Continue reading ‘The Education Evolution’ »]]>

For a long time, I’ve been skeptical of the schooling process, which is now traditionally part of our society in North America and most of the world.  I’ve come to believe that the concepts of school and education are quite different from one another, when typically in the mainstream vernacular, they are assumed to be the same.  I believe this is a naïve view – one that is generally held by people who have not taken the time to dig below the surface to really understand the history and the indoctrinated lessons taught by schooling.  Without an in-depth discussion on how I came to this viewpoint, I believe I at least owe basic definitions on how I perceive schooling versus education.

From its origins in 19^th century Prussia, the institution of schooling has become a formalized indoctrination process.  Although basic education is learned through such subjects as reading, writing, and arithmetic (plus sciences), these subjects are taught at the pace of the class, or what could be referred to as a “collective” of sorts.  The material is focused on the median performers, with high performers in a subject being held back and low performers being dragged forward, ready or not.  Such implicit and even insidious concepts as provisional self-esteem (if directions are followed, you get a reward; if not, scorn is given), learning your place in society (from the school class structure), and deferring to authority (e.g. teachers, principals, the upper grades,  etc.) can be detrimental to a person’s individual autonomy and inherent curiosity.  Due to societal, religious, and cultural influences (depending on the school), children are generally taught what to think or what opinions to hold about a subject.

Education on the other hand is learning without the wrapper of school being enclosed around it.  As mentioned earlier, education from a basic perspective is reading, writing, and arithmetic, but (more importantly) it is also guided by an individual’s interests.  Instead of children being taught what to think, more of a focus needs to be placed on teaching children how to critically think – through such time-tested means as the Trivium Method of grammar, logic, and rhetoric.  Children have an inherent curiosity – they want to understand how the world works and ask that (sometimes) dreaded question of “why” something is so.  But instead of quashing this curiosity through schooling and parenting indifference, critical thinking needs to be encouraged and embraced.  Getting an education can mean going to a common building to learn, but it can also mean learning from real-world experiences, learning at home, and learning through travel.  Education should also mean learning the way most adults do – having an interest in a certain subject matter and pursuing that interest to its logical conclusion – be it days, weeks, months, years, or even a lifetime.  And finally, getting an education is a lifelong pursuit, it is not merely going to school for a prescribed number of years – education is not a “system” the way schooling is, it is unique to each individual.

Keep in mind, the above are “rough” definitions.

The Paradigm of Homeschooling / Unschooling

The pursuit and acceptance of educational concepts such as homeschooling / unschooling are on the rise in our society.  While I may slightly recoil from the use of the “schooling” term, in my opinion, these concepts are a step forward in the evolution of education.  One of the fundamental questions I ask is why do people have children if they merely ship them off to daycare and take a somewhat hands-off approach to raising them?  Are daycare and school a means of “babysitting” a child due to parental career goals?  The latter question, if true, seems to be a de-facto way of the state raising our children as opposed to the parent.

I, for one, am becoming more convinced that the traditional school system as we know it is becoming a dated model.  I’m not here to advocate that this old, tired system simply be replaced with a new system, but instead that the concept of education needs a re-think (such as through homeschooling / unschooling and other new ideas) and the focus be placed more on individual needs and pursuits, rather than class or collective pursuits.  I am encouraged by new technologies, adaptive curriculum, and internet resources, such as Khan Academy.

Governments and Teachers

Here in Ontario, Canada this past year I have been alarmed by what I’ve seen with regards to government bills imposing contracts on teachers, and similarly, teacher job actions (e.g. cancelling extra-curricular activities, walk-outs with students, etc.).  In the end, the children are the losers in this fight in pursuit of their true education – I do not take the side of the government nor the teachers.  While both sides claim they are doing their actions “for the children”, in my opinion, this is merely emotional rhetoric from two sides invested in the status-quo.  Both parties have been instrumental in building this juggernaut with its bloated structure and salaries which do everything but properly educate children.

For the teachers, getting a permanent position has the appearance of “winning the lottery” in terms of salary, benefits, and job security.  In my own experience, I know numerous people who are trying to get permanent positions as a teacher, when the market is already saturated – the supply outnumbers the demand.  Why would such market conditions demand a large salary?  Individual teachers may enter the profession for noble reasons, others may not, but in the aggregate, these are the current market conditions.  Logically, why would an individual enter this profession knowing these market conditions today?  Does the individual entering this profession critically think about these market conditions or are they even aware of them when making the choice to become a teacher?

For the government, the status-quo school system is beneficial to the propagation of social engineering programs and acceptance of popular policy.  They have direct control of the school system curriculum and can manipulate it, as required.  This does not necessarily imply a general conspiracy, but instead government recognizes the inherent power of the curriculum and manipulating that power to pursue social, political, and (in some occasions) even personal ideologies.  As the saying goes – What’s the difference between the government and the Mafia  One has a 15,000 hour indoctrination program, the other does not.

Considering traditional schooling versus homeschooling / unschooling, take the following argument as an example:

There are neither standardized curriculum nor government oversight for homeschoolers / unschoolers; thus children emerging from this type of education may lack in certain areas such as the basics of reading, writing, and arithmetic.

On the surface, this argument has validity to it and in some cases may be true.  Yet, I pose the question as to the performance of our traditional school systems.  Are all children emerging from these school curriculum always proficient in the basics of reading, writing, and arithmetic?  We also see falling school standards and students dropping-out of school.  Is the problem really tied to lack of funding in the schools?  Perhaps the problem is that for some individuals, the traditional school system is not for them and instead an alternative method of education would be more beneficial.

Perceived Criticisms of Homeschooling / Unschooling

In all fairness, I cannot simply state that all educational concepts within homeschooling / unschooling are superior.  To the other extreme (as opposed to traditional schooling), there is radical unschooling, which I don’t fully understand and at this time cannot personally endorse.  For families who choose to educate their children in this manner, I can only hope that they will put the interests of their children first in preparing them for life in the world.  I believe that ultimately, it is the place of the parent to prepare a child for the world and develop a personalized system that works for them.

The following criticisms form an incomplete list which touches upon some of my perceived concerns of radical unschooling and homeschooling / unschooling in general:

1. Lack of Structure – To me, the lack of bedtimes indicates a lack of structure in a child’s life.  I’m of the opinion that this is especially important for a child in their primary years of life (e.g. less than 10 years old) when proper sleep is especially important to development.  I’m not saying you need to be a hard disciplinarian and that your child needs to be in bed at a certain time “on the dot” each night, but at the same time your child should not be up until the early hours of the morning on any sort of regular basis.  However, as children become adolescents, it has been my observation that many like to “push the envelope” and stay up late.  For example, when I was in my teens and twenties, I found that sometimes I was most productive in the late night hours on personal projects and learned the most at those times.  I also remember in my early teens being proud the first time I was able to pull and all-nighter.  But regardless, much of the real world expects a certain structure and punctuality and I feel it would be neglectful to not teach your child how to function in this manner when required.
2. Technological Dependence – The reliance on electronics and the internet is a double-edged sword – on one hand it’s fuelling the information revolution, but on the other it can be an addiction.  On the positive, it provides easily-accessible curriculum materials and resources to help the self-educator to learn at their own pace and it can be a creative outlet to develop products from the artistic to the practical – it’s amazing to watch younger children adapt to these technologies at an earlier age.  On the negative, it’s like a matrix we’re plugged into and it can be an addiction for many, including withdrawal symptoms when it’s not available.  I’ve personally seen anti-social behaviour,  relationships ruined, and even marriages ended in divorce as a result of the electronic addiction.  There’s more to the world than electronics, and it’s important for kids to get outside or into their community, socialize, and explore.  Pick up a book before picking up an iPad!
3. Unpleasant / Incomplete Tasks – Allowing children to walk away from an unpleasant task, such as incomplete chores, is not a good life lesson to impart.  While children should have time to play and explore with their curiosity, they should also learn responsibility, and certain responsibilities are not always pleasant.  For example, I may not enjoy cleaning, but I clean because I enjoy having a clean home.  It’s also important for a child to learn to finish what they start.
4. Basic Subject Material – The inability for an individual to have a grasp of basic subjects such as reading, writing, arithmetic, and critical thinking skills (such as the Trivium Method of how to think) is something that troubles me immensely with the world in general and specifically for a child past 10 years old.  I believe a parent should introduce these basic subjects to a child early in life, in a fun and interesting manner as possible.  While I firmly believe in encouraging a child to explore various subjects they are passionate about, by not helping them grasp basic subject matter, you are doing them a great disservice in life.
5. Socialization Skills – There is one major homeschooling / unschooling criticism I almost always hear whenever this type of educational approach is broached in conversation:  Kids who are homeschooled / unschooled lack socialization skills!  While socialization is an obvious concern when raising children, it is unfounded in the present day – with a quick internet search, a parent can find many local socializing opportunities for their child in homeschooling groups, team sports, and other community activities.  The label “homeschooling” can be misleading because the child has more opportunity following this educational paradigm to gain real-world experience than sitting in a classroom within a traditional school.

I’d like to acknowledge and express my appreciation for homeschooling / unschooling families out there who have blazed the trail in moving away from the traditional school paradigm.  Both the successes and failures of these brave families will be valuable lessons learned as more and more parents pursue this style of education.

I fully admit that having not raised my own children, perhaps some of my criticisms above come from my own lack of experience or research in these areas.  However, I would be remiss if I did not at least discuss the above topics and invite constructive comments to help me understand them more.

Hope for the Future

While presently I don’t have any children, I still feel the subject of education is an important one to become, well, educated about.  It is my perception that many parents go through the motions of taking their children to daycare and later to school without really thinking about why they do this – it is something society seems to expect one to do.  When the subject of homeschooling / unschooling comes up, many people seem to kick into cognitive dissonance and become uncomfortable or even defensive to an advocate of alternative educational approaches which exclude traditional schooling.  To challenge this cognitive dissonance, parents need to actually make an effort to do research and ask why we hold certain viewpoints about education – why does society simply accept traditional schooling, while pushing alternative educational ideas to the fringe without considering their merits.  We need to self-educate ourselves and evolve to new realities.

The good news is that homeschooling / unschooling are starting to gain more traction and become more acceptable than they once were.  People need to understand that education reform doesn’t simply mean replacing the traditional school system with a new system.  Education is not merely obtained through one system, but instead a plethora of systems tailored to both individuals and families.  The traditional school is by no means dead; it will definitely be there for the foreseeable future.  However, it is my hope that alternative educational methods will eventually supplant traditional schooling, rendering it obsolete – this may take several generations to accomplish.

As this article advocates, in my perfect world, I’d love to be able to homeschool / unschool my children, but I do recognize this is not always possible in varying family circumstances.  Just like the existing school system, one size does not fit all.  There is no reason why private or community educational facilities cannot exist, such as the Montessori, Sudbury, or other education models.  The main political hurdle is to end the government monopoly on public schooling, but it’s difficult to pry away such power.

Regardless of the educational method chosen, my ultimate hope for children are that they become critical thinkers and look at the world objectively, instead of continually falling into the repeating patterns of history due to indoctrination and manipulation.  Again, this is not teaching children what to think about the world through a specific ideology, but rather how to look at the world and form their own opinions and views.

While experience has taught me that it is very unlikely there is no utopia over the horizon, in practice, I believe that if we can even moderately increase the number of critically thinking individuals in the world, that alone will contribute to a better future for all.

References:
http://schoolsucksproject.com/
http://daynamartin.com/unschooling-blog/im-that-mom/
http://www.tv.com/shows/wife-swap/avery-lamb-martin-2816327/
http://www.triviumeducation.com/

Continue reading ‘Alcohol – To Privatize or Not?’ »]]>

Since 2006, I’ve had the opportunity to live in three Canadian provinces – Saskatchewan, Alberta, and now Ontario. In terms of liquor stores, Saskatchewan is generally government-owned, while Alberta is privately-owned. I’ve now lived in Ontario for 3 years and in that time; I’ve seen this debate come and go, both in the media and in personal conversations. This debate has once again been ignited by Tim Hudak’s recent remarks.

One prevailing myth that I’d like “take care of” immediately is that if Ontario were to privatize, we’d all be buying our liquor from back-alley shops where staff have no clue about the difference between a Cab Sauvignon and a Shiraz. While it is true that these stores do exist, there is also a demand for knowledgeable staff and higher-end “boutique” liquor stores, such as Willow Park in Calgary, fill that need. From the lowly corner shop, to average stores (like the Real Canadian Liquor Store, sound familiar?), and to the high end – Alberta has a liquor store for you to fill demand. Alberta also has some of the better wine and scotch selections I’ve seen in Canada, getting many brands we can only dream of here in Ontario. But if I need a case of my favourite beer, why would I go anywhere else but the corner store? Does it really matter where this comes from? Not to mention my annoyance that Ontario has separate beer and liquor stores. What about one-stop shopping?

Then there’s my native province of Saskatchewan, which has public liquor stores, but not exclusively. Since before I was 19, in addition to public liquor stores, Saskatchewan has also allowed a type of store called “Offsales”. These Offsales are generally attached to privately-owned pubs and allow for the purchase of alcohol up to 2:00 am in the morning – they are a convenience and you pay for it to some degree. More recently, Saskatchewan has also allowed for a few high-end private liquor boutiques to open in the province, like the aforementioned Willow Park store. In essence, Saskatchewan has allowed limited private competition to their public liquor stores.

So where do I stand now? Ideally, I’d prefer a private system similar to Alberta’s, which caters to a better selection of higher end products such as scotch and wine. However, I realize that despite rhetoric, the will to privatize here in Ontario may not be there. At the very least, I’d like to see an end to the LCBO / Beer Store monopoly, open up the market to private competition (similar to Saskatchewan), and see what happens. But then again, since when does the government like having competition to itself?

Disclaimer:
I do not necessarily support the views of Tim Hudak or the Ontario PC Party. However, the debate of private vs. public sale of alcohol is a subject which has long interested me.

References:
London Free Press – Published Blog 2012-12-10
Calgary Herald – Letter 2007-03-22

Continue reading ‘Blog 2.0’ »]]> JONNY K’s Blog

Hello and welcome to my new and revised blog! Please hang tight while I finish the new site and begin adding content.

While the first incarnation of my blog was a fun learning experience, after nearly four years, I felt it was time for a facelift and relaunch! For this iteration, I’ve decided to try and focus on more key areas which are important to me, how I live my life, and my local community.

My personal philosophy has come a long way and this blog will continue to be a place for growing and fostering those ideas. While in the past I focused more on external commentary, I’d prefer this blog to be more of a place for original content as time goes on.

For those who have followed me to date, I hope you will continue reading and provide your feedback.