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Tweet Why Unschoolers Don’t Support Public Education – September 26, 2009 Does being an unschooler mean that you reject public education? It’s not an oxymoron but it is the question on my mind today because I’ve been having a number of discussions with people on the subject and have scheduled two excellent articles about it for future issues of Natural Life Magazine. Over the years, I’ve been troubled by the disconnect between progressives like me who hands-down reject our compulsory school systems and their trappings and those who think they can be reformed. The attempt to find common ground among us is one reason I agreed to contribute to the book Turning Points, co-edited by AERO founder and consummate collaborator Jerry Mintz. There are a variety of issues involved here, including semantics: There simply may be a common confusion between public education and public school. Perhaps the term “unschooler” is not the perfect word for describing a complicated concept. And there are many different definitions of the word and explanations of the concept, which leads us to the philosophical issues that are at play. Many other progressive thinkers believe that public schools are a cornerstone of a democratic society, as Alfie Kohn recently put it to me. I believe, on the contrary, that schools are inherently not democratic as long as attendance is compulsory and learners are not in control of their own agendas. As I wrote in my 2000 book Challenging Assumptions in Education, a child does not learn how to function in a democratic society when forced to spend her days in an undemocratic institution which has a variety of vested interests that have nothing to do with the welfare of children. Aside from the human rights and respect issues around adults acting on behalf of children and young people, it is neither logical nor productive to force attendance at school because people can’t be forced to learn. On the other hand, kids can learn about democratic principles and behavior by living the day-to-day life of their communities. I think that my parting of ways with other progressives may result from a disagreement about the degree of respect for or belief in children’s right to autonomy. A quote from the late American educator, feminist and Unitarian minister Anna Garlin Spencer comes to mind: “The essence of democracy is its assurance that every human being should so respect himself and should be so respected in his own personality that he should have opportunity equal to that of every other human being to show what he was meant to become.” I guess that’s how feminists spoke a hundred years ago, but you can substitute “her/she” for “his/him.” And while you are at it, include “child” for “human being.” And I guess I will have to agree to disagree with some other progressives about degrees of “respect” and “opportunity.” For now, at least. Posted: 2009/09/26 4:30 PM