Tuesday 24 May 2011

Organising lessons while pretending to do quite another thing


There is among many British home educators thought to be something inherently wrong in forcing one's opinions upon an innocent child. Who are we to say that our idea, that the kid should study his multiplication tables this morning, is any better than the child's wish to surf the Internet? Because some people are absolutely passionate about this and very articulate in explaining why teaching to a curriculum is bad for children and likely to put them off learning for life or make them neurotic, a lot of home educating parents who teach their kids feel faintly guilty about the practice and tend not to mention it to other home educators. They are perhaps afraid of being thought of as pushy parents or even parents who are careless of their child's psychological health. A natural consequence of this is that quite a few parents teach their children to a curriculum of their own devising, while denying vehemently to those around them that they are doing anything of the sort. Let us look at any example of this; a mother who follows a structured approach, teaching her child to read, do mathematics, learn about biology and so on, while still maintaining the fiction that what is happening is being driven by the child himself.


Before we look at the clip below, may I make two points? First, I think that this looks like a great example of home education and very similar to the methods I myself used. This is not a denunciation of the mother; rather an expression of bewilderment that she seems to be slightly uneasy about admitting that she is teaching her child. Secondly, yes I am well aware that autonomous education can include teaching is the child asks for it. This is not the case here. I spoke in detail to the film crew and they were adamant that the child actually wanted to play Super Mario and that everything in the film was instigated by the mother and not the child. Quite right too, that is what parents are for!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYGKF5j74Yw


What is curious about this is that we are definitely watching a lesson being taught. The child has not asked to sit there and find out about birds, although he has in the past expressed an interest in the subject. The mother has decided that this is what they will do, by asking loaded questions, 'Shall we watch birds now?'. She is in control of the learning, by having the computer and choosing which website to look at. The child does not ask what the difference is between birds which walk and those which hop. His mother thinks that this is something he should know and so tells him. Left to his own devices, he would be playing with the wii. Because a laptop is used and the child is sitting on the kitchen worktop, it all looks very informal and we do not immediately notice that a lesson is taking place. If he were sitting in a chair and the mother were putting stuff up on a blackboard, it would be just the same; she is teaching her child what she thinks he should know.


So far, so good. This is just how I taught my own child at home. What I find astonishing is that the mother feels the need to pay lip service to the ideology that she is not teaching. We are told that she is an autonomous educator and that there are no lessons. This is so completely weird that one has to do a double-take. No lessons? We have just watched a lesson about the lifestyles of birds. She is teaching the child his times tables. What is strange is that although she is a teacher who plans her son's education and gives him lessons, she feels it necessary to deny this and pretend that he is in control of his own learning. Only in England would this happen!

12 comments:

  1. Maybe the clip wasnt in its' entirity but I didn't see or hear the woman denying that she was teaching the child. The only time I heard autonomy was when the presenter framed it in this way. Did I miss something?

    From my understanding of various HE labels I would have personally called this 'child-led learning' where the child says something and the parents runs with that and bulks out the knowledge.
    We do that too, alongside the formal teaching.

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  2. "Only in England would this happen!"

    Actually, it happens a lot in both the American "unschooling" movement and the Australian "Natural Learning" movement. I think it's more of the phenomenon you discussed a few weeks ago - parents refusing to admit to themselves that their 'teaching' isn't always requested by their children because their desire to give their child an academic education conflicts with their ideology, which is held as strongly as a religious belief.
    Here's an example from the recent issue of Home Education Magazine (from the US), in which a 'graduated unschooler' describes following a series of sceduled set by her mother and then switching to Oak Meadow - a Waldorf-inspired boxed curriculum chosen by her parents. She still calls herself an 'unschooler!'
    http://homeedmag.com/HEM/283/interview-kate-fridkis.html

    This happens across the board, though - many American religious homeschoolers will talk about preparing their children for 'courtship' and early, arranged marriage, for example, while at the same time working toward admission to a Christian uniersity where they will almost certainly delay marriage to at least age 23 and choose their own spouse.

    In both cases, its a case of wanting to hold on to a general ideological belief while thinking of one's own children as exceptions with special needs that justify going against the self-imposed 'rules.' In both cases, the 'exception' serves to give the child something (math skills, a choice of spouse) that the ideology says all others should be denied.

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  3. Simon wrote,
    "Because some people are absolutely passionate about this and very articulate in explaining why teaching to a curriculum is bad for children and likely to put them off learning for life or make them neurotic, a lot of home educating parents who teach their kids feel faintly guilty about the practice and tend not to mention it to other home educators."

    Yet when I attended groups regularly, about 10 years ago, it was me that tentatively and apologetically said that we followed an autonomous approach when asked. Have things changed so much over the last 10 years that the pendulum has swung in the opposite direction? If so, it will probably swing back the other way eventually, these things happen.

    "Secondly, yes I am well aware that autonomous education can include teaching is the child asks for it."

    Partly right, but we don't have to wait for them to ask, it's perfectly acceptable to suggest or offer to teach something, as long as the child is free to choose.

    "This is not a denunciation of the mother; rather an expression of bewilderment that she seems to be slightly uneasy about admitting that she is teaching her child."

    I've not watched the clip (not possible on my laptop atm) but I would also be bewildered by someone being apologetic about their approach to home education. Why should anyone expect others to follow exactly the same approach as them, and by extension, disapprove of alternative choices? AE will not suit all families. It suits us, but I've seen that it doesn't work for all our friends and acquaintances.

    "We are told that she is an autonomous educator and that there are no lessons. This is so completely weird that one has to do a double-take."

    Certainly, from your description, she doesn't sound like an autonomous educator. People should have the confidence of their convictions and be willing to stand up for their choices. Sure people will tell them they are wrong, this happens all the time with so many choices parents make. School using parents often tell home educators they are wrong but that doesn't stop us home educating and being proud to do so. I'm not sure why we behave differently within HE when discussing different approaches, even though I did much the same in our early days of AE!

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  4. Slow news day, Simon?

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  5. - quite a few parents teach their children to a curriculum of their own devising, while denying vehemently to those around them that they are doing anything of the sort


    Any research based evidence for your fictional assertion simple Simon (he who thinks that if HE says it, then everyone will believe it).

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  6. Deja vu! I'm sure you've written about this same clip at least once before.

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  7. "Deja vu! I'm sure you've written about this same clip at least once before."

    One day he might get wise enough to realise that quality is better than quantity and write something that is well researched instead of pouring out a profusion of nonsense.

    But then , pink snorting creatures with wings would need to encircle his house.

    Dave M

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  8. Of course, there is also the point that filming a child playing Super Mario all the time doesn't make for good TV, hence trying to cover a wider range of activities during the filming period.

    We talk things through and decide what needs to be done, then make sure he sticks to what he's agreed to do. The same goes for paid activities, where he agrees to attend paid-for sessions but can stop before we pay for more.

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  9. I've seen good autonomous practice, bad autonomous practice, and pretend autonomous practice. Most appears to be in the pretend category.

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