Will I ever learn?

As a human being, the big thing that I've yet to learn properly is how to know when I am just being too sassy. I just can't tell. Would somebody please give me a hand?


It seems that some clarifying questions I asked about unschooling over at EdWonks on January 8th inspired an entire post on January 11th over at Atypical Homeschools.

What is unschooling? According to Wikipedia,

. . . [it] is the term that means being responsible for your own education. Under unschooling education, parents may act as "facilitators" and may provide a wide-range of resources to their children. Proponents of unschooling have a variety of reasons to support their position. A common belief underlying their reasoning is that curiosity is innate. Some argue that institutionalizing a child in what they consider a factory model public school, or any form of compulsory schooling, is an inefficient use of a child's time since it is one size fits all and is oppressive in the forcing of subjects on a child regardless of whether the child is interested. Proponents may also claim that individualized, child-led learning is more efficient and respectful of a child's time, takes advantage of a child's interests, and allows learning and exploration in depth rather than shallow coverage of a broad range of subjects. It is not the subject matter the child learns that is important, but that the child learns how to learn and learn in depth. Given that, if later, as an adult, he finds there was some subject or nuance he missed in his education, he will be able to acquire it on his own.

Here is what I said at EdWonks:

Hmmm... Interesting concept. I'm all for nurturing curiosity--the heart of learning. How do you reckong "unschooling" addresses the very things kids need to know and understand in order to be successful later on in life? Isn't that what accountability is all about?

Last night while checking in with my stat counter, I came across a link to my blog from Atypical Homeschools. Was I surprised to see an entire post written by Ron addressed to me. It appeared that Ron spent a great deal of time reflecting on how to answer my questions. Here are some excerpts:

"The insistence of a need for accountability (something we encounter fairly often) suggests that we do not live in a free society. If an individual is accountable to some one or some group, then they are not free. His or her freedom, success and future are endlessly dependent on the approval of that person or group. A free society does not require accountability. It requires responsibility. . .

If one of the aims of education is to produce or perpetuate a free society, then it is essential that the education system inculcate responsibility in its students. A responsible person is free because his or her actions are solely a result of his or her choices. . .

An unschooling environment affords a child the opportunity to learn responsibility because the child has the opportunity to experience both success and failure at the hands of his or her own choices. Of all things, I believe that being responsible for ones own life is central factor in ones success. . .

I think you will find the definition of what they need to know has been debated since the inception of compulsary schooling. The reality is that we live in a changing world. Much of what I needed to know when I was my children’s age, is no longer taught in public schools. One might believe that the basics of reading and writing essential to people in our society. However, given the statistic I wrote about a few months ago, obviously they are not essential. . .

A third subject which is usually identified as ‘basic’ is math. I agree that it would be difficult to live in our society without basic skills in math. A simple solution to this for an unschooler is for the child to have an allowance. Through an allowance, a child will learn basic computational skills and budgeting. . .

What I believe is the main philosophy of unschooling is to refrain from teaching a child that it needs to be taught. . .

Given that we live in an unprecedented era of change, the skill which is essential to a young adult hoping for success in life is the ability to learn. The importance of facts is as changeable as the weather. Who could forecast what facts my 5 year old will need to know when she is 20?"

You can go here to read the entire post.

Naturally, I couldn't resist leaving a comment. Here is how I responded.

Of course we live in a democratic and free society, and you are certainly free to live within the tennets of your beliefs. Don’t forget, however, that even in our democratic socity there are still laws that govern us, so we are not entirely free. I suppose when I asked the question at EdWonks, I was thinking more in terms of the education of older children and keeping options open for them. What if ten years from now your child decides that she would like to become a doctor? Will you be able to adequately prepare her to meet the requirements of medical school admission? We can’t all be experts in everything."

I understand some of the ideas Ron is trying to convey, but I am not convinced by his argument.

It makes me feel so sassy and impolite to argue with a gentleman who obviously worked so hard to answer my questions. . .

. . . which were perhaps rhetorical given the context of who I am.

I get that the gist of unschooling is to nurture the love of learning in children. What troubles me is the tendency of homeschooling / unschooling (or whatever the heck it's called) proponents to make blanket generalizations (okay, so I admit that this probably is a blanket generalization too) that no good can come from public school education. Ron is obviously a thoughtful, caring individual and I give him his due credit. However, contrary to the fundamental belief that motivates parents to homeschool, I believe that children can and do thrive in public schools, for I see it every day. As a public school teacher, nurturing the love of learning is what I do.

Believe me when I say that Ron.