Posted by Kromey at 7:32pm Aug 4 '11I'd never heard of unschooling before. Interesting concept, going to look more into it. Makes sense on the surface, at least.
That said, public schooling can -- and does -- work when the parents, the teachers, and the student all take a genuine interest in the student's education. And no, I don't mean just taking a little extra time to go over that homework assignment to make sure it's done right. I mean taking the time to learn where the student's interests lie, and to foster those interests into a focus on self-learning, with guiding and inspiration from teachers and parents.
My own education, I honestly believe, is a perfect example of what the public schooling system can do when all of the above come together right. When I wanted to be a pilot, my teachers and my parents introduced me to paper airplanes (hey, I was still young) and then to the principles of lift and aerodynamics -- I still possess a knowledge of flight far in excess of your typical person, although I'm a far cry from the experts who ended up pursuing that interest and making a career out of it.
When my interests turned to computers, my teacher convinced my principle to bend the rules of the science fair to allow me to enter a computer-based quiz that I programmed (although I didn't know about the behind-the-scenes stuff until much later; turns out I was awarded a lower prize than they felt my effort truly deserved because it simply wasn't eligible to go on to the state science fair). When those interests turned toward computer animation/game design, my parents re-worked their budget to afford to buy me a copy of HyperCard, at the time a top-of-the-line piece of software for making all sorts of interactive projects. When my interests returned to programming, they again bent their budget to buy me a development environment so I could continue to explore that area.
This kind of sounds like unschooling, I guess, at least to my cursory and superficial knowledge of the concept. But it all took place within the framework of public schooling, and I dare say that it wouldn't have been possible without it -- I wouldn't have been exposed to computers in anywhere near the same way, and I highly doubt I would be a computer programmer and systems administrator today were it not for that exposure.
All of this is to say that I really bristle when I see someone talking about public schooling being "detrimental". It's not. It's not ideal, I'll readily admit, but damn near every case of the system "failing" a student is really a case of the parents and/or the teachers failing the student, not some inherent "horror" in the public schooling system. There are some truly brilliant people who have been nurtured by and blossomed as a result of the public school system, just like there have been some truly brilliant people who have succeeded from home schooling and, I'm sure, unschooling.
When a child's education falls behind because their parents just don't care, how is home schooling or unschooling going to magically fix that?
That said, public schooling can -- and does -- work when the parents, the teachers, and the student all take a genuine interest in the student's education. And no, I don't mean just taking a little extra time to go over that homework assignment to make sure it's done right. I mean taking the time to learn where the student's interests lie, and to foster those interests into a focus on self-learning, with guiding and inspiration from teachers and parents.
My own education, I honestly believe, is a perfect example of what the public schooling system can do when all of the above come together right. When I wanted to be a pilot, my teachers and my parents introduced me to paper airplanes (hey, I was still young) and then to the principles of lift and aerodynamics -- I still possess a knowledge of flight far in excess of your typical person, although I'm a far cry from the experts who ended up pursuing that interest and making a career out of it.
When my interests turned to computers, my teacher convinced my principle to bend the rules of the science fair to allow me to enter a computer-based quiz that I programmed (although I didn't know about the behind-the-scenes stuff until much later; turns out I was awarded a lower prize than they felt my effort truly deserved because it simply wasn't eligible to go on to the state science fair). When those interests turned toward computer animation/game design, my parents re-worked their budget to afford to buy me a copy of HyperCard, at the time a top-of-the-line piece of software for making all sorts of interactive projects. When my interests returned to programming, they again bent their budget to buy me a development environment so I could continue to explore that area.
This kind of sounds like unschooling, I guess, at least to my cursory and superficial knowledge of the concept. But it all took place within the framework of public schooling, and I dare say that it wouldn't have been possible without it -- I wouldn't have been exposed to computers in anywhere near the same way, and I highly doubt I would be a computer programmer and systems administrator today were it not for that exposure.
All of this is to say that I really bristle when I see someone talking about public schooling being "detrimental". It's not. It's not ideal, I'll readily admit, but damn near every case of the system "failing" a student is really a case of the parents and/or the teachers failing the student, not some inherent "horror" in the public schooling system. There are some truly brilliant people who have been nurtured by and blossomed as a result of the public school system, just like there have been some truly brilliant people who have succeeded from home schooling and, I'm sure, unschooling.
When a child's education falls behind because their parents just don't care, how is home schooling or unschooling going to magically fix that?
Huh - Kromey