THE WELL-EDUCATED CHILD
About the Author
Dr. Deborah Kenny is the founder of Harlem Village Academies and the Deeper Learning Institute, and one of the most influential educators in the country. Deborah has been honored with the Columbia University Teachers College Distinguished Alumni Award, and named on Oprah’s Power List and Esquire’s Best and Brightest, and is regularly featured in national media. She holds a PhD in comparative international education from Columbia University and a BA in intellectual history from the University of Pennsylvania. The mother of three grown children, she lives in New York City.
Deborah can be followed on:
“I start with a simple but fundamental question: What does it mean to be well educated? In my view, students who are well educated can reason independently, understand ideas deeply, and evaluate information critically. They are self-directed and self-motivated. Students who are well educated are too astute to be duped by misinformation; they are independent minded but not irrational, confident but not arrogant, spirited but civil in discourse. They are kind, happy, and considerate of others, not self-centered and stressed. They have cultivated an appreciation for beauty: the beauty of art, of music, the beauty of math. They are knowledgeable and well-read but have the humility to know how much they don’t know. All this is what I wanted for my own children. It is what I believe all children deserve.”
— From the introduction to The Well-Educated Child
“This book sets forth my vision of an ideal K-12 education: the attributes and skills that children should have by the time they graduate from high school and the principles and practices by which schools can instill them. It also offers ideas that parents can use to contribute to their children’s education.
My perspective comes from a lifetime in education, including many years as a teacher and camp counselor, my considered approach to parenting, the exquisite teaching I’ve observed in private schools, and over two decades running PreK-12 schools. I’ve spent thousands of hours in classrooms studying the finer points of pedagogy.
I assembled a brain trust of some of the leading educational thinkers of our time, the master teachers of the master teachers… that led to the most profound insights, to a clarity and depth of understanding about what comprises a world-class education.
And that is why I was compelled to write this book. I felt a responsibility to share what I have learned—all that I wish I had known when I first started out as a teacher and parent.”
— From the introduction to The Well-Educated Child
Talks & Media Appearances
What Does It Mean to Be Well-Educated?
SPRING SPEECH 2025
What College Admissions Reveals About American Society
MORNING JOE