Is this the bus you want to be on?
I read an article recently about a parent's experience in unschooling their children...
As a future educator I thought...WHAT?!
I then began to look around, and this is a movement in homeschooling which is much more popular than I would have thought.
Unschooling rejects what they consider the belief of the traditional curriculum; that children must be pursued by knowledge because they won't pursue it themselves.
Unschoolers believe that children learn through natural experiences guided by their own interests and curiosity. People who follow this way of learning trust that kids can learn on their own with minimum guidance. This philosophy focuses on the following:
- No classes with subjects
- Students set own goals
- No structure
- Students think for selves and make own decisions
- Based on individual interests
- Learn at own pace
- Happens all the time
The parent in the original article does not believe that future jobs can be predicted, teaching in schools consists of facts and skills they may not need in the future. This parent believes if children teach themselves they are prepared for any future.
I believe children can and do learn important skills in school that will prepare them for the future.
A big focus of the recent common core standards is about learning through inquiry, it is about discovery and not just learning facts but how and why things happen--this does prepare our children for the future!
Schools provide skills and knowledge that go beyond the content areas; social skills, responsibility, time management, understanding, and tolerance, just to name a few....
Unschoolers state that students in traditional schools take parents out of the learning process, that teachers take responsibility for learning; while unschooling allows parents to learn with their kids.
My questions:
Why can't unschooling happen simultaneously with traditional schooling?
Parents can still be active participants by working with teachers and being a part of the school community. Why can't learning through interests and curiosity happen at home still? Successful education does not happen by teachers alone, but is the result of productive connections of school and home!
Whether children are schooled or unschooled there are still basic skills that all people must have in order in order to lead productive and successful lives. A child who does not have interest in reading, still must learn to read--I think there has to be a level of structure and formal learning. A child who is not curious about math must still achieve at least a basic skill level to make change or balance a checkbook. I think the idea of unschooling is a falsehood. There are skills that require teaching for all to interact with the world effectively.
I don't know that every student will learn necessary skills by unschooling, and may realize when it is too late that they are missing vital information and have limited their opportunities.
However it is done, there is no question of the importance of education--even unschooling must provide it.
"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world."
-Nelson Mandela
