Friday 17 September 2010

Amusing piece about unschooling

I found this piece from Canada irresistably amusing;


http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Lakritz+boss+think+going+unwork+today/3467499/story.html
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9 comments:

  1. Anonymous17 September 2010 at 15:52

    LOL, I'm sure you recognise many of the misconceptions. But we unwork in a way as we are self employed in an occupation we enjoy and are completely self directed, so maybe he has a point? In an ideal world everyone would enjoy their work and choose to do it. Maybe unschooled children will be less likely to settle for less?

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  2. Anonymous17 September 2010 at 23:52

    England's exam system is "diseased" and "almost corrupt", says a former government adviser in a book on Labour's education policy.

    A former director at the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, Mick Waters, says exam boards are conniving in the dumbing-down of school exams.

    He also claims the boards profit from textbooks that help teachers with the answers to their own exam questions.

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  3. Simon Webb18 September 2010 at 00:21

    'A former director at the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, Mick Waters, says exam boards are conniving in the dumbing-down of school exams.

    He also claims the boards profit from textbooks that help teachers with the answers to their own exam questions.'

    I read this, but didn't agree with it. One of his points was that the exam boards publish detailed specifications for the examinations, giving in great detail the knowledge needing to be acquired in order to pass the exam. I cannot see why these curricula are a symptom of dumbing down; they act as guides to those wishing to study the subject with that particular board.

    All this information and all the books are freely available to the general public. The fact that half the children in the country are unable to pass five GCEs including maths and English at even Grade C, suggests that this 'dumbing down' is not really working very well!

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  4. Claire18 September 2010 at 02:18

    Did you help the author of this article with her research? She has the same wrong-headed opinion of unschooling as you do.

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  5. Claire18 September 2010 at 02:21

    The fact that half the children in the country are unable to pass five GCEs including maths and English at even Grade C, suggests that this 'dumbing down' is not really working very well!'

    Could be. Or it could suggest that schools are failing.

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  6. Simon Webb18 September 2010 at 03:21

    'Did you help the author of this article with her research? She has the same wrong-headed opinion of unschooling as you do.'

    I don't recollect ever having expressed an opinion about unschooling. Are you sure you're not mixing this up with autonomous education?

    'Could be. Or it could suggest that schools are failing. '

    These are not mutually exclusive options, Claire. That schools are failing is almost certainly true. That the examination boards are somehow rigging their results by conniving at a 'dumbing down' process is less certain, but quite possible.

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  7. Anonymous18 September 2010 at 07:08

    "I don't recollect ever having expressed an opinion about unschooling. Are you sure you're not mixing this up with autonomous education?"

    How would you define the difference between unschooling and autonomous education? They look the same to me.

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  8. Simon Webb18 September 2010 at 08:30

    'How would you define the difference between unschooling and autonomous education? They look the same to me.,

    I have been pulled up pretty sharply on this from time to time! An autonomously educated child can be attending school if that is what she chooses. An unschooled child, by definition, will not be in school.

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  9. Anonymous18 September 2010 at 11:12

    According to this web site, http://ulfaq.home.comcast.net/~ulfaq/ULfaq.html#Websters, unschooling includes the taking of classes and allows for correspondence courses and private lessons, so I don't think the two are all that different, especially as very few autonomously educated children actually choose school for any length of time.

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