Unschooling Defined: Back to the Basics (Part 6)
Categories: Léo’s Insights 2023-2024, Back to the Basics
The good thing about “education” is that it does not necessarily have to involve an institution such as a school. Although it does conjure up the idea of following a plan or program, it can and does exist without either. In fact life provides plenty of opportunities to be educated. Better to learn from the “school of hard knocks” provided by living in the real world, than the one being advanced in an institution lead by “experts”.
If one intends to make a difference in life, one has to be different and/or do things differently. Otherwise, you end up being like everyone else, which is not a good position from which to exercise or make a difference. While schools may advance a facade of being different, the programs speak otherwise in that students must conform to what is being offered. Schools do not, indeed cannot, offer individualized programming. At best they can only advance standardized programming individually, and only in cases of special needs. Even then, this only means a specialized delivery of standard programming, which is really not much different than the status quo other than perhaps a modification of expectations.
Recent failed attempts to try to claim back parental authority in schools has clearly demonstrated that the problems are deeply systemic and not likely to change. I believe there is a far better way to counteract this systemic problem than to provide alternate, private or faith-based variations of public programming. The only way to escape this problem is to leave the school behind and “unschool” yourself and your children.
I have often advanced unschooling as simply not doing what schools do, or doing what schools fail to do. My favourite definition is just being a family growing and learning together. But really, it boils down to educating children God’s way rather than man’s way- bringing them up in the nurturing and admonition of the Lord rather than allowing them to be re-created in the image of man.
For more on unschooling, see the blog series Desiring to Unschool: https://www.educationunlimited.ca/insights/index.php/category/leos-insights-2019-2020/desiring-to-unschool/
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