you do this, it's not about control of the raw materials as much as it's about who contributes the greatest value at their link in the chain.

[brlittle]

It's interesting that the article's core attitude is based on the idea that eliminating inequality is (or should be) the main concern.

It would be appropriate at this point to zoom out a bit and remind everyone that we're talking about a playroom full of kids ranging from roughly kindergarten to third grade. Of course eliminating inequality (insofar as access to toys and play equipment is concered) is the point! As I stated in a previous comment, you can argue whether the teachers picked the best way to do it, but that argument does not change the underlying premise.

[mightybyte]

Maybe the underlying premise is flawed. Maybe it would be better to focus on teaching the children the fact that in this world inequality is unavoidable and how best to deal with it. After all, it's clear from the article that the teachers are going after something bigger than plain equitable distribution of the toys.

[brlittle]

This is just my perspective as a parent, but I think the underlying premise is just fine, thanks. My daughter will have her entire life to learn how to deal with inequality by simple dint of being American. I don't need a playroom to teach her that particular lesson. Besides, there are outside forces to consider...if I pay for my child to have access to an after-school playroom, I have a right to expect her not to be unnecessarily or arbitrarily excluded from play. Again, just my perspective.

As I noted in my other comment, I think you can question the teachers' methods, certainly.

[mightybyte]

Ahhh, I see where you're coming from. I'm really interested in the socio-economic aspects of this, and the article was written in a way that prompted thought from that angle. Since I don't have kids and the concerns that go with them, I took that line of thought and ran with it.

I don't deny that the playroom might not be a good place to be doing socio-economic experiments. But since the article didn't seem to take that view, I'm interested in the discussion of the experiment. The question of whether they should have been performing the experiment is not a big deal to me.

[duncanr]

I think you'll find it hard to find a more representative microcosm of what an unfettered capitalist society would look like than that of an unsupervised classroom...