a professor in the UK, on informal learning
Sandra Dodd
http://unschooling.blogspot.com/2009/08/informal-learning-interview-with-dr.html
Schuyler sent the link to this. It's awesome. It's six minutes long,
but very good.
Sandra
Schuyler sent the link to this. It's awesome. It's six minutes long,
but very good.
Sandra
Marina DeLuca-Howard
I love the way he keeps calling it autonomous education. Brilliant phrase
to add to my collection so I don't have to say unschooling or radical
unschooling ;)
Marina
--
Rent our cottage: http://davehoward.ca/cottage/
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
to add to my collection so I don't have to say unschooling or radical
unschooling ;)
Marina
--
Rent our cottage: http://davehoward.ca/cottage/
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Bob Collier
--- In [email protected], Marina DeLuca-Howard <delucahoward@...> wrote:
In Australia, homeschooling is usually called "home education". My
local network, the Home Education Network of Canberra and the
Southern Tablelands (HENCAST), has on its website, "We have members
(registered and not) from all walks of life with varying beliefs who
are home educating their children in a variety of ways."
That includes what people here would recognise as "unschooling" but
it isn't specifically named.
Bob
>"Unschooling" seems to be very much an American term.
> I love the way he keeps calling it autonomous education. Brilliant phrase
> to add to my collection so I don't have to say unschooling or radical
> unschooling ;)
> Marina
>
> --
> Rent our cottage: http://davehoward.ca/cottage/
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
In Australia, homeschooling is usually called "home education". My
local network, the Home Education Network of Canberra and the
Southern Tablelands (HENCAST), has on its website, "We have members
(registered and not) from all walks of life with varying beliefs who
are home educating their children in a variety of ways."
That includes what people here would recognise as "unschooling" but
it isn't specifically named.
Bob
Teresa Hendrickson
--- In [email protected], Sandra Dodd <Sandra@...> wrote:
"The video was really interesting.. I realized that, because I hated structured, formal school, all I ever learned was what I taught myself! For instance when I went to the stock exchange I hadn't the faintest clue what fractions and decimals really meant, so I worked them out and pretty soon was able to calculate in a flash what for instance, 18/32 was in decimals, (0.5625) to make prices.. my old maths master would have been stunned because I never ever passed a maths exam!"
My dad left school early and went on to become a very successful stock broker, but insisted on very strict, formal education for his kids. Clearly he is still willing to learn and grow, and is now completely supportive of my choice to unschool mine. This revelation of his is really making me smile today.
Terri (mom to Wolfie and Addy)
>I sent the above link to my Dad in South Africa yesterday and wanted to share his great response:
> http://unschooling.blogspot.com/2009/08/informal-learning-interview-with-dr.html
>
>
> Schuyler sent the link to this. It's awesome. It's six minutes long,
> but very good.
>
> Sandra
"The video was really interesting.. I realized that, because I hated structured, formal school, all I ever learned was what I taught myself! For instance when I went to the stock exchange I hadn't the faintest clue what fractions and decimals really meant, so I worked them out and pretty soon was able to calculate in a flash what for instance, 18/32 was in decimals, (0.5625) to make prices.. my old maths master would have been stunned because I never ever passed a maths exam!"
My dad left school early and went on to become a very successful stock broker, but insisted on very strict, formal education for his kids. Clearly he is still willing to learn and grow, and is now completely supportive of my choice to unschool mine. This revelation of his is really making me smile today.
Terri (mom to Wolfie and Addy)
ChelleBelle
someone please help me unsubscribe! I have sent three messages and I am still on here for some reason~
From: Teresa Hendrickson <tbeuthin@...>
Subject: [AlwaysLearning] Re: a professor in the UK, on informal learning
To: [email protected]
Date: Sunday, August 16, 2009, 7:58 AM
From: Teresa Hendrickson <tbeuthin@...>
Subject: [AlwaysLearning] Re: a professor in the UK, on informal learning
To: [email protected]
Date: Sunday, August 16, 2009, 7:58 AM
--- In AlwaysLearning@ yahoogroups. com, Sandra Dodd <Sandra@...> wrote:
>
> http://unschooling. blogspot. com/2009/ 08/informal- learning- interview- with-dr.html
>
>
> Schuyler sent the link to this. It's awesome. It's six minutes long,
> but very good.
>
> Sandra
I sent the above link to my Dad in South Africa yesterday and wanted to share his great response:
"The video was really interesting. . I realized that, because I hated structured, formal school, all I ever learned was what I taught myself! For instance when I went to the stock exchange I hadn't the faintest clue what fractions and decimals really meant, so I worked them out and pretty soon was able to calculate in a flash what for instance, 18/32 was in decimals, (0.5625) to make prices.. my old maths master would have been stunned because I never ever passed a maths exam!"
My dad left school early and went on to become a very successful stock broker, but insisted on very strict, formal education for his kids. Clearly he is still willing to learn and grow, and is now completely supportive of my choice to unschool mine. This revelation of his is really making me smile today.
Terri (mom to Wolfie and Addy)
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
cathsarwood
The professor in the interview, Dr Alan Thomas, is co-author of a book called "How Children Learn at Home", which is an academic study of autonomous learning / unschooling based on interviews with British, Irish and Australian families. I read it about a year ago and thoroughly recommend it. As you can see from the interview he is very positive about autonomous learning. I found it fascinating and it could also be handy when dealing with sceptical family members etc.
The isbn is 0826479995 if anyone would like to get hold of it.
By the way, this is my first post, so hello everyone!
Best wishes,
Catherine
The isbn is 0826479995 if anyone would like to get hold of it.
By the way, this is my first post, so hello everyone!
Best wishes,
Catherine
Sandra Dodd
-=-...Dr Alan Thomas, is co-author of a book called "How Children
Learn at Home"...The isbn is 0826479995 if anyone would like to get
hold of it.
By the way, this is my first post, so hello everyone!-=-
Hello, Catherine, and thanks for that.
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Learn at Home"...The isbn is 0826479995 if anyone would like to get
hold of it.
By the way, this is my first post, so hello everyone!-=-
Hello, Catherine, and thanks for that.
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
JoyErin
Hello Catherine welcome! I read Dr. Alan Thomas's book from my local
library in Massachusetts when
We lived there - a few years ago now. I remember it being really straight
forward and very closely like
A research journal (or what I think one would look like). Someone recently
said to me that it's a great
book for giving to any relatives that need 'a professional' point of view to
be able to really want to hear
about unschooling. I agreed.
Joy
_____
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]]
On Behalf Of Sandra Dodd
Sent: 21 August 2009 22:47
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [AlwaysLearning] Re: a professor in the UK, on informal
learning
-=-...Dr Alan Thomas, is co-author of a book called "How Children
Learn at Home"...The isbn is 0826479995 if anyone would like to get
hold of it.
By the way, this is my first post, so hello everyone!-=-
Hello, Catherine, and thanks for that.
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
Version: 8.5.409 / Virus Database: 270.13.63/2316 - Release Date: 08/21/09
06:04:00
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
library in Massachusetts when
We lived there - a few years ago now. I remember it being really straight
forward and very closely like
A research journal (or what I think one would look like). Someone recently
said to me that it's a great
book for giving to any relatives that need 'a professional' point of view to
be able to really want to hear
about unschooling. I agreed.
Joy
_____
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]]
On Behalf Of Sandra Dodd
Sent: 21 August 2009 22:47
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [AlwaysLearning] Re: a professor in the UK, on informal
learning
-=-...Dr Alan Thomas, is co-author of a book called "How Children
Learn at Home"...The isbn is 0826479995 if anyone would like to get
hold of it.
By the way, this is my first post, so hello everyone!-=-
Hello, Catherine, and thanks for that.
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
Version: 8.5.409 / Virus Database: 270.13.63/2316 - Release Date: 08/21/09
06:04:00
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
almadoing
Hi Joy,
I think you might be referring to his 2000 book, which was an academic sort of study rather than his newer 2008 book. This is how Amazon describes them.
"In his "Educating Children at Home" (2000), Alan Thomas found that many home educating families chose or gravitated towards an informal style of education, radically different from that found in schools. Such learning, also described as unschooling, natural or autonomous, takes place without most of the features considered essential for learning in school. At home there is no curriculum or sequential teaching, nor are there any lessons, textbooks, requirements for written work, practice exercises, marking or testing. But how can children who learn in this way actually achieve an education on a par with what schools offer? In this new research, Alan Thomas and Harriet Pattison seek to explain the efficacy of this alternative pedagogy through the experiences of families who have chosen to educate their children informally.Based on interviews and extended examples of learning at home the authors explore: the scope for informal learning within children's everyday lives; the informal acquisition of literacy and numeracy; the role of parents and others in informal learning; and, how children proactively develop their own learning agendas. Their investigation provides not only an insight into the powerful and effective nature of informal learning but also presents some fundamental challenges to many of the assumptions underpinning educational theory. This book will be of interest to education practitioners, researchers and all parents, whether their children are in or out of school, offering as it does fascinating insights into the nature of children's learning."
The reason I want to make the distinction is because the newer one is much more him exploring how informal learning works as opposed to having just discovered that people do it. And it is a much more readable book rather than an academic tome.
I heard Alan Thomas interviewed here in the UK and the interviewer was asking many of the usual questions, in a mildly aggressive 'yeah but' tone of voice and Alan Thomas very sweetly continued to answer the questions and reiterate how amazing it all is and then blew me away when he said he wished he'd known about it when his kids were young. Now that is what I like to hear on my radio.
Alison
I think you might be referring to his 2000 book, which was an academic sort of study rather than his newer 2008 book. This is how Amazon describes them.
"In his "Educating Children at Home" (2000), Alan Thomas found that many home educating families chose or gravitated towards an informal style of education, radically different from that found in schools. Such learning, also described as unschooling, natural or autonomous, takes place without most of the features considered essential for learning in school. At home there is no curriculum or sequential teaching, nor are there any lessons, textbooks, requirements for written work, practice exercises, marking or testing. But how can children who learn in this way actually achieve an education on a par with what schools offer? In this new research, Alan Thomas and Harriet Pattison seek to explain the efficacy of this alternative pedagogy through the experiences of families who have chosen to educate their children informally.Based on interviews and extended examples of learning at home the authors explore: the scope for informal learning within children's everyday lives; the informal acquisition of literacy and numeracy; the role of parents and others in informal learning; and, how children proactively develop their own learning agendas. Their investigation provides not only an insight into the powerful and effective nature of informal learning but also presents some fundamental challenges to many of the assumptions underpinning educational theory. This book will be of interest to education practitioners, researchers and all parents, whether their children are in or out of school, offering as it does fascinating insights into the nature of children's learning."
The reason I want to make the distinction is because the newer one is much more him exploring how informal learning works as opposed to having just discovered that people do it. And it is a much more readable book rather than an academic tome.
I heard Alan Thomas interviewed here in the UK and the interviewer was asking many of the usual questions, in a mildly aggressive 'yeah but' tone of voice and Alan Thomas very sweetly continued to answer the questions and reiterate how amazing it all is and then blew me away when he said he wished he'd known about it when his kids were young. Now that is what I like to hear on my radio.
Alison
--- In [email protected], "JoyErin" <joyerin@...> wrote:
>
> Hello Catherine welcome! I read Dr. Alan Thomas's book from my local
> library in Massachusetts when
>
> We lived there - a few years ago now. I remember it being really straight
> forward and very closely like
>
> A research journal (or what I think one would look like). Someone recently
> said to me that it's a great
>
> book for giving to any relatives that need 'a professional' point of view to
> be able to really want to hear
>
> about unschooling. I agreed.
>
>
>
> Joy
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> _____
>
> From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]]
> On Behalf Of Sandra Dodd
> Sent: 21 August 2009 22:47
> To: [email protected]
> Subject: Re: [AlwaysLearning] Re: a professor in the UK, on informal
> learning
>
>
>
>
>
> -=-...Dr Alan Thomas, is co-author of a book called "How Children
> Learn at Home"...The isbn is 0826479995 if anyone would like to get
> hold of it.
> By the way, this is my first post, so hello everyone!-=-
>
> Hello, Catherine, and thanks for that.
>
> Sandra
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
> No virus found in this incoming message.
> Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
> Version: 8.5.409 / Virus Database: 270.13.63/2316 - Release Date: 08/21/09
> 06:04:00
>
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>