real education
This morning, I finished the 216-page rush that is Walking on Water: Reading, Writing, and Revolution by Derrick Jensen (nah, I’ve never mentioned him here before). Wow. It’s a must-read for anyone into writing and/or teaching. Jensen packs the book with his own experiences teaching the most offbeat writing classes ever, and his usual unflinching look at the culture of domination and inauthenticity within the educational system. It’s funny, moving, and profound. He writes on the final page, “If one of the most unforgivable sins is to lead people away from themselves, we must not forgive the processes of industrial education.” Highly, highly recommended.
I have the opportunity to do four credits of independent study in the spring with a favorite soc. professor at PSU. It would involve writing my own syllabus, choosing my own reading list, writing up my own research and/or conducting a project, and meeting with him once a week to check in and go over what I’m learning. As I can study anything I want (so long as it pertains to sociology), I’m very excited about exploring the concepts of unschooling and ecoliteracy as I am convinced they are key to the future of wholistic, authentic, sustainability education. Keep reading:
Unschooling is a fairly new term, referring to education that allows the person’s interests set the pace and direction. Mary Griffith, who wrote a whole book on the subject, describes unschooling: “The learning is learner-directed; advisors or facilitators are sought out as desired by the learner. There are no curricula, lesson plans, schedules, or agendas.” There’s a wonderfully well-written FAQ on unschooling by Amy Bell that addresses all of the “but…!”s that come up around the subject. I also like her list of reasons to homeschool in such a natural way (#25: Children learn how to learn, not just how to be taught).
Ecoliteracy is a brilliant term coined by David Orr, professor of Environmental Studies at Oberlin, to point to the importance of integrating ecological awareness into all subjects of learning. I wrote a paper on him for my Leadership for Sustainability class last winter; it cites a quote, “Ecological literacy involves the whole body and feelings, not only the intellect; it cultivates a sense of place, not a rootless abstract intelligence; and it is most concerned with wholeness, connection, and relationship, rather than fragmenting knowledge into discrete specialties.”
Critiques of the current industrial education system:
- Start with “Against School” and the American Education History Tour by John Taylor Gatto. He is also the author of Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulosry Schooling.
- The classic “The Student as Nigger” by Jerry Farber
- David Orr’s What is Education for?”
Unschooling and Ecoliteracy sources:
- Unschooling.com
- “Environmental Literacy: Education as if the Earth Mattered” by David Orr
- Amy Bell’s Natural Learning Page
-
The Teenage Liberation Handbook: How to Quit School and Get a Real Life and Education, a book by Grace Llewellyn (three online chapters at the site)
- An entire recent issue of Resurgence magazine all about ecoliteracy
- Mary Griffith’s The Unschooling Handbook: How to Use the Whole World As Your Child’s Classroom
- HUGE page of unschooling links
There is a ton of reading I hope to get to; this independent study would give me a chance to do it for credit. I’ll be bookmarking sit
December 15th, 2004 at 6:54 pm
Our reading paths cross quite often. John Taylor Gatto is a personal favorite. I even used “Against School” in one of my classes with juniors and seniors last year.
“The Student as Nigger” is a favorite of mine.
And I saw a lot of those materials about Ecoliteracy when I completed my Masters Project on the subject. I used to have big plans about integrating ecoliteracy into my classes.
Somehow, I managed to get away from that.
Thanks for putting these works out there for others.
December 16th, 2004 at 8:45 pm
Need I say again how much you rock? I’m going to do a 2-credit reading & conf with Christine Cress in the spring about transformational education. I’m going to try & read some of your suggestions before then in hopes I’ll be able to use them!
As for reading, you might also want to check out Chet Bowers’ “Educating for Eco-Justice and Community” and David Sobel’s “Beyond Ecophobia”.
I always feel like such a newbie when I see all the great literature you find!
December 17th, 2004 at 8:48 am
Emily, I’ve been doing just this for the past two years. My reading list started with Todd Oppenheimer’s book “The Flickering Mind”. From there I went on to Diane Ravitch (Left Back, Language Police, National Standards in American Education), John T Gatto (Dumbing Us Down, Underground History of American Education),John Goodlad (A Place Called School), Noam Chomsky (Chomsky on [Mis]Education),Erich From (The Anotomy of Human Destructiveness, Sane Society, Escape from Freedom), Ivan Illich (Deschool Society, Gender), Bev Eakman (Cloning of the American Mind), Laurence Steinberg (Beyond the Classroom), Karl Popper (The Open Society and Its Enemies), Joyce Hertzler (The History of Utopian Thought), and Walter Karp (Indispensable Enemies, Liberty Under Siege, Buried Alive).
I highly recommend Gatto, Karp, and Eakman.
December 17th, 2004 at 9:05 am
Emily, It’s not enough just to list the books I’ve read or am reading in my previous comment. I forgot to mention why I’m reading all of this. Because I’m researching the connectedness or interrelatedness of economics, politics, and education and how they bear on our society. Or how the other two bear on education and how education feeds back to them. There’s a lot more going on behind the scenes than most people are aware of. To this end, yes, I would include Derrick Jensen. Perhaps, also, Gregory Bateson, Betrand Russell, and Arundhati Roy. I suppose all of this is important because education is fundamental to a working democracy of somekind. However, with the erosion of public education and the lock step of private education, I tend to agree with what I’ve been uncovering with respect to a military-industrial agenda. (Of course there’s no freedom on information in the main stream.) Pair this up with Jensen’s new book with George Draffan (Welcome to the Machine) and Simon Garfinkel’s book (Database Nation) and it’s very frightening.
December 17th, 2004 at 11:00 pm
Emily,
Thanks to you, I purchased Jensen’s book this evening. I can’t wait to get it.