Distinguish [your] personal, subjective experience from the reality of the external world
That, my friends, is the defining, proverbial line in the sand between normalcy and psychosis. It is also, rather unfortunately but certainly telling, one of the issues brought forth in the renewed home-schooling vs public schooling debate. BTW, thanks a ton California…now, can we allow them to secede yet?
Anyway, back to the story. On March 17, Stephen Downes, a senior researcher with the National Research Council published a brief entry on the court ruling in California in which he essentially equated homeschooling with abuse. Note a few things: first, he’s apparently Canadian. Second, the National Research Council claims–in the About Us section–it is only for “research and development”, yet doesn’t claim what it researches or development. Should give you cause for concern and questioning. Thirdly, this snippet from his site:
I want and visualize and aspire toward a system of society and learning where each person is able to rise to his or her fullest potential without social or financial encumberance, where they may express themselves fully and without reservation through art, writing, athletics, invention, or even through their avocations or lifestyle.
As my ancestral relations would say–bunk, pure bunk. Especially in his rants against homeschooling. And he spelled encumbrance wrong, so no gold star for him.
Anyway…a very well-written rebuttal against much of what he’s recently written at Principled Discovery, a site I recently discovered and has fast become a fave.
That, my friends, is the defining, proverbial line in the sand between normalcy and psychosis. It is also, rather unfortunately but certainly telling, one of the issues brought forth in the renewed home-schooling vs public schooling debate. BTW, thanks a ton California…now, can we allow them to secede yet? Anyway, back to the story. On…
Hey, thanks for the kind words. : ) I was trying to figure out exactly what the research council does as well. And I'm wondering what kind of researcher passes of steretypes so willingly (or perhaps even intentionally) as fact.The scary thing is, this guy is out their speaking and writing about education. And as the Deputy Headmistress demonstrated in a quote she dug up, this guy does not have even a cursory understanding of the most basic of relationships in our society…that between parent and child.Frightening stuff.
The first thing I thought when I read this was that his quote, what he says he wants and visualizes, describes homeschooling. It is the only system in society where each person actually can rise to his or her fullest potential without social or financial encumbrance, where they can express themselves fully and without reservation through a variety of subjects. Only homeschooling can allow for this ideal in education because homeschoolers are not confined by grade level, required topics of instruction, teaching to the test, and state budgets. Unlike public schools we do not have $9000+ per student to spend yet we still somehow manage to provide students with a more comprehensive education tailored to the student's level of ability and interest, with more opportunities for hands on learning (field trips, projects, experiments), and with greater success. Maybe someone should point out to him that what he wants and visualizes already exists.