Sunday, November 26, 2006

Unschool Home Schoolers Content to Take Children’s Lead. Some parents are opting to “unschool” their children, perhaps the most extreme application of home-schooling. By SUSAN SAULNY. [NYT > National] I am fascinated by this article I just read about "Unschooling," a version of home schooling which is completely unstructured and child-driven. For example, according to parents quoted in the article, if a kid wants to pick up a book and read, fine, if she wants to play with her little brother fine. No textbooks, no structured lessons. Kids learn basic math when they are motivated to by some real-life application, like calculating how much allowance they need to save up for a desired purchase, etc. The parents who school by this method, eschew not only the traditional classroom, but tests as well. So researchers studying the effectiveness of this method also have no way of measuring it. Now, to each his own, I say. I mean, this is a free society, and if you believe your kid can function and succeed in the real world with an education like this, then go for it. I seriously doubt society is being put in any danger by the few families who actually do this. Of course, like with more structured forms of home schooling, the kids will miss something in their education that is offered by experts, or teachers, in the public schools, which the parents and the kids doing their own independent, unguided research, can not provide. Still, we must also admit that the way we do public, assembly-line mass education in this country also causes the kids to miss something crucial to their development into adulthood. Individuality, independent exploration, real-world lessons.(The list may be eternal.) In other words, and this is what I have always decried about our educational system (of which I am a part), when we work so hard in the name of standards, which aren't bad, to make everyone essentially the same, then we stifle the natural process of curiosity and learning, as well as basic individuality. When we set things up the way we do, we make assumptions, and we make unquestioned values choices, and while those values may be, and are, good (prepare everyone for college, equity for all, rigorous instruction), there is always a trade-off. What I like is that some education bureaucrats are beginning to take seriously that one size doesn't fit all. That it's ok to let some people choose an alternative, whether it be home schooling or whatever, and continue to work for principles such as equity, and being sure that some form of a quality education is provided for the poor and underprivileged. A worthy goal, but one that is nuanced and tricky to achieve, is to strive for access for all, but not everyone has to be the same. What would it look like for students in a public school setting to have more choice as to what they study at an earlier age. Do we have the resources to accomplish that kind of instructional diversity in the public schools? Not at the level public education is funded now, for sure. We mass-educate because its cheap. Is this an  unachievable ideal? Or better, to what degree can it be achieved? Anyway, I'm rambling. 9:38:15 PM    comment []trackback []