Luz Shosie and Ned Vare

> Subject: Re: Conference/Frank Smith
Much has been said lately on this list about a conference where one of the
headliners was Frank Smith. He has long been on the scene as a critic of the
government education system, and he is the author of a book that gave Luz
and me much inspiration for unschooling in the 1980s. The book is called,

"Insult to Intelligence" It was published in 1986 by Arbor House in NY.

As some of you know, Mr. Smith (born in England, educated in Australia with
a PhD from Harvard) is an internationally known researcher in teaching, and
an accomplished writer, poet and journalist, and professor of education.

Smith was among the first "heavy-hitters" to attack the education
establishment for many of the same reasons that we unschoolers reject it
today -- pointing out that drills, testing, and grading of students are an
every day insult to the intelligence of both students and teachers.

Unschoolers have taken his criticisms seriously, and now see that the
government's "false theories" (as he calls them) of education are merely the
tip of the iceberg that the bureaucratic monopoly of schooling has become.
His contribution was important to us because it fortified the work of John
Holt, James Herndon and others and helped to establish the validity of
homeschooling and unschooling.

Smith ends his book with this sentence: "The responsibility of the present
generation of adults is to ensure that the brains of the future generation
are not destroyed on today's classrooms."

If it were not for men like Smith, we (on this list) might not yet know
about unschooling, but might still have our children in places where what he
calls a "travesty of teaching" is offered as the real thing.

Ned Vare
We think; therefore we unschool

Fetteroll

on 8/24/02 11:31 PM, Luz Shosie and Ned Vare at nedvare@... wrote:

> Unschoolers have taken his [Frank Smith's] criticisms seriously, and now see
> that the government's "false theories" (as he calls them) of education are
> merely the tip of the iceberg that the bureaucratic monopoly of schooling has
> become.

I'd bet it's a rare unschooler -- even factoring in the number who heard him
at the conference -- who's even heard of Frank Smith. I think the only
reason people here knew him was Pam Sorooshian kept recommending his Book of
Learning and Forgetting.

(If you enter Frank Smith and unschooling into Google it turns up 26 hits.
If you subtract out the conference it turns up 12. John Holt turns up 1380
and 699.)

Though some unschoolers are interested in the process of learning, most,
once they get past their personal experiences with the education system,
aren't much interested in it. It really has nothing to do with helping a
child learn in an unschooling way.

You said yourself, Ned, now that your son has graduated from college, you've
moved on in your thinking. Please respect the fact that the people on this
list still have kids and we need to be where we are for our kids which is
focusing on the part of unschooling that you say there isn't much to say
about. Well we *do* find a lot to say about it. (To the tune of 41,900+
posts in 3 1/2 years.)

I hope those who are interested in Ned's views of the education system will
also join the other lists he's on that Helen posted.

HEM-Networking
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HEM-Networking

NHEN-Speakout
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NHEN-Speakout

AHA-Discussion
http://www,groups.yahoo.com/group/AHA-Discussion

(Any lists you'd like to add, Ned?)

Joyce

[email protected]

In a message dated 8/25/02 5:37:49 AM, fetteroll@... writes:

<< I'd bet it's a rare unschooler -- even factoring in the number who heard
him
at the conference -- who's even heard of Frank Smith. >>

That was the first homschooling conference he had ever attended. Laura
Derrick pressed the book on LOTS of people, for which she deserves a lot of
credit. <g> Laura and Pam really pushed me to read it and GAVE me a copy,
three or four years ago, I think.

But even John Holt was writing to educators, and it's in studying education
and learning and alternative education that people came to John Holt before
Growing Without Schooling and Teach Your Own were available.

Once again, it's not an us and them situation with a clear "us" and an evil
"them."

I think balance and non-duality are important things for unschoolers to have
if they want their children to live in the real, honest world instead of in a
politically charged fringe world.

Sandra