The UnSchooling UnConference Session!!
What happened, some days back I was going to one renewable energy conference in the afternoon and I wanted to do something interesting in the morning. I saw somewhere that an ‘unconference’ event was being held (around the same area). Becoming curious about the concept of ‘unconference’, I registered myself for that event.
After going there, I found out that the Back to the Land event was conducted mainly for IT Engineers who wanted to go back to the land (and do organic farming, etc). Now, I was NEITHER an IT engineer, NOR did I want to go back to the land 😛 But since I was already there (and had nothing else to do), I decided to stay-on & observe.
So, what happens in an UnConference?
The organizers explained to us that an unconference is an event where a group of like-minded people (except me) meet and talk on topics they are passionate about. It’s more of an ad-hoc discussion session. So, one person volunteers to conduct an unconference session on a particular topic in a particular location within the premises (anyone can do this), and whoever is interested in knowing more about that topic can go and join. People were sitting in circular groups, like how we used to sit in group discussion sessions during our college days. I went and joined one group.
After I joined, I came to know that the topic for that session was ‘UnSchooling’. Frankly, I didn’t know anything about home-schooling/tutoring kids by parents (which is what unschooling is), but since there were no empty chairs in any other group, I decided to participate 😛
I first listened to the discussions for sometime. The leader initiates a topic and anyone can add points or raise objections, etc. Since everyone in this group were taking a PRO-UnSchooling stand, I decided to take a stand AGAINST it. You know me right, I DON’T like to say, ‘Yes yes yes…’. I don’t even do that in blog-comments 😛 , so there was no way I was going to do that here!!
They were telling things like,
‘School is a place that kills your kids’ creativity, it’s a stick-and-carrots approach, the only aim of a school is disciplining students and making them obedient, people anyway have to unlearn what they learned in school, there is a single curriculum for everyone and all kids are expected to learn at the same pace, the curriculum is outdated, the curriculum doesn’t focus on developing skills in areas that the child is interested in/passionate about, it kills inquisitiveness, etc. etc. etc’.
Actually, I SECRETLY LIKED all these arguments 🙂 But I had already decided to take a stand AGAINST it. So, I interrupted – ‘I don’t think school is as bad as you people are making it out to be’. Everyone looked at me like, *What is this outcast of a guy telling?*
Someone asked, ‘Why do you think unschooling is wrong?’ Now, I had no clue about this concept a few minutes back – so, why would I get caught discussing a topic that they had a lot of knowledge on? No way! 😛 I replied, ‘I didn’t say that – I just said our schools are good enough’.
Then someone said,
‘What is the point of stuffing 40/60 kids for so many hours in a room and making them listen, listen and listen endlessly? What is the point of lecturing them, without getting them involved in the subject? Who decides the curriculum and how do they know what is right for each kid, in such a mass-group scenario?’
I promptly replied, ‘The curriculum is decided by NCERT and there are experts in each field who set the syllabus appropriate to each class’
Then someone asked me, ‘How can they decide what is appropriate for each kid and what each kid needs to study?’
I said, ‘It’s collective knowledge of many teachers who’ve had a lot of experience. Besides, the curriculum taught in our schools are basic stuff which each child needs to know. Only if they are strong in basics, they can specialize in some subject, later on’
This debate carried on for some time. One of them even asked me if I had any kids!! In other words – what was I doing in this session? What can I do, a chair was empty ONLY in this group! 😛
In the end, someone said – ‘A child is naturally inquisitive – he/she knows what they want to learn and how they want to learn. All that is needed is individual attention and some guidance in the right direction. That is what, as an UnSchooling tutor, you need to provide’.
I interrupted, ‘Who has more knowledge – We or our children?’
Someone replied, ‘It is natural to think that we have more knowledge and hence we know what our children want, but the child knows better’
I said, ‘It’s factual, not natural. Of course we have more knowledge than our children, and we need to decide what’s to be taught to them’
Someone else replied,
‘Yes, after having decided for our children like this for so many years, we have come to this situation where there is no green cover left in cities and people are yearning to connect back to the greenery, the soil, the nature’
I said, ‘What’s wrong with cities? Even if we don’t have natural things, we still have air conditioning and other things that take us closer to what nature could provide’.
Then someone said, ‘Maybe you’ll tell that even cement is natural?’
I replied, ‘Of course it’s natural. What else is it?’
People were OPEN-MOUTHED and AGHAST at my unLogic 😛 Since this discussion was (unnecessarily) steered into a different direction (by me), the organizers took the charge back, told a little bit about the home-schooling syllabus/certifications/books and closed it.
Ha ha, this is why you should NOT invite BLOGGERS for unconference discussions 😛 I hope the organizers of this unschooling session (1, 2) don’t read this post 😛
Destination Infinity
Here are some more blogs written by other homeschooling parents – 1,2,3.
Haha, I would like to take the stand ‘for’ it here. But my approach is different – I say allow both to work together. No need for one to go away, one needs to accommodate the other. 😉
Nice to know such conferences takes place. I always make excuses to dodge such conferences :P, even if I really would like to go there.
By the way, how you get the info for such local sessions? In delhi the places where events of my interest are going are far away – for a 1hr session, I lose 2-3hr of time. 😛
Yes both need to exist, but there are very very few parents who are home-schooling their kids. Do you know anyone? It’s not very uncommon in the west.
I use facebook, newspapers and websites like allevents.in to get to know what events are happening during the week. If anything catches my fancy (and I have time), I try to go. Of course, we need to travel some distance and it takes a lot of time. That’s why selecting the right event is very crucial – After all, we are investing our precious time, right?
Destination Infinity
nice ideas…
thanks
Thanks Krishna. So, what’s your stand on this topic – For or Against?
Destination Infinity
Except for the royal children(if they so desire) schooling is undoubtedly preferred.I agree with you.All those who attended the Unschooling conference had attended schools!!Unschooling is impractical
The organizers of this session are home-schooling their children. There were others in the group who were home-schooling their children, as well. But your point is taken.
Destination Infinity
It is very unfortunate that you take a stand against a subject just for the heck of it even though you don’t have a clue about the concept. I would feel uncomfortable.
Yes, sometimes I deliberately take a stand against a concept in order to understand it further. When challenged, people tell so many things that they would otherwise not.
Destination Infinity
I would go against it. I don’t see anything wrong with sending children to school. What irks me is that people send a 2nd standard kid to tuition. Parents can teach anything extra they want their children to learn, other than what they learn at school. A child can be taught at school as well as at home.
ok… Tution (for any class) is something I don’t like.
Destination Infinity
Going to school to learn is very important. This will teach the children to mingle with others and adjust, argue like you too! Home schooling is keeping children in isolation.
Did they invite you?! You went on your own, right?
We, as parents should take time to groom our children, if we want them to become unique/experts in some subjects. If they are, again compelled to learn from tuition centres, they will be just one among the hundreds of normal people.
I know you love to provoke people into debates!
When I registered, they said ok, come! 🙂
I sometimes wonder if tutions are a result of our ineffective education system? If schools were effective, why would kids want to go to tution anyway?
Destination Infinity
Schooling is good. Bad behaviour will get hitting by cane on back or palm.
The term un-schooling is unclear to me. Probably means parents teaching their concepts to kids. Physics should be avoided by parents. It can be confusing to kids. Geography and Civics are general knowledge. Must be taught by parents. History is a no no. Regarding languages, every parent will want their kids to write independently. Grammar, however like computer language should be taught. Because logical steps. Maths are algorithmic steps. Should be taught and make kids ready for future IT career.
I will advise a dollop of dance/carnatic/painting to parents. If you have a boy then run around with him in parks and play with him for a couple of hours. No harm here.
P.S. A bilogical thing human cannot exceed biology. Hence can be taught. Chemistry is observation and formula. Only a mad can teach chemistry with his own methods. Chemistry should be taught as per books.
There is a curriculum for home-schooling and there are books and exams too. Only, the pace of learning varies.
Destination Infinity
I don’t think schools taught us only education… we learn how to be union there. I think the teaching method has to change. And all schools are preparing kids only toward exams, marks… I agree primary education in must for every child… without it I couldn’t be a blogger at least here. It’s the basic education and I think only schools could provide it properly.
It was interesting going through your conversation and I appreciate your daring to question those experts in that field? I guess
That is the whole point of my post – I meant to question the existing education system and (probably) help parents/teachers think about better education systems in schools. But looks like that is going to be an Utopian dream in a society obsessed with marks.
excellent topic for debate
schooling and unschooling
enjoyed reading arguments
Thanks, SM.
Destination Infinity
If anyone of you in interested in exploring the topic of Children’s education further, I would highly recommend:
John Holt’s “How Children Fail”, “How Children Learn”, “Instead of Education”, “Learning all the time”.
John Taylor Gatto’s “Dumbing us down”
There is a large group of parents in India choosing to not send their kids to school. You can find them online at:
http://homeschoolers.in/
Best Regards,
Hema