Some Maria Montessori insights I enjoyed:
"Our [teacher's] task is to show how the action is done, and at the same time destroy the possibility of imitation." (I have never heard it phrased this well before.)
"Insegnare, insegnando, non corrigendo." ("Teach teaching, not correcting.") This ties in well to my previous discussions about grading and standardization. Teaching, however - is that something that can be taught?
Another thing that I can't phrase too well yet is that they view materials as the "keys to the universe," but - and this is an important distinction - not the universe itself. There's also emphasis on fine tactile and sensory perception and feedback, something that's noticeably absent from computer interaction in general, and part of my desire to stay away from keyboards while still programming as an experiment for the last two weeks of April.