We've Got to Be That Light

Dr. Jeff Goldstein of the National Center for Earth and Space Science Education contacted me about helping him to spread the word about an inspirational video he made based on a keynote address he presented to the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) National Conference in San Francisco. He wrote,

 

I received the comment below from YouTube on 11/30/11 from a homeschool mom that was touched by the video. It really got me thinking deeply about the vital importance of homeschooling, and homeschool moms and dads, as a fundamental element of national education. I think the video might be a wonderful thank you for homeschoolers.

 Here is the homeschooling mother’s comment he is referring to:

As a homeschooling mother, I am a teacher of one child. It is very challenging, but also full of the freedom to teach the way she needs. However, I miss the inspiration and support that school teachers get from the school system. Your video brought me to tears, because it gave me that inspiration that I need, in my isolation. I also loved the groove of the musicalization of your speech; it was very artful. I'll be sharing this with all the homeschooling moms I know. Thank you.

The powerful institutions that control schooling refuse to cooperate or otherwise support homeschooling (see the NEA resolution, section B-82), but there are individuals and smaller groups within those places who nonetheless reach out and consider homeschoolers allies and not enemies (and vice versa). In this spirit, here is Dr. Jeff’s video.

Comments

[John Walmsley]

You might like to see these photos of John Holt visiting a London school in 1971:

http://bit.ly/EdPhotosJuliansPrimary

and my work at Summerhill School:
http://bit.ly/EdPhotosSummerhillCollections

I've enjoyed a working life photographing young people and education in the UK in all it's shades. The photos are all my copyright. Please, do not copy, screen grab or download any without getting my permission first. You can order prints for personal use only from the website. If you'd like to make any other use of them, just email me.

John Walmsley

[Pat Farenga]

John,

Thanks for sharing those photos; it was particularly lovely to see John smiling behind the children as they sang in the stairwell.

I also enjoyed the Summerhill photos. What a shame that all the adventure of building a bon fire, playing swords, moving bricks, swinging on ropes, climbing ladders and so on are now considered irresponsible, dangerous, and distinctly non-educational. We need photos like this to document how children learned before educationists ruled their lives (Holt disliked the word educator and preferred "teacher and author", FYI).

On that note, check out this article: Parents are the biggest obstacle to letting kids play, says study in Pediatrics: http://tiny.cc/vfara

Pat