Will Dropouts Save America? Probably!

Michael Ellsberg, the author of the new book The Education of Millionaires: It’s Not What You Think and It’s Not Too Late, has a very good op-ed published in last week’s New York Times: “Will Dropouts Save America?”

Ellsberg argues, “American academia is good at producing writers, literary critics and historians. It is also good at producing professionals with degrees. But we don’t have a shortage of lawyers and professors. America has a shortage of job creators. And the people who create jobs aren’t traditional professionals, but start-up entrepreneurs.”

I heard Ellsberg present his personal story and his ideas at a webinar a few weeks earlier and was impressed by his understanding about the limits and roles of higher education and I look forward to reading his book. This op-ed is a great condensation of some of the major issues we face as institutional interests, using government funding and persuasion, continue to insist that in order to get ahead in life, the roughly 73% of Americans without four-year college degrees must mortgage their children’s future earnings for costly college degrees. The world Ivan Illich described in Deschooling Society, where compulsory education creates deep class divisions in society based on where you attend school, is heavily upon us. I used to think it was just a small group of homeschoolers, alternative schools, and some intellectuals that saw this as a serious problem; now I think the situation has gotten so bad that people like Ellsberg get it without needing to read Illich or Holt (Ellsberg admitted he hadn’t read either of them at the webinar). This gives me hope that our numbers will grow and that common sense and new alternatives to college will stand a chance in the face of institutional resistance to change.

Education Without School Conference in Bogota, Colombia

It is exciting for me to publicize the third conference in Colombia devoted to exploring and supporting alternatives to conventional schooling. When I attended the first conference in 2009 I was impressed by the interest and support given to the event by the school's faculty, and especially to the number of parents who traveled great distances in order to meet other like-minded parents. If you are interested in how unschooling and ideas about other alternatives to school are catching on around the world, this is an event worth exploring.

Invitation to the Third International Congress on Education without school, Education, Family, Self-Learning Collaborative, flexible models of schools.
Bogotá. November 2, 3, 4, 2011

 Please visit
 http://educacionsinescuelacolombia.wordpress.com/

 Sincerely,

 Organizing Committee.
 Education Research Institute IEDU
 Faculty of Humanities
 Universidad Nacional de Colombia in Bogotá

Home Education Magazine Needs Your Support

Running a small business is never easy in any economy, but it can become nearly impossible to stay sane and calm when, in addition to running your business, you must defend it against lawsuits. My friend, Helen Hegener, the editor-in-chief and owner of Home Education Magazine, is currently in the midst of such a mess and she is asking for help to keep HEM operating.

In short, Helen and another party, Heather Idoni, were sued for libel because they published articles about Mimi Rothschild’s business practices. Helen writes, 

Many friends are wondering about the lawsuit now that it's coming to an end, and asking questions on discussion groups, Internet forums, blogs, and privately. Long story short, the good news is we won in every important aspect. The bad news is it was a philosophical and moral win, not a material or financial one. It literally cost me everything I own and more; it cost my attorneys almost a year they could have been putting toward more important and constructive efforts; it cost my family dearly... But we won.

I'll share information about what happened during the hearings when I can, but I am not going to write anything substantial about the lawsuit without my attorney's approval, and we're still working on the resolution details. I deeply appreciate your patience and understanding; it's taken us almost a year to reach this point of resolution, a few more days won't make much difference. 

Here's what I can share from PACER, the Public Access to Court Electronic Records:

Order of October 14: ORDERED that the above action is DISMISSED with prejudice, pursuant to agreement of counsel without costs. 

My attorneys and I are still working on the agreement referenced above, so I can't say anything about it.

Order of October 13:

AND NOW, this 12th day of October, 2011, following oral argument, it is ORDERED the Motion for Leave to Withdraw as Counsel for Plaintiffs filed by Richard Hans Maurer (Document 45) is GRANTED.

It is further ORDERED Defendant Heather Idoni's Bill of Costs (Document 71) will be GRANTED. Plaintiff shall pay the bill of costs in the amount of $3,725.30 within ten days of this Order.

It is further ORDERED Defendant Helen Hegener's Bill of Costs (Document 72) will be GRANTED. Plaintiff shall pay the bill of costs in the amount of $2,988.00 within ten days of this Order.

People have been asking if they could share this news. Yes, please feel free to share it anywhere, via discussion groups, forums, blogs, newsletters, anyplace where people who've been wondering about this lawsuit will find that it's over and we're moving on now. But there's a little more I'd also like to have widely shared:

A friend wrote to ask about the costs involved; they'd heard that Mimi had to pay our attorney fees, but that is not so. The costs are enormous; almost a quarter of a million dollars now, and Mimi and her lawyer do NOT have to pay all our expenses. She will pay only my attorney's costs and travel expenses from the Oct. 7th hearing Mimi didn't attend, and they're pretty minimal, under $3,000. Still, it's an important victory in the sense that she's paying us, and we are not paying her a dime.

We did not receive any compensation for the loss of business from losing our web site and our ordering systems at the height of what is normally the best time of year for us. We not only lost the HEM site because of Mimi's harassment, but ALL our other web sites, even those not related to homeschooling. But perhaps the biggest and potentially most significant loss was my ability to communicate in my normal manner and volume. I've had a long-running problem with carpal tunnel syndrome, but I've kept the situation under control for many years by moderating the use of my hands. The extreme volume of typing with all the filing and emailing and communications that this lawsuit has necessitated has my hand almost crippled. I shouldn't be typing this, but hopefully it will help get the word out that this is over, and we're ready to set about the difficult task of rebuilding almost 30 years of work.

We need help. If you've ever considered becoming involved with this publication, please contact me at helenhegener@homeedmag.com and explain what you'd be interested in doing. If you have no idea but just like the idea of helping, I'll be putting together a list of what we need and will post it at our HEM Networking discussion group on YahooGroups sometime in the next few days: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HEM-Networking/

And if you can help financially, even a tiny little bit, you can send it via PayPal to orders@homeedmag.com or via check to Helen Hegener, PO Box 759, Palmer, Alaska 99645 (yes, that's my personal address). I'm working on a 'Friends of HEM' web site, and I'll share more on that soon.

Thank you, everyone, for your support,

Helen

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Helen Hegener, Publisher

Home Education Magazine

http://homeedmag.com

How you can help:

If you are not a current subscriber, please consider subscribing to Home Education Magazine.

http://homeedmag.com/ord/order.html

If you are a current subscriber, consider renewing at this time.

http://homeedmag.com/ord/renewal.html

If you live outside the US you can still subscribe:

http://homeedmag.com/ord/orderfrgn.html

 

Unschooling Formatted for TV

Unschooling was featured on the Today Show this morning and it was generally a fair portrayal of what it is and how it is done. The Bentley family, featured in the video segment, was particularly articulate and they were shown actively learning and doing things in their community; as a result, I don’t think the audience viewed unschooling as children doing nothing or as unparenting, which is a relief.

The education experts on the show expressed the standard concerns: unschoolers aren’t tested so how do we know they’re learning compared to their schooled counterparts? Parents may not be qualified to teach certain things. The kids could be isolated if they aren’t involved in activities outside the home. Aren’t there going to be gaps in their knowledge? By the way, these are the same concerns that are often raised about homeschooling in general, which proves to me, again, that homeschooling and unschooling are inextricably linked and efforts to separate them are not wise. Since most unschooling and homeschooling resources cover these questions in detail, as have I, I won’t respond to them here. 

It was good to hear Robyn Silverman, a teen and child development expert, note that unschoolers get into college with non-traditional transcripts, but it was disappointing to hear her say that unschooling is primarily for parents of “self-propelled” children. All children are born with self-motivation and a very common thread among unschoolers are stories about how they decided to unschool after their children went to school and became morose, unmotivated learners. They know their children weren’t this way before they went to school, so they view unschooling as a way to reinvigorate their children’s love of learning. Unschooling can work for any child and there are thousands of examples online and in print.

Further, both experts and the show overall make it seem like unschooling is a new trend, some recent development that doesn’t have a track record and is therefore somewhat dangerous to do with your children. There is no mention of John Holt and his creation of unschooling in 1977 after years of teaching in and writing about schools. There is no mention of the thousands of unschoolers who are now productive, adult citizens, some of them unschooling their own children now. There is no mention of teachers, in both alternative and conventional schools, who either unschool their children or take inspiration from it in their work. There is no mention that unschoolers are forging their lives earlier than those in school can, building up resumes and experiences that serve them well as adults, and that two-thirds of all American colleges and universities have admission procedures for homeschoolers/unschoolers. Indeed, according to U.S. census data only about 27.5% of all Americans have four-year college degrees, so it is odd that the media and society view getting into college as the ultimate sign of adult success. Shouldn’t we focus on how the 73.5% of Americans without four-year degrees find work, careers, and lives worth living instead of making them feel less worthy for not going or completing college? Uncollege is a concept that I hope gets further attention and it’s founder acknowledges the influence of unschooling on his thinking.

Further, unschooling is an option for families, not a mandate. You can try it and adapt it as you see fit; your kids can move in and out of school as necessary; you can do it for any amount of time. It is NOT school, which is why it is a true option for children who hate school, or don’t fit in, or find class too boring, or find class too challenging. I wish the experts had considered these issues instead of finding fault with unschooling because it does not follow conventional school techniques; that is the point, after all. As noted earlier, people often come to unschooling because their children were not flourishing in school, or because even though they did well in school (as the adult Bentley’s say they did in their segment) they want an education that is more involving for their children than marching through the steps of standardized curricula.

Unschooling is about learning and doing things that matter in the real world and in your life, and the Bentley family provides a great model of this for viewers. In six minutes, The Today Show condensed and analyzed an educational movement that has been growing for decades. Some day, I hope the deeper stories that lie beneath the surface of this one will be examined.

Unschooling Featured on the Today Show, Oct. 14, 2011

I have heard from the producer of the unschooling segment for the Today Show that it will definitely air tomorrow morning, Oct. 14, around 8:17 a.m. EST. Due to time constraints (they cut the segment in half), I am no longer being interviewed on the show. However, the Cottrell-Bentley family of AZ is featured as the unschooling family and they are dynamic and articulate; I'm certain they will present unschooling in the best possible light and I hope the Today Show does, too. Zoe Bentley's website, Exogeology ROCKS!, is a great example of how a young person can follow their interests and learn many things in an interdisciplinary fashion without following standard curricula or school protocols.