Unschooling and Do Unto Others

The lackadaisical, child-centered approach to learning has some education "experts" sounding off alarm bells. Are they concerned about the abysmal New York and Chicago public schools? No, but the child-centered approach which many public schools advocate has rubbed off on more than a few parents, who want to try it their way, for their kids, most likely with better results. They are the "Unschoolers", a subset of usually conservative homeschoolers. NY Times:

Each child gets a small weekly allowance that is deposited directly into her own bank account, then the adding and multiplying begins. The lessons have inadvertently, and painlessly, extended to taxes, shipping fees and postage, which she sees as another benefit of unschooling.

“It’s more real-world stuff,” Ms. Walter said. “How many kids get out of high school and don’t know how to balance a checkbook?”

The United States Department of Education last did a survey on home schooling in 2003. That study did not ask about unschooling. But it found that the number of children who were educated at home had soared, increasing by 29 percent, to 1.1 million, from 1999 to 2003.

Experts assume that the upward trend has continued, and some worry that the general public is unaware of the movement’s laissez-faire approach to learning.

“As school choice expands and home-schooling in general grows, this is one of those models that I think the larger public sphere needs to be aware of because the folks who are engaging in these radical forms of school are doing so legally,” said Professor Huerta of Columbia. “If the public and policy makers don’t feel that this is a form of schooling that is producing productive citizens, then people should vote to make changes accordingly.”

They seem the heirs to the flower children, but who can really say their kids will be worse off? Motivation is important in learning, like anything else. And even loose parental discipline may work better than what passes for discipline in many schools. Note another NY Times story today that worries people are making too much money pursuing their interests, neglecting "useful" fields like public interest law and government jobs. But "useful" is a matter of opinion. What the market values is one way of measuring what people value, and allocating resources productively.

“When my mom talks of Marconi’s dental plan and a safe retirement,” he said, “she really means lifestyle security based on job security.”

But “for my generation,” Mr. McCullar said, “lifestyle security comes from financial independence. I’m doing what I want to do and it just so happens that is where the money is.”

And the same story reveals that those who enjoy financial independence as a reward for their ideas and hard work are often generous philanthropists. Who can say they won't do a better job than government bureaucrats in identifying projects that serve the public interest?

And here's a WikiHow with some food for thought.

So better to be unschooled than uneducated or uninspired. It is probably not a coincidence that one major chapter of the Unschooled is in Chicago. And it may afford a little more "Do Unto Others" along the way.