Anthropology mini-thesis on unschooling
Sandra Dodd
Unschooling; How Learning through Living Leads to Happiness by Sarah Turner, for Principles of Cultural Anthropology (330) at the University of New Mexico in 2012. (Rose Sorooshian was also an informant. She's not named, but those familiar with her will recognize the parts that are about her.)
I've added this to my page with links to interviews: http://sandradodd.com/interviews
The direct URL to the anthropology paper is:
http://sandradodd.com/interviews/SarahTurnerMini-Thesis.pdf
Only read this if you like academic reports. :-)
It's not very long. She did a lot of reading, talked with me for a long time and asked lots of questions by e-mail. I've known her since she was young, before she was married, and it's sad for me to see that she opted to be childless because school was so painful for her.
Although this could be interesting to some people who are curious about unschooling, I think there's no better intro than Pam Laricchia's book (soon to be books).
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
I've added this to my page with links to interviews: http://sandradodd.com/interviews
The direct URL to the anthropology paper is:
http://sandradodd.com/interviews/SarahTurnerMini-Thesis.pdf
Only read this if you like academic reports. :-)
It's not very long. She did a lot of reading, talked with me for a long time and asked lots of questions by e-mail. I've known her since she was young, before she was married, and it's sad for me to see that she opted to be childless because school was so painful for her.
Although this could be interesting to some people who are curious about unschooling, I think there's no better intro than Pam Laricchia's book (soon to be books).
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
erin_huffstutter
Thank you for posting this! I find this sort of stuff fascinating.
From the mini-thesis:
==However, the results of this study indicate that individual agency prevents unschoolers from being subjugated by the powerful discourses of mainstream schooling society relating to education and success. Pierre Bourdieu (1930-2002), another French social theorist writing in the 1970s and 1980s, theorized that social relationships are created by the talk and action of individuals (Erickson and Murphy 2008:187). Bourdieu believed that individuals, not powerful systems, create symbolic capital (Erickson and Murphy 2008:188). Bourdieu's theory is applicable to the findings in this study that unschoolers have redefined "a good education" and "success" through powerful discourses (not "discourses of power") and action.==
I think this process of individuals redefining "education" and "success" has benefitted greatly from the technology of our day. Access to information is empowering. It encourages bravery and action. If I know I can get information on any subject in the whole wide world, and I have the confidence in my ability to find it, I no longer need experts to dispense it to me.
Personally, I do not think I would have ever stumbled upon unschooling - or been able to delve deeply enough into it to later choose it - had it not been for the internet. So the discourse is ever more powerful thanks to access to information, other unschoolers, and archives of past discourses.
==My research on unschooling generally supports the idea that a good education leads to
success. However, the unschooler's definitions of a "good education" and "success" differ significantly from that of mainstream schooling society. For unschoolers, pursuit of the concepts and skills which are interesting and useful in living one's life is education enough to happily achieve whatever goal an individual might set for himself.==
I saw Pam Sorooshian speak this summer and she emphasized the importance of keeping the little flame of curiosity alive within our kids - not snuffing out the innate desire to learn. That concept really resonated with me. I think about it a lot and sometimes ask myself, "Am I protecting my kid's flame in this moment? Or snuffing it out?"
Reading the mini-thesis made me want to further break unschooling down into its core concepts. For my family, it looks like:
1) Keep alive the flame of my child's curiosity (via loving them, patience, listening, partnering, respecting, not testing).
2) Give my child access to the world (via technology, groups, friends, family, strewing, facilitating, answering questions, adventures, travel).
3) The learning takes care of itself.
___________________
Thanks again for sharing. I enjoy playing around with ideas like this, and mulling on them.
Erin
From the mini-thesis:
==However, the results of this study indicate that individual agency prevents unschoolers from being subjugated by the powerful discourses of mainstream schooling society relating to education and success. Pierre Bourdieu (1930-2002), another French social theorist writing in the 1970s and 1980s, theorized that social relationships are created by the talk and action of individuals (Erickson and Murphy 2008:187). Bourdieu believed that individuals, not powerful systems, create symbolic capital (Erickson and Murphy 2008:188). Bourdieu's theory is applicable to the findings in this study that unschoolers have redefined "a good education" and "success" through powerful discourses (not "discourses of power") and action.==
I think this process of individuals redefining "education" and "success" has benefitted greatly from the technology of our day. Access to information is empowering. It encourages bravery and action. If I know I can get information on any subject in the whole wide world, and I have the confidence in my ability to find it, I no longer need experts to dispense it to me.
Personally, I do not think I would have ever stumbled upon unschooling - or been able to delve deeply enough into it to later choose it - had it not been for the internet. So the discourse is ever more powerful thanks to access to information, other unschoolers, and archives of past discourses.
==My research on unschooling generally supports the idea that a good education leads to
success. However, the unschooler's definitions of a "good education" and "success" differ significantly from that of mainstream schooling society. For unschoolers, pursuit of the concepts and skills which are interesting and useful in living one's life is education enough to happily achieve whatever goal an individual might set for himself.==
I saw Pam Sorooshian speak this summer and she emphasized the importance of keeping the little flame of curiosity alive within our kids - not snuffing out the innate desire to learn. That concept really resonated with me. I think about it a lot and sometimes ask myself, "Am I protecting my kid's flame in this moment? Or snuffing it out?"
Reading the mini-thesis made me want to further break unschooling down into its core concepts. For my family, it looks like:
1) Keep alive the flame of my child's curiosity (via loving them, patience, listening, partnering, respecting, not testing).
2) Give my child access to the world (via technology, groups, friends, family, strewing, facilitating, answering questions, adventures, travel).
3) The learning takes care of itself.
___________________
Thanks again for sharing. I enjoy playing around with ideas like this, and mulling on them.
Erin
--- In [email protected], Sandra Dodd <Sandra@...> wrote:
>
> Unschooling; How Learning through Living Leads to Happiness by Sarah Turner, for Principles of Cultural Anthropology (330) at the University of New Mexico in 2012. (Rose Sorooshian was also an informant. She's not named, but those familiar with her will recognize the parts that are about her.)
>
> I've added this to my page with links to interviews: http://sandradodd.com/interviews
>
> The direct URL to the anthropology paper is:
> http://sandradodd.com/interviews/SarahTurnerMini-Thesis.pdf
>
> Only read this if you like academic reports. :-)
>
> It's not very long. She did a lot of reading, talked with me for a long time and asked lots of questions by e-mail. I've known her since she was young, before she was married, and it's sad for me to see that she opted to be childless because school was so painful for her.
>
> Although this could be interesting to some people who are curious about unschooling, I think there's no better intro than Pam Laricchia's book (soon to be books).
>
> Sandra
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>