The Goal of Education

Alright, before I start this post, there is one fact about me you must know in order to understand where I'm coming from in my comments on this topic

I was Homeschooled.

When people first learn this fact about me, they are usually surprised and intrigued. I usually tell a friend after asked about my education background. Like most of my traditional schooling counterparts, I do not introduce myself as "Hi I am Rebecca, I was Homeschooled, I'm from Missouri..." While most people would believe that Homeschooling is this all encompassing aspect that defines an individual before all other traits, this is not the case. Homeschooling is a part of who I am, but it does not define me and place me in a status that cannot be determined by any other fact of my life.

The reason that I am posting a piece about education and the philosophy behind learning is the amount of shock I have felt about the attitudes of some of my fellow students at my university towards their education. Now I am not grouping every student into this reflection, I have been surprised and challenged by some of my classmates who remind me why I love learning. I just want to bring a few observations to light and the attitude students should conduct especially at this level of education.

One of the aspects that have shocked me is the fact that students live on this internal time clock. With this clock, students will only sit half attentively for a lecture for 50 minutes. Once that 50 minutes has passed, an automatic response of shuffling papers and packing bags commences. I had a teacher today yell over the rustling saying that she still had twenty minutes of lecture time left (it was a 70 minute class). Somehow, this shook them out of their state, and they half listened once again. Once that twenty minutes passed, the rustling began again. I was quite frankly disgusted by this behavior. It was disrespectful towards the teacher to disregard the fact she was in mid sentence when the packing began. Regardless of the length of the class, if a teacher is still talking YOU LISTEN!

Every teacher at this school has devoted years of their lives to learning and to passing their knowledge of their passion to the next generation. To disrespect them by refusing to give them your full attention is abhorrent. In addition, each student is investing a considerable amount of money in this higher education. With such an investment, wouldn't you want to be attentive to every minute you are paying for?

I think a part of this behavior comes from the conditioning of learning in 50 minute blocks that is a fundamental part of Public Education. Students are told to sit for 50 minute classes, when that time is up, you go to the next 50 minutes.

I can't even describe how contrary this is to the way children learn naturally. Think about it: When you are a toddler and you are learning how to walk, there is no time determination of blocs in which you must learn how to walk. Learning this is a fluid concept: You try to stand up, you fall. You try again, you succeed. Now you try to take a few steps, you fall. You try again, you take two steps. The curve of learning is not divided in time segments. This is universal throughout your life. To implement this method of learning that for a certain span of time, you must focus on one concept and once that time is up, you do not think of it until the next time bloc is absurd

Another issue that I have with the attitudes of students (gosh this culture shock just won't leave) is belief they hold that the things they are learning will have no part in their life out of college. This idea that education is only relevant to being able to pass and get out is completely contrary to the philosophy I was taught in my Homeschool education.

With this idea of learning being a fluid concept, my parents taught me that you are continually learning throughout your life. Education prepares you for your life by giving you the tools you will need to solve any question you will be faced with or any lesson you must learn. With this idea in place, math no longer becomes the "dreaded subject" but an opportunity to look at a problem and logically find a solution. History no longer becomes "nap time" but a chance to learn from the triumphs and tragedies of the past in order not to repeat them in the future. Because my parents viewed education in this light, results weren't as important as the individuals ability to grasp a concept. Learning was not a one size fits all manufactured phase of your life, but a individual driven search for finding the application of these concepts.

I read an article today in Newsweek that was discussing the "Modern Day Homeschooler" talking about how it is no longer just the Christian farm families teaching Bible at the kitchen table that makes up the Homeschool body. There are a lot of highly educated individuals teaching their philosophy of learning to their children. I was very pleased to see that they are removing some of the misconceptions of Homeschoolers. Only then did I continue the article where the misconceptions of Homeschooling came about: "How can a kid go to college when they have depended on their parents? What about attachment issues, it's not healthy for a kid to learn everything from their parents."

Sigh

There is still a lot people need to learn about Homeschooling. I wish people focus all their concern on the social side of Homeschooling, but look at the motivations and values in regards to education that drives these students. If people weren't constantly looking at Homeschooling with concern, but rather the issues facing public educated children, I think we could learn a lot from both sides of education. I hope someday the stigma towards Homeschooling would move past the misconceptions and people would appreciate the selfless parents who choose to provide their children with the best education possible. I also wish people would see the results of what a Homeschooled education brings: A well rounded individual who loves to learn.