|
Personal Site
Editor-in-Chief
of Author of
unschooling
books
Founder and editor of Life Learning
Founder and editor of Natural Child online magazine
Interview on Inspired Parenting Radio
|
Musings, meanderings, wonderings and wanderings about unschooling, natural parenting, green living, social justice and more by writer, author and Natural Life magazine editor Wendy Priesnitz. Archives - April, 2009The New (and Greener) Era of Thrift – April 29, 2009 Why Kids Don’t Like School – April 27, 2009 I am always amazed at why people don’t get that forcing people to do things “for their own good” is counterproductive. But today, a news release came across my desk from the University of Virginia that gives me a tiny bit of hope that things could change. “If you ask high school students if they like to learn new things, almost all of them will tell you they like to learn,” says Daniel Willingham, a cognitive psychologist. “But if you ask those same students if they like school, many of them will tell you they don’t.” He addresses these issues in a new book Why Don’t Students like School?, in which he explains how the mind works – and what it means for the classroom and, reportedly, for homeschooling parents. The mind is actually designed to avoid thinking, he says, and forcing students to think makes them turn off. “Thinking is a slow process; it’s effortful and even uncertain. People naturally want to avoid that process, and instead rely on memory, the things we already know how to do and are successful at.” However, he continues, people also are curious and, paradoxically, we enjoy thinking. He says that to teach somebody effectively – to “create learning experiences that last” – one needs to find that “sweet spot, a level where learning is neither too simplistic to be interesting, nor too difficult to be enjoyable.” I do not believe we can create learning experiences that last for other people. We can, however, create circumstances that allow for real learning to happen. We can, in effect, trust people to find that “sweet spot” for themselves. That is what happens naturally when kids are engaged in a topic that interests them: Their learning is in context, builds upon previous learning and is at exactly the right level to satisfy their urge to explain the world without turning them off because the experience is too difficult or too boring. The best learning experiences – those that create real learning – are those instigated by learners, based on curiosity and interest…and on the trust that they won’t have to regurgitate what they have learned in some meaningless way like writing a letter to someone to explain something they already know. Posted: 2009/04/27 12:52 PM You Know You’re On the Right Track When… – April 24, 2009 How Life Learners Learn to Read – April 16, 2009 “It’s probably no exaggeration to say that home educators have done more to advance the scientific understanding of the nature of learning than a century of research based in schools. Home educating families do not have to adhere to the conventions and traditions that have grown to surround learning in schools. Instead, they have the freedom and indeed the compulsion to custom design an education that suits them, their children and their lifestyles. Nowhere is this freedom clearer than when it comes to unschooling where the philosophy of the classroom is abandoned as learning ceases to be a separately definable part of life. The result is a form of education in which the theories which support professional education in school are contradicted and questioned at every turn. “Where home educators lead, researchers have to follow, trying to unravel how this learning actually happens. Certainly there is currently no satisfactory academic understanding of the kind of informal or natural learning demonstrated by unschooled children at home. Our recent research described in our book How Children Learn at Home seeks to begin the job of filling this theoretical black hole. “In the next stage of our research we are
focusing on th fascinating topic of how unschooled children learn how to read.
If you have a child or children who have learned to read at home, either wholly
or in part, whether from a structured scheme or in any other way, we would very
much like to hear from you and learn about your experiences, good or bad. We have posted a short questionnaire on our website,
where you will also find contact details if you would prefer to get in touch
directly. Whatever you have to say
will be fascinating and valuable to us.” Naomi Aldort – April 15, 2009 No Use For Marks – April 15, 2009 Marks are, after all, sacred in schools because they serve as the
currency that makes the educational economy work. They are, as a consequence –
and just like praise and other rewards offered by schools and many parents
–
used
as bribes to get young people to behave in way that society wants. They also
encourage competition, as the second article illustrates. But they have nothing
to do with learning. As Alfie Kohn writes
in his 1999 book Punished By Rewards: The Trouble with Gold Stars, Incentive
Plans, A’s, Praise, and Other Bribes, the use of marks and grades in education
is based on Pavlovian and Skinnerian behavioral theories, which are supported by
experiments with laboratory animals. Unlike rats, people are motivated by
autonomy and choice, as well as curiosity and relevance to their lives. And that
is one of unfortunate problems with the use of marks in schools: Self-direction,
independent thinking and collaboration are traits highly in demand these days
but our educational systems are too fearful of the consequences of those traits
to nurture them. So they plod along defending meaningless and debilitatingly
old-fashioned practices. Misplaced Mommy Wars – April 9, 2009 In a well-time and well-aimed As Peggy notes, breastfeeding is not the problem. The problem, as I also point out in my Natural Life magazine article about feminism and unschooling, is the lack of respect and support for the work of caregiving, which includes breastfeeding, unschooling and other aspects of parenting. Rosin writes, “If a breast-feeding mother is miserable, or stressed out, or alienated by nursing, as many women are, if her marriage is under stress and breast-feeding is making things worse, surely that can have a greater effect on a kid’s future success than a few IQ points.” Perhaps. But the solution to such a sad situation is not formula – in the same way schooling isn’t the solution to our educational and daycare crisis. The solution is to fix the underlying problem. And that requires changing society’s values. Neither does the solution lie in escalating the war among
women, of which, I think, Rosin is guilty. She disdains the culture of
motherhood and natural parenting, describing mothers who “obsess about
breast-feeding” – “the urban moms in their tight jeans and oversize
sunglasses” sizing each other up “using a whole range of signifiers: organic
content of snacks, sleekness of stroller, ratio of tasteful wooden toys to
plastic.” Revealingly, she admits to breastfeeding her baby son – although
not “slavishly.” Perhaps if she and other mothers felt that their
role was more valued – and if they had more support from the men in
their lives – there wouldn’t be the need for attitude on either side of the
debate. Or maybe the debate could end. Home Education Day – April 8, 2009 We Don’t Need No Education – April 7, 2009 Why Trusting Kids is So Hard – March 29, 2009 I think it’s because we don’t trust ourselves and, therefore, can’t trust our children.. And that’s because our parents and our teachers didn’t trust us. After all, society says children aren’t trustworthy, and that they are loud, inconsiderate and uninterested in learning about the world around them unless forced. Growing up, most of us weren’t allowed to make our own decisions – what to wear, what and when to eat, whether or not we were cold, what friends to have, what to learn, to participate in family decision making. We were managed, not trusted. We were dictated to, not allowed to think. Then, as we became young adults, our parents and teachers worried about us – not realizing that their lack of trust and the resulting control had ill-prepared us to make our own decisions. In the end, their lack of trust became a self-fulfilling prophecy. Most of us broke out of that, learned from the mistakes we made. But many of us have spent a lot of time and money on therapy, retreats, workshops and self-help books in order to learn to trust ourselves. And, when we find it hard to trust our children, we are passing along the legacy of our upbringing and schooling. Those of us who have decided there is another way need to
be sure the pattern doesn’t get repeated. We need to give our children the
message that they know what is best for them, and that we are available to help and
guide them if they are confused...and ask for our help. By choosing life
learning, we have chosen to protect and encourage their ability to
live their lives with joy and the knowledge of who they are. We can listen to
and treat them with respect. We can model self-respect, mindfulness and care for
others. But we also need to be kind to ourselves as we walk the alternative
parenting path, remembering that trusting kids is not something that we’re
programmed for.
Comments? Suggestions? Email
me copyright ©
Wendy Priesnitz 200 |
Topics &
Passions
life learning / unschooling
~
Monthly
Archives ~
What I'm
Reading
Risk by Dan Gardner (McClelland & Stewart,
2008) ~ What I'm Listening To
Live in London by Leonard Cohen (Sony Music,
2009) ~
Fav Bookmarks
Daughter Blog
~ Fav Quotes
Art, Writing, Creativity
|
Blog Updates
