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Archives
- January, 2006
Unschooling
on CNN – January 28. 2006
Last night, CNN
carried a piece on unschooling. And on Monday evening, they apparently
plan a sequel to discuss “the controversy over unschooling”,
whatever that is. We don’t have cable (now under which pile of books
is that darn TV anyway?) so I couldn’t watch. But the
accompanying article isn’t too bad, in spite of its over-used
title. Unfortunately, it ends this way, quoting a ten-year-old
unschooler from Georgia: “I actually don’t know what I'm learning,”
Nailah said. “I think I'm just having a good time.”
Chuckle-producing for those of us who understand this type of life-based
learning, but perhaps head-shaking for those who don’t. Typical
attempting-to-be-provocative media treatment.
Posted:
2006/01/28 11:15 AM
Expanding the Notion of Feminism – January 22,
2006
One of the more disheartening aspects of my three decades of work
promoting home-based education has been the scorn of many feminists.
I’ve tried to ignore what have always seemed to me to be their
short-sighted, narrowly defined misunderstanding of both me and my
vision for education, and to focus on a much larger view of gender
issues. The choices made by women (and some men) to be at home caring
for both children and elderly relatives should, it seems to me, be
supported rather than ridiculed, paid for rather than eliminated.
So I was pleased to receive an invitation from
Albertan unpaid work activist Beverley Smith to join her on March 1 in
New York City to argue in favor of the value of unpaid work done in the home.
Caregiver Credit, an American organization actively promoting tax
recognition for care of the elderly in their own home by family members,
has joined the European Federation of Unpaid Parents and Carers at Home,
to host a meeting in conjunction with the UN meeting for the Commission
on the Status of Women.
The meeting, linking women and some men from around the world, has defined a huge goal: to enlarge traditional definitions of “work”, of how an
economy works and of how societies can value all the roles men and women
have…wherever the work is done. These organizations are not against
women’s paid work; they celebrate the advances the women’s movement
has made in that area. But they asks for more: for equality for all the
roles of women, new and traditional…for inclusiveness, not scornful
judgments. They want the balance between career and family to be between
two win-win options so that both women
and men can make their commitments based on what they believe and on
their perceived needs, not only based on money.
For more information about Caregiver Credit and
this progressive movement, visit their
website. Gloria Steinem, who is a member of Caregiver Credit’s Board
of Trustees, says “This is the next major phase of the Women’s
Movement.” Finally.
Posted:
2006/01/22 1:05 PM
What Happened to the Environment? – January 17,
2006
At the beginning of the Canadian federal election campaign last December
(right around the time the nations of the world gathered in Montreal for
the United Nations Climate Change Conference) when voters were asked to
list the issues most important to them, they ranked health care,
education and the environment near the top, with political scandal near
the bottom. But at some point along the way, the election rhetoric of
the Conservative Party, which has focused on the supposed corruption of
the Liberal government, must have had some subliminal effect because now
voters seem tp want change at all costs, based on the ethical failures of
the Liberals. And issues like the environment have gone AWOL.
The Conservative Party barely mentions
environmental issues in its platform, except to promote the George W
Bush voluntary, let’s-not-anger-corporations style of giving lip
service to fixing climate change (if they even believe it exists). So in
light of polls saying the Conservatives will form Canada’s next
government, and that a “green” Conservative is pretty much an
oxymoron, it looks like Canada will continue to wallow in its excrement
for awhile longer.
But if you are a voting Canadian, there may still
be time to change that. There are environmentally aware individuals
running for office again this time and the Sierra Club of Canada has
recently highlighted those candidates. Using the metaphor of the
Olympics, the organization has issued its
list of the top environmentally aware candidates. The symbolic medals have been awarded to over one
hundred candidates. The medal rankings are as follows: Liberal Party –
35, New Democratic Party – 34, Green Party – 23, Conservative Party
– 6, and Bloc Québécois – 4.
Posted:
2006/01/17 1:17 PM
Election Blues – January 16, 2006
I’m depressed, angry and frustrated. With the Canadian federal
election less than a week away, it looks like the majority is planning
to punish the ruling Liberal party for its unkept promises and arrogant
attitudes. If that happens, this country will jerk sharply to the right
by voting for a rabidly right wing party led by a wolf who has wrapped
himself in sheep’s clothing in order not to scare away voters (like he
did last time). And I
don’t think I’m exaggerating when I say that this country’s
progressive heart is at risk.
If the Conservative Party wins a majority in next
Monday’s election, I fear it will mean privatization and deregulation,
and more cuts to social programs; abandonment of new promises to First
Nations peoples; the end of Canada’s Kyoto plan to reduce greenhouse
gas emissions; a health care system based on commercialization; the loss
of a badly needed “new deal” for big cities like Toronto and money
for affordable housing; greater foreign policy integration with the
U.S., including participation in foreign conflicts and space-based
military systems, which the previous government has avoided; new risks
to women’s right to reproductive choice and pay equity, as well as to
marriage rights for same sex couples.
As reader Robbie Anderman, in a letter to the
letter sent to Natural Life magazine, puts it: “With The Economist
magazine running a cover photo of a grimacing G.W. Bush under a headline
of ‘What’s gone wrong for America’s right?’, as scandal and
corruption plagues a government that rose to power on ‘family
values’ and ‘doing the right thing’, I can’t help but wonder why
there is such interest in Canadians to be like the southern neighbors,
and harmonize our health, environmental and safety regulations with
their lax ones.”
Letters and alarms have recently been circulating
by representatives from child care, Aboriginal, women's rights, health
care, equality rights, environmental, arts, trade union, and advocacy
groups. But it may be too little too late.
Unfortunately, the party most involved with
advocating for – and in some instances creating – Canada’s social
programs, the NDP, helped get us into this mess by inexplicably
cooperating with the Conservative Party to defeat the minority Liberal
government last fall…dooming a raft of progressive legislation
they’d fought for during the previous year. This will be one election
where I’ll be holding my nose all the way to the ballot box…once I
figure out who to vote for.
Posted: 2006/01/16
10:33 PM
Inquiry-Based Learning – January 10, 2006
A reader recently sent me an
article from Time magazine about
The Galileo Educational Network. This group of tech-savvy educators
based at the University of Calgary is, according to the article, “kicking the sides off the box that has
corralled children in school systems designed for the assembly lines of
a bygone industrial age.” In fact, one of the founders states that
they are aiming to do no less than change the world. Their focus is to
use technology to help students to create knowledge rather than to
regurgitate facts supplied by others – something unschoolers have, of
course, been
living for decades. I’ve not seen these people in action, but their
talk of collaboration and inquiry-based learning sure sounds good. I
just wonder if it’s possible to give more than lip service to these ideas within the doors
of traditional school classrooms. One sentence from the article suggests
an answer to that question: “Teachers fuel students’ curiosity by
pursuing their questions in the context of curriculum.” Without
fundamental change to the way we view education, Galileo could become
just another flavor-of-the-minute teaching method, albeit a very worthy
one. The box that is
created by curriculum, classrooms and management issues like testing and
grading has very rigid sides and isn’t easily kicked apart. But
here’s to those who try. Wonder if the Galileo folks have stepped
outside their box to consult with life learning families to see how
it’s really done!
Posted: 2006/01/10
1:08 PM
The Timeline – January 1, 2006
You may know that early last year I was approached by a woman
named Natalie Zur Nedden who wanted her PhD dissertation to be my life
history. The context is that of a Canadian woman who has been a
pioneering advocate/writer in the field of unschooling. When I agreed, I
had an inkling of the degree of introspection and memory mining that
would be involved. And in addition to being flattered, I leapt at the
chance to weave together in my own mind the various threads of my
previous 55 years…and to have that history illuminate the road ahead.
However, the process has been more challenging than I imagined –
although that’s perhaps a function of my obsessively perfectionist
personality than of the process itself! I’ve run through the spectrum
of emotions and become grumpy and impatient more than once. Thanks to
Natalie for challenging and humoring me when my head hurt from too much
sense-making!
Perhaps to keep me engaged in the project, she
recently asked me to construct a timeline of my life to date. So I
mounted a long piece of brown wrapping paper on the wall, drew a line
down the middle and notched off 55 segments. Then I bought a package of
colored markers and began, on one side of the line, to document the
events, people, occasions and celebrations of my life. On the other
side, I’ve been adding in the context of the times: significant public
events and cultural markers that influenced my life along the way.
Like a life, the timeline is a work in progress.
Often, as I walk by the sheet of paper, I will pause to add another
small thread to the tapestry. Or just to glimpse one of my previous
notations and smile at the memory. Like the whole life history project,
the timeline is giving me a sense of accomplishment at a time when I’m
often too busy to appreciate what I’ve done (and am doing). While
we’re not all so privileged to have our stories told publicly, we can
all use a tool like the timeline to appreciate where we’ve been and
anticipate where we’re going. The end of one year and the beginning of
another seems like a good time for this sort of reflection! And it seems
to be more productive than making New Years Resolutions that I won’t
keep.
Posted: 2006/01/01
2:58 PM
Happy
New Year! – January 1, 2006
I wish
everyone the very best for 2006, including peace, prosperity
(whatever that means to you), happiness, good relations with your
family, supportive friends and colleagues, developing wisdom and much
more. Once our year-end bookkeeping is finished today or tomorrow, I
will return to this space with some more thoughts.
Posted: 2006/01/01
11:40 AM
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