Two analogies illustrate differences in educational philosophy: the child as clay to be molded by teachers to conform to predetermined standards, and the child as a flower, tended by the teacher so that it may blossom in its own way. Case studies of delinquent children have shown that some children are able draw upon inner resources and unexplained strength to make very full use of a limited intelligence quotient or an adverse environment. How can these inner resources be discovered and built upon? The sought-after ingredient is resourcefulness, and several studies have demonstrated a link between inventive economies and childrearing that emphasizes reasoning and discussion instead of control and physical discipline. Modern society's demand for social conformity and the quiescence necessary to maintain inequality has stifled creativity. Only socially isolated groups have been able to sustain the truer form of egalitarianism which fosters real social independence and individuality. Perhaps education for resourcefulness would be a curriculum built around the arts, which foster creativity. It is noted that the performing arts provide more employment and more foreign currency for Britain than the motor industry. Many people remember the influence of a particular teacher whose resourcefulness liberated their own resourcefulness and set them in motion like a gyroscope. Perhaps it is this particular magic that is at the core of "education as if people mattered." (Contains 13 references.) (TD)