Growing *with* schooling.
I have finally begun to understand, if not completely agree with, my dad's rant on how the NBTSC community can be dogmatic in its views against public school. If you want to flame me right now, wait until you read the whole think, OK?
I feel judged, in the NBTSC community and among home/unschoolers in general, for the fact that I've chosen to go to some form of school, and that I'm not only going to college, but going to an uber-academic college where the experience of being in a classroom is deeply intensified. The bottom line (s):
*I love learning. If you're in the NBTSC/EHRC corner of my world, you probably get that. If you're in the L-town/public school corner of my world, you probably don't. Whatever.
*I love dealing with intellectual subjects; learning languages, analyzing...well, anything at all, discussing, being made to think on my feet.
*The format of "school" (i.e. classrooms, desks, notebooks, chalkboards, teachers and students talking, homework, all that jazz) works for me.
It doesn't work for most people - it makes most people miserable. Actually, it makes me miserable too, when it's impersonal and feels like I'm being pumped through a factory and noone really cares what I'm doing as long as the letters on my transcript are as close as possible to the beginning of the alphabet. That isn't what's happening here: my professors know me, all the students speak up in class, it's in many ways a really relaxed, eclectic atmosphere, aside from the pressure of such high academic standards (80% of which, I might add, come from my own perfectionism and the occasional cattily competitive classmate, not from the school or the teachers).
yeah, I'm stressed out. This might be because I'm taking 19 credits and doing choir, aspiring to be the best daughter, friend, singer, neice, student, grandchild, big sister, partner, and cousin that I can be. My stress is self-imposed. You're welcome to remind me of that next time I start whining about how much work my life might be - This. is. all. my. choice. I know myself. I know that if I stopped going to school I would lack the motivation to keep up my pursuits - and no, that's not me getting sucked away by the stereotypes of a public school world, that's me knowing that I prefer - I need - to have the external structure of a group of academic peers and mentors who keep me accountable. If I were to drop out of school, I would probably end up emulating a very similar system for myself. It makes me happy. It makes a lot of people miserable. I think it sucks that it makes people miserable; I want to change that, I want everyone to have the system that works for them.
I agree in a lot of ways with the more blanket home/unschooler belief that the school system is 100% evil, every kid should be taken out and allowed to determine the course of his or her own education based on individual interests, learning styles and levels of motivation. What if my individual interests, learning style and motivation level align perfectly with the school system, especially the system of a small private college with a 1:10 faculty/student ratio? Am I then not allowed to do this, because the school system is evil?
Here's what I think: I think the school system, more specifically the K-12 public school system, is a very well-intended project that has a) gone horribly askew from its initial goals, b) still has pure goals but lacks the resources to realize those goals in any more-than-mediocre fashion for more than a small percentage of its clients (read: students) or c) is actually corrupt in nature, but provides free daycare for the parents who couldn't afford to stay home with their kids every day and therefore have no choice but to send them wherever they'll be safe.
The choice to leave school is not necessarily optimal for every person. What we need is the knowledge that we can if we want to, that we can still have fantastic and (if we want) opulent lives without "an education", and the resources to break out if and when we're ready. That's all.
This is not black and white, right or wrong; it's personal. I could make you a list of the fascinatingly learned and charismatic homeschoolers I know, or the fascinatingly learned and charismatic public schoolers, or the happy and well-fulfilled home/public schoolers...you know, whatever you want. You do what's best for you, I'll do what's best for me, we'll work as hard as we can to avoid judging everyone else (it's hard, but we'll try)...can we please just leave it at that?
I guess I'd like to contend, to anyone at all in my world, that I'm not wimping out through my choices. Starting as a first-year, going to a women's school, going to school period, considering dropping out of school...sure, fear is involved in my contemplation of all these possibilities, but ultimately there is only one fearful question that I really listen to : will I be unhappy or unsatisfied?
Right now, I want to work in a high school, public or private, teaching Latin, Italian, Mythology, Greek & Roman History...any of those. I consider the real-world practicality of those subjects to be sort of irrelevant, bar the fact that kids who study Latin statistically do better on the SATs (my study partner got an 800 verbal, kids) and that I think language (any language) and culture are comparable to music in the awesome effect they have on a person's mental ability. I'm sure science and math do the same, but they're just not my thing. My deal is: I had wonderfully challenging, nurturing, and personalized experiences learning Latin/Mythology/G&R History in a public schoolish setting, and I want to pass those on to anyone who wants to have them.
I figure that I don't believe fully enough in the corruptness and evil of public schooling to have a hand in its utter destruction; I think that, in some cases, it's a necessary evil, or maybe not evil at all. I'd prefer, if I'm going to break it down, to do so from the inside, and positively. Imagine the damage if such a huge institution suddenly collapsed; it doesn't matter if it's hurting us, it's still holding us up. So, right now, I want to join in the system and make it as positive as I, personally, can - by taking a few kids and showing them what it's like to have a little more choice, a little more freedom, and a little more flexibility. Baby steps.
I have now used up nearly an hour in which I was supposed to be reading the Aeneid (which I love, by the way, in case you were wondering). But I feel a lot better.
I feel judged, in the NBTSC community and among home/unschoolers in general, for the fact that I've chosen to go to some form of school, and that I'm not only going to college, but going to an uber-academic college where the experience of being in a classroom is deeply intensified. The bottom line (s):
*I love learning. If you're in the NBTSC/EHRC corner of my world, you probably get that. If you're in the L-town/public school corner of my world, you probably don't. Whatever.
*I love dealing with intellectual subjects; learning languages, analyzing...well, anything at all, discussing, being made to think on my feet.
*The format of "school" (i.e. classrooms, desks, notebooks, chalkboards, teachers and students talking, homework, all that jazz) works for me.
It doesn't work for most people - it makes most people miserable. Actually, it makes me miserable too, when it's impersonal and feels like I'm being pumped through a factory and noone really cares what I'm doing as long as the letters on my transcript are as close as possible to the beginning of the alphabet. That isn't what's happening here: my professors know me, all the students speak up in class, it's in many ways a really relaxed, eclectic atmosphere, aside from the pressure of such high academic standards (80% of which, I might add, come from my own perfectionism and the occasional cattily competitive classmate, not from the school or the teachers).
yeah, I'm stressed out. This might be because I'm taking 19 credits and doing choir, aspiring to be the best daughter, friend, singer, neice, student, grandchild, big sister, partner, and cousin that I can be. My stress is self-imposed. You're welcome to remind me of that next time I start whining about how much work my life might be - This. is. all. my. choice. I know myself. I know that if I stopped going to school I would lack the motivation to keep up my pursuits - and no, that's not me getting sucked away by the stereotypes of a public school world, that's me knowing that I prefer - I need - to have the external structure of a group of academic peers and mentors who keep me accountable. If I were to drop out of school, I would probably end up emulating a very similar system for myself. It makes me happy. It makes a lot of people miserable. I think it sucks that it makes people miserable; I want to change that, I want everyone to have the system that works for them.
I agree in a lot of ways with the more blanket home/unschooler belief that the school system is 100% evil, every kid should be taken out and allowed to determine the course of his or her own education based on individual interests, learning styles and levels of motivation. What if my individual interests, learning style and motivation level align perfectly with the school system, especially the system of a small private college with a 1:10 faculty/student ratio? Am I then not allowed to do this, because the school system is evil?
Here's what I think: I think the school system, more specifically the K-12 public school system, is a very well-intended project that has a) gone horribly askew from its initial goals, b) still has pure goals but lacks the resources to realize those goals in any more-than-mediocre fashion for more than a small percentage of its clients (read: students) or c) is actually corrupt in nature, but provides free daycare for the parents who couldn't afford to stay home with their kids every day and therefore have no choice but to send them wherever they'll be safe.
The choice to leave school is not necessarily optimal for every person. What we need is the knowledge that we can if we want to, that we can still have fantastic and (if we want) opulent lives without "an education", and the resources to break out if and when we're ready. That's all.
This is not black and white, right or wrong; it's personal. I could make you a list of the fascinatingly learned and charismatic homeschoolers I know, or the fascinatingly learned and charismatic public schoolers, or the happy and well-fulfilled home/public schoolers...you know, whatever you want. You do what's best for you, I'll do what's best for me, we'll work as hard as we can to avoid judging everyone else (it's hard, but we'll try)...can we please just leave it at that?
I guess I'd like to contend, to anyone at all in my world, that I'm not wimping out through my choices. Starting as a first-year, going to a women's school, going to school period, considering dropping out of school...sure, fear is involved in my contemplation of all these possibilities, but ultimately there is only one fearful question that I really listen to : will I be unhappy or unsatisfied?
Right now, I want to work in a high school, public or private, teaching Latin, Italian, Mythology, Greek & Roman History...any of those. I consider the real-world practicality of those subjects to be sort of irrelevant, bar the fact that kids who study Latin statistically do better on the SATs (my study partner got an 800 verbal, kids) and that I think language (any language) and culture are comparable to music in the awesome effect they have on a person's mental ability. I'm sure science and math do the same, but they're just not my thing. My deal is: I had wonderfully challenging, nurturing, and personalized experiences learning Latin/Mythology/G&R History in a public schoolish setting, and I want to pass those on to anyone who wants to have them.
I figure that I don't believe fully enough in the corruptness and evil of public schooling to have a hand in its utter destruction; I think that, in some cases, it's a necessary evil, or maybe not evil at all. I'd prefer, if I'm going to break it down, to do so from the inside, and positively. Imagine the damage if such a huge institution suddenly collapsed; it doesn't matter if it's hurting us, it's still holding us up. So, right now, I want to join in the system and make it as positive as I, personally, can - by taking a few kids and showing them what it's like to have a little more choice, a little more freedom, and a little more flexibility. Baby steps.
I have now used up nearly an hour in which I was supposed to be reading the Aeneid (which I love, by the way, in case you were wondering). But I feel a lot better.
posted by Alex at 3:35 PM
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