Bill Ellis

> "bubenzers@..." bubenzers@... j_bubenzer
> ... Sandra, thank you for your words about unschooling and replacing
> "teaching" with "learning". I think people might think it's semantics
> but I think you are right. ... [snip]

BE:
I don't mean to beat a dead horse, but I think there is nothing more
important than clarifying the difference between the
teaching/educating/schooling syndrome and learning.

Some of the best writing on this differentiation has, for a number of
years, come from Dr Roland Meighan in the U.K his book "Comparing
Learning Systems" exemplifies the difference. Manish and Shilpa Jain
(India) have also put some emphasis on learning as an "alternative to
education." It was also implied by Ivan Illich in "Deschooling
Society" and books by John Holt and others.
Their point is that the t/e/s syndrome is about transferring things
chosen and known by some adults to young people. "Learning" implies
building on each individual's curiosity, interest, ability, and
motivation -- unschooling. Freedom to learn is the core of democracy.
The e/t/s syndrome is the key to maintaining the status quo of the
dominator paradigm -- authoritarianism, materialism, self-interest,
competition and hierarchy.

It is the core of the Gaian Paradigm that recognizes the equality of
all elements of the cosmos including each individual human.

Bill Ellis
If you would like more on the GaianParadigm see:
http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Bill_Ellis

Sandra Dodd

-=-The e/t/s syndrome is the key to maintaining the status quo of the
dominator paradigm -- authoritarianism, materialism, self-interest,
competition and hierarchy.

-=-It is the core of the Gaian Paradigm that recognizes the equality of
all elements of the cosmos including each individual human.-=-


"The equality of all elements of the cosmos" is quite a human
construct, isn't it?

It would have to ignore all animal behaviors, social systems of
primates, storage of food for winter, and would pretty much do away
with respect for experience and usefulness, wouldn't it?

I don't like the idea of "education" but I love the idea of
learning. Still, rejecting attachment to the concepts of teaching
and education is a long, long way from suggesting "the equality of
all elements."

Individual humans aren't equal. It's the favorite myth of the United
States, but it's a myth, an idea, a principle and not an objective
reality.

Sandra



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