The Blindmen and the Elephant

It was six men of Hindustan

To learning much inclined,

Who went to see the Elephant

(Though all of them were blind)

That each by observation

Might satisfy the mind.

The first approached the Elephant

And happening to fall

Against his broad and sturdy side

At once began to bawl:

‘‘Bless me, it seems the Elephant

Is very like a wall’’.

The second, feeling of his tusk,

Cried, ‘‘Ho! What have we here

So very round and smooth and sharp?

To me ‘tis mighty clear

This wonder of an Elephant

Is very like a spear’’.

The third approached the animal,

And happening to take

The squirming trunk within his hands,

Then boldly up and spake:

‘‘I see,’’ quoth he, ‘‘the Elephant

Is very like a snake.’’

The Fourth reached out an eager hand,

And felt about the knee.

‘‘What most this wondrous beast is like

Is mighty plain,’’ quoth he;

‘‘‘Tis clear enough the Elephant

Is very like a tree!’’

The Fifth, who chanced to touch the ear,

Said: ‘‘E’en the blindest man

Can tell what this resembles most;

Deny the fact who can,

This marvel of an Elephant

Is very like a fan!’’

The Sixth no sooner had begun

About the beast to grope,

Than, seizing on the swinging tail

That fell within his scope,

‘‘I see,’’ quoth he, ‘‘the Elephant

Is very like a rope!’’

And so these men of Hindustan

Disputed loud and long,

Each in his own opinion

Exceeding stiff and strong,

Though each was partly in the right

And all were in the wrong.

John Godfrey Saxe, The Blindmen and the Elephant

(1873)

Unschooling Avenues

          Well here it is, the first real blog post on Beyond Oxygen. I debated writing about the importance of giving yes a chance, in honor of SAY YES WEEKEND, just giving a brief introduction to the blog, and bitching about whatever thing was bugging me by the time I got to writing, (I also had a whole lot to say about this boy in the U.K. who decided that the uniform policy at his school was unfair, and how he's going about trying to reform the regulations, but I'll save that inspiring example of civil disobedience for another day). But this morning while I ate my waffles and toast I noticed this comic in my local newspaper-I knew what I needed to write about.

Grand Avenue 12 June 2011
By Steve Breen and Mike Thompson

          If for some reason you can't see the photo here is the link I got it from. You may need to select 12 June 2011 to see the cartoon.

          The cartoon shows the calendar with the 29th of May through the 12th of June perfectly structured, while the rest of the month of June is lying in a heap beneath Michael and Gabby’s feet where they can pick up the days and rearrange them. They could decide to do whatever they want with those days-literally. Anything from spending time catching up on sleep, to traveling, to writing a story (or poem, graphic novel, ect), drawing, walking their dog, talking with their grandma, playing videogames, you name it-they could chose to do it, or at least to try to do it.

          (A young woman from my high school just posted this as her status: “Ahhh yess. The type of summer busy that I like...optional. :) ”)

          Anyways, this cartoon got me thinking about how structured school is. Each day scheduled and planned in such a way that it is easy for adults to:

          1. Maintain Order and Control Over Students
          2. Present the Information that Society Believes is Important/Relevant to the Students
          3. Easily See that Students are Learning

          Depending on who you are, and what your expirence with school (or kids) has been, you probably have lots of different thoughts about that list. I can hear comments now…

          “Teachers need to maintain order and control for the student’s safety”
          “If the Teachers don’t maintain order and control who will?”
          “If Society doesn’t tell students what to study how will they know what to learn?”

I could go on, but I don’t want to waste anyone’s time.

           One of the first things that non-unschoolers notice about unschooling is that it isn’t structured like school at all. In fact, they often don’t see any structure whatsoever. They are almost right in thinking this, unschooling does not utilize any form of exteriorly forced curriculum, nor does it have any other sort of rules that are geared to control behavior or mental stimulation, instead unschooling allows – encourages – participants to find their own way.

          Through schools, society thinks for students. Think about that. Through schools, society thinks for students. The government, teachers, parents, and other citizens decide what must be taught, and how it must be taught. Half of education is just doing what other people want, in the way that other people want, with a couple thousand other students learning the exact same thing the exact same way.

          This isn’t to say that students don’t sometimes have the opportunity to write about what they believe, but in my personal expirence those papers (papers that require research, editing, and a thesis [coming from the Greek θέσις, which means “position”]) don’t come until years of being told to keep their opinions to themselves, both in their work, and in classroom discussion.

          Since unschooling participants are not required to learn what someone else thinks they need to learn, in the way that someone else thinks they should learn it, they are free to explore the world around them, and to prioritize and take responsibility for their own learning. If they want to sit, staring at a puzzle in a game, or an applicable math question for hours, they can. If they want to experiment with it until they get it right, they can. If they want to look up a formula online or in a book, they can. But most importantly, they can chose how they go about asking questions and looking for answers. Unschoolers have to do it all-and they still find time to be brain-dead zombies every once in awhile.

          Well, let the comments roll. If you have a good quotation about this send it my way so I can add it to the Quotations page. :)