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Whose
Learning Agenda Is It? – August 1, 2007
I had a phone call today from a mother wanting advice – ostensibly on
behalf of her preteen daughter – about learning a foreign language in
an “unschooling” environment. She spent the first part of the phone
conversation telling me what she wanted, what she had researched, what
she was so her daughter could learn French. She had figured out her goals
for the exercise and her expectations for the outcome based on want she
wanted her daughter to do regarding the language (speak and write it
fluently). She had reviewed a number of courses and programs but none of
them met her criteria, she said. The word “I” must have been used a
hundred times in five minutes. “I’ve sent away for information from
all the language curriculum companies.” “I’ve looked for books in
the library.” “I’ve been keeping my eyes on newspapers and
magazines for references that I can pursue to pique her interest….”
When the woman finally stopped talking to catch her breath, I asked her
what her daughter’s goals were for learning this language and why her
daughter wasn’t doing the research. Well, said the woman, her daughter
just doesn’t seem that interested. Aha. I told her, as gently as I
could, that unless the girl was interested enough to research ways to
learn French, she wasn’t interested enough in learning it. And, I said,
perhaps the woman herself was interested in learning French and that
wasn’t a bad thing because while she was doing it she would be a good
role model for her daughter. There was a big silence on the other end of
the phone, followed by the woman hanging up as soon as she could. I can
only hope she thinks about this and doesn’t waste her money, her time,
her daughter’s time and their relationship on French lessons that
won’t work.
Posted:
2007/08/01 5:58 PM
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