There is no such thing as “teaching”. Some people present information and ideas, but those are only of use to the student if the student is interested enough to learn and apply them. Otherwise, at best, students will memorize, regurgitate, and forget whatever they are “taught”.
Our school system is obsolete, because it focuses almost exclusively on what should be taught, and how to measure whether that was accomplished. But, as Oscar Wilde said, “Nothing that is worth knowing can be taught.” Instead, schools should focus on helping students LEARN, based on their interests, aptitudes, and internal motivations.
(Thank you, Miche, for sharing this video with me… I couldn’t get it out of my head.)
I’ve been thinking an awful lot about making the transition from homeschooling to unschooling Hunter, for many reasons. Maybe it all started with Leo’s post, Education Needs to be Turned on its Head. Or maybe it started back when I was in school and realized I was learning in spite of my teachers, and not because of them.
I recently joined an unschooling group on facebook and found some interesting thoughts by people far more qualified to have an opinion on the matter than I am. Here are 15 of my favorite thoughts about education without commentary because, really, what can I possibly add to the words of these masters:
Let’s face it… we all want to torture our kids. And if we’re really honest about it, we’d like to thoroughly enjoy the process. After all, they won’t be kids forever. But, with so many interesting ways to torture them, how do we find the very best? I’m sure you each have your personal favorites, but I wanted to share my top five with you. It’s taken me years to perfect these techniques for maximum results, and now I find them completely delightful in every way. I hope you will enjoy them as much as I do:
March 15, 2010
Posted in Life, choices, homeschool 
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