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Editor-in-Chief of Editor-in-Chief
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Musings, meanderings, wonderings and wanderings about unschooling, natural parenting, sustainable living and more by Wendy Priesnitz. Archives - March, 2008Earth Hour Candles –
March 29, 2008 Webcast Discussion on Homeschooling – March 25, 2008 The New Radicals – March 14, 2008 Moulden says the new radicals are often boomers who as a generation already had been part of big social movements such as women’s rights and who want to continue principled work. The idea makes for a good read, but there’s nothing new about it. This is also known as social entrepreneurship and the term was first used in the literature on social change in the 1960s and ‘70s. It was certainly in use in the mid ‘70s when my husband and business partner Rolf and I went off the money track to start our “new radical/social entrepreneurship” publishing business. The term came into more widespread use in the 1980s and ‘90s, promoted by people like Harvard Business School professor Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Bill Drayton, the founder of Ashoka.. I believe that all entrepreneurship should be for the good of society, which is a very radical thought. I fail to see the point of any human enterprise that is otherwise, meaning that it destroys society, health or the environment. Likewise for any economic structure or policy that encourage destructiveness. Further, I think the notion that business=bad and non-profit=good is very out-dated. But all of this makes me wonder: I’m already a radical, which means I can’t be a new one. So does that make me an old radical???? Posted: 2008/03/14 11:28 AM Is Education About Winning or Learning? – March
12, 2008 Academic dishonesty, as in plagiarism is, of course, to be condemned, as is journalistic or any other sort of dishonesty. But let’s be clear that the purpose of attendance at an educational institution is to learn. And some of the best learning is done through discussion and collaboration. When the focus becomes competition for correct answers, marks and that cherished piece of paper held up tantalizingly by a bunch of so-called experts, rather than to gain knowledge, the spirit of education is mocked. Posted: 2008/03/12 7:55 PM The
Homeschooling Crisis in California – March 11, 2008 Nevertheless, the phone call did motivate me to take the time to dig more deeply into the substance of the headlines and rumors I’d been hearing about a homeschooling catastrophe in California. The San Francisco Chronicle, for instance, put it this way: “A California appeals court ruling clamping down on homeschooling by parents without teaching credentials sent shock waves across the state…leaving an estimated 166,000 children as possible truants and their parents at risk of prosecution.” I’ve been around long enough to assume that this was either an ignorant or sensationalist headline writer, or that there is more here than meets the eye. Turns out to be both. My first stop was the website of the Connecticut-based Home Education Legal Defense (HELD) organization. (Note that I did not write “Home School Legal Defense Association” – HSLDA – which is always my last stop, for many reasons, and seems to be flaming the rhetoric in this case.) HELD Executive Director Attorney Deborah Stevenson didn’t disappoint me. She has written a succinct and factual description of the situation and assures that “the sky is not falling in California.” She also provides a link to the court ruling that has caused all the alarm among homeschoolers. Other good sources of info are the California Homeschool Network, the HomeSchool Association of California and Tammy Takahashi’s blog. The various organizations are working together to solve what is a complicated situation that appears to have started out by having little to do with homeschooling. There seems to be much missing information, but it’s clear that family involved has a history with the child welfare authorities – which perhaps the ruling was a misguided attempt to end. This particular case apparently began when the oldest of the family’s many children reported that the children were being physically and emotionally mistreated by their father, who has homeschooled all of his eight children. Now, why the panel of three judges focused on homeschooling rather than alleged abuse issues is not clear. But it looks to me that the judges have misinterpreted the law. The state’s legal options for home educators include establishing a private school in their home by filing a private school affidavit or enrolling in private school satellite instruction or independent study programs. Nowhere does it say that private schools must employ accredited teachers. State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell has issued a statement saying he supports “parental choice when it comes to homeschooling.” And Governor Schwarzenegger has also issued a statement in support of homeschooling, saying, “Every California child deserves a quality education and parents should have the right to decide what’s best for their children. Parents should not be penalized for acting in the best interests of their children’s education. This outrageous ruling must be overturned by the courts and if the courts don’t protect parents’ rights then, as elected officials, we will.” So this court ruling – scary as it seems at first glance and in the hands of knee-jerk media commentators – has not changed the law or the situation for California homeschoolers. And I hope everyone there is taking a deep breath. My guess is that this crisis won’t change anything…and that when the dust settles it will be life as usual for the vast majority of homeschoolers and unschoolers…in spite of the fact that the state’s teachers’ union is happy with the court ruling. Posted: 2008/03/11 12:20 PM Respecting the Journey – March 5, 2008 I see two problems there: the suggestion that liberation and enlightenment were the result of exposure to another (more liberated or enlightened) being’s work rather than my own experience and thought processes, and the idea that the destination is more important than the journey. I see them both as relics of institutionalized education, where learning is thought not to happen without teaching and where a good grade or diploma is valued rather more than the learning experience. This sort of thinking is also an integral part of religion (from which institutionalized education arguably flowed), where everything we do in this world will provide us with a reward or punishment in the next world. Yes, goals are important in life, whatever your worldview or belief system. But I’ll take my chances learning from each moment of my life, just like I enjoy my work rather than viewing it as unpleasant labor leading up the weekend, a vacation or retirement. If I end up at the destinations some call liberation and enlightenment, that will be fine too. Posted: 2008/03/05 12:08 PM A Lively Life –
March 1, 2008 Foundations of Success – February 29,
2008 However, my point here is to share this quote by Dell Computers founder Michael Dell: “It’s exciting to see how fast your kids learn and grow. I’m not too worried about them, particularly the ones who like to break rules and don’t follow instructions, those are the ones that will do just fine because they know what’s important to them.” The quote is from Success Built to Last: Creating a Life that Matters by Jerry Porras, Stewart Emery, Mark Thompson (Wharton School Publishing, 2006). Dell is the consummate entrepreneur who dropped out of the University of Texas at age 19 to found Dell Computers. His parents weren’t happy, hoping that he’d stay in school and become a doctor. And his early teachers saw little promise in him, with one commenting that he “would probably never go anywhere in life.” His net worth is now estimated to be over $17 billion. Both Nancy Plent and John Taylor Gatto have articles in the March/April issue of Life Learning (on its way to subscribers now) on variations of this topic. Nancy notes one commonality among them – it was a person, not a school, who made a difference in the lives of successful people who had problems with school. But I think Michael Dell nailed it: Breaking rules, not following instructions and knowing what’s important to you are hallmarks of success, especially in business and the arts. And school most definitely is not the place to learn those things! Keeping to the rules, following instructions and accepting others’ opinion of what’s important are the things that matter most at school. Posted: 2008/02/29 12:25 PM Return
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