Imperfect Genius

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There has been much talk in the homeschooling community about the Dr. Phil show called “The Great School Debate” which aired this week. I decided to skim through the message boards on his site to see if anything interesting jumped out at me. Not all of it is worth taking the time to read fully. As with most message boards, the quality of the most of postings has quickly deteriorated into mindless ranting by people looking to validate their own choices rather than providing information and thoughtful debate.

But two short postings did catch my eye and I felt compelled to respond.

My husband’s Aunt is an “unschooler”… her children are sharply behind when it comes to every subject… I personally find it to be a very irresponsible thing to do. Our society requires education and society benefits from it. Not everything is learned as a side effect of living. That’s ridiculous.

If something is not learned through living, then what purpose does it serve? If, through the course of living my life, I do not encounter a situation where I must have knowledge or skill concerning ability X, then why do I need to have ability X? If I do happen to find myself in a circumstance where I need or want ability X, then I can take the opportunity to learn it.

If one is open to learning new things as they are dictated by interest or necessity, then learning will come naturally as it proves useful or desirable. It is quite a waste of time to fill one’s head up with information that might or might not prove useful at some distant time in the future. There is already so much knowledge and skill to be learned and mastered at any given time because it is required by circumstances which present themselves on a daily basis.

Underlying purplepenny’s writing is the (incorrect) assumption that unschoolers do not seek out opportunities but only learn that which falls directly into their lap. Children who have the freedom and support to follow their own interests do not spend all their days just sitting idly and waiting for something to knock them on their noggin. Behind the philosophy of unschooling is a love of learning and desire to seek out knowledge, which all children have naturally. Unschoolers (and other homeschoolers) give their children the gifts of time and opportunity, which empowers children by allowing them to make use of these natural characteristics.

Additionally, nobody has perfect knowledge and ability. We all have strengths and weaknesses. Nobody knows everything about every topic conceivable by man. I have many skills but cannot, off the top of my head, solve complicated algebraic equations. For one, math is not my strong suit (lack of desire). Secondly, I have not had reason to exercise this skill (lack of necessity), so it’s pretty much fallen right out of my head.

However, if I ever find myself needing to solve complicated equations, I could certainly tackle learning it and I’m fairly confident that I’d be successful. Up until that time comes however, I will not be motivated to spend time mastering a skill I have no use for. I don’t feel that I am lacking in intelligence or ability by not having this skill, as it is not useful in my life at this time.

Life is an on-going learning process. Unschoolers are simply experiencing that process organically and at an earlier age than most of us do. Unschooling is not a perfect process by current academic standards, but then again neither are the very teaching methods that current academic standards adhere to.

There will always be gaps of knowledge, regardless of educational approach. The perceived difference between the gaps of unschoolers versus those that schooled children comes down to a comparison of who has mastered the material deemed The Most Important. But this is a subjective matter - what is The Most Important stuff to know in order to function properly will vary from child to child, depending on what is required of them to have a successful life. And success is another subjective word as well.

Public schools have decided that certain sets of information and skills are necessary, based on the very generalized needs of society as a whole. It is this generic blueprint that is taught in classrooms. In comparison, unschoolers are learning information and skills which are necessary and important to living their individual lives. If we view society as a entity which is made up of individual parts, it is clear that we each must learn to function as specialized parts of the whole.Unschoolers have a jump on this. And there is no reason to assume that they do not also master the basic requirements perceived to be necessary to the whole.

gr8ful4him wrote: This is the first I’ve actually heard of “unschooling” and it sounds ridiculous! I suppose it’s a part of the whole self esteem idea… if we don’t test them, they can’t “fail” and then they won’t think poorly of themselves! In life, we are tested daily. If we have a job and don’t complete it satisfactorily, we are in jeopardy of losing that job… it’s a test of sorts. To raise a child in an environment that they are never tested and only learn what comes to them as a side effect of living is to be neglectful of that child’s well-being for the future.

Yes, we are tested daily in life. But most of life’s little tests arrive through living and are coupled with natural consequences. For example, if we want to learn to drive then we must be willing to pursue training and become proficient enough to pass a test. If we pass our test, we are issued a license. If we fail, we are not. This process was arrived at through desire or necessity and the consequences for passing or failing are directly related to the task.

It should be noted that testing at school is arrived at artificially and the immediate consequences of success or failure are rarely related to the tested skill. These tests are not good indicators of actual ability or skill level. Nor can they accurately measure the desire or motivation of the student. Additionally, they often have poorly worded questions which produce confusion and anxiety.

gr8ful4him uses an example of job performance, which again is a test that is arrive at naturally with consequences that correspond directly to the tested skill. If one is motivated to keep their job, they will perform at the necessary level. If one desires a raise or promotion,they will perform above the expected level.

Given that most of us have our abilities and desires challenged in this manner, it is quite inaccurate to assume unschoolers don’t encounter these sorts of natural tests everyday through living, or to think that they do not experience consequences just because it is not a letter grade marked on the top of a test paper. It is also ridiculous to assert that refusal to engage in artificial testing equates to neglect.