We have been hoodwinked, tricked, bam-boozled, led astray, and railroaded into believing that schools are there to educate us to make us "better" people. Actually, schools subtly (or not so subtly) deprogram and reprogram children into military hybrids that are taught not to question and follow the mass of people in their society. Ok, perhaps that is a bit harsh, especially since I am a teacher myself. However, the emphasis of the school system is definately NOT on the schooling of our children; it is for the enhancement, or shall I say the stability to maintain the way we do business. Put simply, school is to keep kids out of the work force until a certain age where they can start on the same bottom rung of the ladder as everyone else had to do. But in a creative stroke of genius, there had to be something to occupy these young minds, so we "invented" (yes, I know that sounds strange) grades 4 through 16 and on up into MA and PhD programs.
There was a famous book written awhile ago entitled "All I really need to know, I learned in Kindergarten," by Robert Fulghum. He was closer to the truth than many of us had come before. If you ponder this for a minute, why do you really go to school? Your parents know (to get you out of their hair), but do you? What do you really need to know to live in this world? What are the goals of your family, your teachers, your friends, your SELF? I ask these questions because, as usual, the foundation of any thought or movement ends up getting passed through children who accept and soak in with great ease. Just what are we teaching our children? To try to answer these questions, I have tried to provide a small but powerful list of sites that might add to our re-thinking of what is the difference between education and schooling. For one, "education" I take to mean facilitating in the natural development of children, and "schooling" I take to mean a disciplined approach to making students digest information they probably do not need. In addition, you might want to check out our message forum located here under the "Education" file for more of a glimpse at where we are coming from. Also, you can read over "My Ishmael" by Quinn to really ram the message home.
Alternative Education Links:
Great List of Alternative Education Sites
More Alternative Schooling Sites
The Tribes program
School is DEAD! Learn in Freedom!
Homeschooling Forum on Delphi (need to register - free!)
Homeschool and Alternative Paths Forum on Delphi
Other School Courses and Teachers References:
Beyond Civilization Study Guide
The Wilderness Awareness School
NOVA online past television programs
NOVA online Hot Science library
An interactive database for school use
Society for Interdisciplinary Studies (SIS)
Welcome to Mindsong
Connecting With Nature Course
Other Great Books and Essays:
Don't just Do Something, Sit There! (essay)
My Ishmael - by Daniel Quinn
Deschooling Our Lives
The Teenage Liberation Handbook
Dumbing us Down
The Continuum Concept
All I Really Needed to Know, I Learned in Kindergarten
Learn in Freedom !!
(where the most aware teachers learn WITH the students.....)
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