Posted in Philosophy of Education on Apr 12, 2010 - 08:43 PM
Often I wonder, why do we send our children away to a classroom at all? I can only speak for myself, but I feel that I have an ample amount of knowledge and know-how which I would love to share with my future children. With my knowledge, plus the fact that I would be bringing my kid(s) with me on daily adventures and into my networks of other people, it seems that experience alone would provide a well-rounded atmosphere for learning. So unschooling, to me, seems to be a viable option for providing an education. But at the same time, it seems odd, intuitively, to even think of planning an educational route for my future children.To me, it seems that just by living, and getting by in society, children will pick up on the crucial things one needs to know in order to independently survive in day-to-day life.
Currently, however, it almost seems like we prepare our kids a good education for the sake of ensuring that they become understanding and successful people. As if a child without a said education would become an adult who was ignorant of the ways of the world. So I mean to say, there is a fear of not educating our kids, because of the underlying question of "What if my kids don't grow up to be at least as smart and successful as I am, or the people I know?" But isn't plain and true happiness the most important thing we want for our kids? And won't that come from just being alive, and sharing a fun-loving time with us?
Perhaps the overwhelming desire to get our kids to the 'best' place possible has a lot to do with our current work force, and how competitive it can be. To have the highest paying jobs, one must have a very particular education. And we as American's seem to be infatuated with holding financial success and what we consider to be the 'best' in the same group. So it is no surprise that many American parents are so concerned with their children getting the 'best' education possible.
But it feels so right to allow our children to grow organically in the environment we share with them. It seems most right to me. And the fear of raising children who will not be financially successful in our American society is a legitimate fear, I suppose, but it is also not the most important factor I will consider when raising children. Money is not everything, but family bonds and support might be. That's how I feel, anyhow.
So I guess the sum of my thoughts is that, children ought to roam as we roam. They ought to discover, just as we do. We ought to bring them to the places we go, and share the life we have with them. And it is strange, sort of, that we even contemplate something like an education, when we as parents are oh-so-capable of raising diligent human beings with our love, nurture, and support alone.
Education just seems like a stressful topic at times, and I think it is wise to know that with or without a structured education, children, so long as they have some sort of nurturing support and guidance, will grow to be competent adults, and will be able to fend for themselves. Sometimes we just seem to get so caught up in structuring one-hell-of-an-incredible educational experience for our kids, that we forget how incredible staying home with Mom and Dad can be. When I think of the most important things I know, I remember that I learned them at home, and that means a lot.
Tags for this entry:
learning,
autonomy,
success,
parental concern,
importance of an education
Comments
Apr 16, 2010 - 05:54 PM
“...with or without a structured education, children, so long as they have some sort of nurturing support and guidance, will grow to be competent adults, and will be able to fend for themselves.”
Scott Nine was telling me that one of his favorite things about the Village Free School is that out-of-school education is honored as much as in-school. As you know, his wife is taking their 11-year-old son with her to Arizona, and the school sees that type of experience as a learning opportunity.
For the kids who aren’t lucky enough to have a rich learning environment at home and in their neighborhoods, it’s important to help them find mentorship and a stimulating environment. Some of the low-income students I’ve worked with don’t have access to books and enrichment opportunities (even the internet) at home, so it’s important that they can get them at school or at community learning centers like the library. Even more, they need respected role models to set examples of learning naturally.
Aug 12, 2010 - 02:23 PM
“When I think of the most important things I know, I remember that I learned them at home, and that means a lot.”
Shawn,
Great post!!
I just wanted to say that I couldn’t agree with you more. As a parent (and as a person!) I keep consciously choosing to make decisions out of love rather than fear. We live in a culture where fear mongering is commonplace. The subtle and not-so-sublte message to parents and educators is “get as much information into the heads of the *students* as soon as possible or else your child will grow up to be a poor and value-less human being devoid of anything worth having (STUFF) and therefore a persona non grata.” Which is based on our interpreting ourselves (identities) as the things that we own… unfortunately.
Before this turns into a blog post of a response, I’ll stop now. Suffice is to say, in closing, people have learned from their families, communities and networks since time immemorial. The idea of “school” is still very new to the human race so we still have a lot of things to work out in our post-modern, post-industrial era.
Sara Schmidt
Apr 13, 2010 - 02:26 AM
“But it feels so right to allow our children to grow organically in the environment we share with them. It seems most right to me.”
Me too, Shawn.
And as far as preparing children for the job market, those future jobs statistically don’t even exist! The argument that schools can better prepare future adults for such positions better than parents can just doesn’t work there.