Brilliant — 1st Step To Deschooling Society
Ivan Illich (1926-2002) wrote the book “Deschooling Society” in 1971. He was concerned that institutionalized schooling led to institutionalized society. He proposed learning webs instead.
Please see all the sayings of Ivan Illich on twitter —https://twitter.com/IvanIllich2
People believe in universal education, but that doesn’t have to be delivered by the state or unionized state workers. What is significant in 2014 versus the olden days is that the public is willing to pay taxes for an educated citizenry. That money need not go to institutions called public schools. It can go to the customer (parents & students) to find the best services they can for their particular needs.
A brilliant opportunity now arises from our Teacher Strike. The government is to pay parents of children 12 and under $40 a day for day care or educational services. Parents could very well use that money for tutoring services in the basics. Or they, and perhaps teachers, can form learning pods where students can be taught, using technology and tested teaching methods.
Here are some ideas, as far back as 1971, that Illich had for Learning Networks:
http://www.wikiwand.com/en/Deschooling_Society
In the long run, this model of learning can very well be translated into full-blown Education Debit Cards where each qualified student and parents could access the best services available. Arizona already has Education Savings Accounts for special needs students. We can start researching how such accounts can be used and regulated in BC during this test period.
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FREE SCHOOLS — Turning Crisis Into Opportunity
What’s to stop a burst of innovation and versatility due to the shutdown of government schools? Don’t young people still need an education?
The old standby for home educators, if they had no other plan or program, was simply to follow the syllabus. This is the carefully prepared Typical Course of Study of the World Book encyclopedia people. Every level, from Preschool to Grade 12, is here.http://worldbook.com/typical-course-of-study
The outlines for BC curriculum are also available from Ministry website. Correspondence courses also available.
$40 a day per student can easily initiate learning pods operated by either parents or teachers or both. Used textbooks are easily available from online used book outfits and delivery is quick. Online learning would also help meet the challenge. The possibilities are limitless.
The Free Schools movement of the 60s had great passion and created hundreds of small independent schools without all the technology we now have.
Go for it! Education is a continuous, developmentally urgent activity. It need not stop for a teacher strike and government lockout!
Is anyone scoping out the possibilities — sites, notices, personnel, accountability & mission statement — yet?
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21st Century Learning Under Challenge
Three provinces in Canada have so far been pressured to embrace 21st Century Learning — a broad term for “transforming” whole systems toward shifting to “competencies” and squeezing out skills and content. Constructivism is the new “teaching” style — basically non-teaching — or discovery or child-centered inquiry.
Gurus have travelled across the globe bringing in the principles and procedures for whole system change — similar to the Common Core initiatives in the United States where already major objections are raised by parents.
In Canada we have BC with its Personalized Learning Plan ready to roll out. Ontario has a 21st Century initiative.
But it is Alberta that’s worth watching. The same gurus travelled back and forth to develop Alberta’s plan — Inspiring Education. Of course, public was typically not involved.
Why Alberta is important is that there is currently a contest amongst the ruling Conservative Party for a new leader. As the three rivals travel across the province, they are hearing about concerns and discontent from parents about these new plans. It’s gone so far that one candidate, Jim Prentice, has already “pledged to halt all major education curriculum overhauls under his premiership.” None of these concerns would have been exposed so forcefully if these politicians had not been glad-handing with the grassroots in their communities. The first voting is Sept 6.
It’s too bad there is no similar opportunity in BC for parents to be examining our Personalized Learning Plan as it’s full of the same gobbledygook as Alberta’s plan. See http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/
That’s why, at $40 a day, parents should grab the chance to snag alternatives to what’s coming down the pike.