adjective not educated or trained: she was unschooled in the niceties of royal behaviour. (Oxford English dictionary online)
I have recently been introduced to the notion of “unschooling” through a blog link posted by my FB and real life friend, Kelli. I had never encountered this concept before, and I read the blog with growing interest. So of course, I am now the 15 minute expert ☺
The woman who wrote the blog uses the term “unschooling” to describe the process through which she teaches her children. It’s not home schooling or (as far as I can ascertain) an alternative to what I would call formal education. It’s described as a process through which her children learn through life. The example that was given involved the baking of a cake and the experience the youngest child had assisting with this.
Now I can totally get behind this concept. But I have to say, I have a real problem with
labelling this “unschooling”. For a
start, refer the definition above. To be
“unschooled” is to be “not educated or trained”, and I don’t believe this
process is about that. I think in fact,
the labelling sells this process far, far short.
I’m going to digress for a moment to reflect more on the
process, which has its own (inappropriate in my view) name and presumably, a
set of (however loose) rules and procedures.
It’s learning through life. OK. Not sure how that can be separated from life
itself really. Or, from the perspective
of a parent, every day with your child.
So, with that in mind, here was the day today with LSH and S&H. After a routine morning we went into the city
for lunch, which happened to be at our favourite curry house. Discussion (led by S&H) over lunch about various
curries, spices and names of Indian food.
Also some discussion about the hijab of the restaurant proprietor and
her two daughters. After that, I went to
donate blood and S&H accompanied me.
In the waiting area he picked up a National Geographic magazine and we
talked about solar flares and armadillos.
When it was my turn to donate, cue discussions between S&H and the
(male) nurse about blood, plasma, the process of drawing blood and the ways in
which blood products are used. Coffee at
my new fave place was accompanied by a cupcake garnished with honeycomb; guess
what we talked about. You get the
picture.
My point here is that active parenting is, I believe, a
process of teaching that never stops. Of
course not every moment needs to be regarded as a “formal” learning
opportunity; but I believe that effective parenting is all about teaching your
child about the world and its different aspects and nuances, from general
knowledge and skills, to behaviour, to societal norms and expectations.
Is this "unschooling"? Or is it, contrary to the implications of the label, valuable experiential education?
Is this "unschooling"? Or is it, contrary to the implications of the label, valuable experiential education?
As I said on FB, love this comment. I had a friend say to me very early on in my parenting career, "oh, they have to go to school, for sure, but they'll learn much more at home here with us". Enough said.
ReplyDelete:) love it.
ReplyDeleteI found my way here via Kelli.
ReplyDeleteI feel that the term 'unschooling' is used because parents are hoping that their kids learn that you don't have to be in a formal learning situation (ie. school/classroom) to learn. There is plenty to learn about all around you. And that 'unschooling' continues for your entire life, not just between the ages of 5 and 17 and the hours of 9am and 3pm.
That is just my opinion. I don't define us as unschoolers, though a lot of what we do is just that.
I would love to write more, but must round up our kids and continue with our learning for the day.