personally I think if you raise a child that only learns what he/she wants to learn you're going to end up with a stupid child unless he/she is a naturally gifted thinker (which most children are not)
I have to disagree with that one and say the opposite. I think most children are naturally gifted, and a lot more creative thinkers than the adults that the current society molds them into.
And sadly, I think often the parents being ungifted thinkers (or maybe "de-gifted"?), and having a more narrow view of life, often inhibits the childs ability to learn.
I think the problem with letting a child self direct their own learning is that they miss out on the diversity of things to be learned. I think that some educational system that would provide children with many resources from which to learn, and introductions into them, in an encouraging gentle way, for the first part of a childs life would give them many more directions in which to choose to grow mentally.
Further to your question, I think there are many many models of parenting now, and maybe they all have there time and place, I dont think there is one particular that stands out as "the" way to raise a child.
Im unsure of how I would change it, I like communal child raising, and not having the birth parent playing the sole role of parent. Personally, I have avoided needing to think much more into this, thanks to the marvels of Planned Parenthood, and free sterilization, none of you will ever need to worry about the way my child might be raised.
