Comments on: Unschooling Hypothesis

By: Jax

Jax — Wed, 01 Feb 2006 12:08:42 +0000

That’s the one. I’ve still got it on a bookshelf somewhere, one of the few I recall from my philosophy degree

By: Carlotta

Carlotta — Wed, 01 Feb 2006 05:32:07 +0000

Ron, I SO enjoyed this thought experiment. Thank you…and wish it was for real! Thank goodness we can at least start to do this on a small scale.

By: Ron

Ron — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 18:37:52 +0000

Karen: I grew up working (not necessarily getting paid) and had my first part-time adult job when I was 11. The year I turned 13 (or 14) they upped the minimum age at which you could work at the type of job I’d been doing to my age. At the time, I felt bad for the kids younger than me. Alot of the success I’ve had as an adult has been partially a result of growing up working

By: Anne

Anne — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 08:18:44 +0000

Aloha! This post is in the 5th Carnival of Homeschooling here.

By: Karen E.

Karen E. — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 03:53:02 +0000

It’s a community I’d love to live in. And, isn’t this what used to happen before compulsory schooling? Children were a part of everyday life, learned trades through apprenticeships and were allowed to grow up-and-into society at a more natural pace, rather than the unnatural extended childhood that is now thrust upon them.

By: Ron

Ron — Mon, 30 Jan 2006 17:41:58 +0000

Jax: Would it be this book?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Theory_of_Justice

Kim: Alot of the people acquainted (eg. store clerks) with Emma say how amazing/unusual Emma is in the way she talks to them. Since the other kids were in varying degrees the same in that regard, I’ve felt for some time that a critical factor has been that we treat them as people. I’d be interested in hearing other people’s approach and what sort of results that approach produces.

By: Kim C.

Kim C. — Mon, 30 Jan 2006 13:07:35 +0000

When you put it that way Ron, I can’t disagree. I would imagin e the children of that place learning everything they need to learn to fullfill their chosen profession.

I especially like your last point about children being treated respectfully as whole people. I have always felt that one day our treatment of children will be looked upon with the same horror as the previous treatment of women, and all other minorities.

By: Jax

Jax — Sun, 29 Jan 2006 16:35:52 +0000

There’s a book called “A theory of Justice” that I had to read for my philosophy degree, and I’ve often thought that “A theory of education” built up along the same lines would be an interesting thing to read. Think you’ve gone some way to starting it.