The Case for Unschooling - a couple of links

 Two internet finds, which I think together, without the addition of too much commentary,  make a powerful case for unschooling all on their own.

What is "unschooling," you ask? Well, you can click on the link and get a quick wiki-definition, but to me, unschooling is what happens when the system is so broken and failed that it begins to deeply disease and damage the students, leaving us no option but to do things drastically differently in order to save them. Unschooling is the revolution.

First, a very short opinion piece by Jean Fan, which appeared in the groundbreaking new organization  www.uncollege.org. The article is copied, pasted and linked below. It's only three paragraphs long. (Thanks RM)

Below that, is a movie trailer for "Boredom - The Documentary." Watch it for insight and a chuckle.  (Thanks TQ)

Then ask yourself, "if I was of college-age today, is this what I would have
wanted for myself, or would I go for something much more meaningful,
like a gap year uncollege opportunity for cutting-edge teens?"

We need more David Karps and less Yale graduates in this world, wouldn't you agree?

Too Much Teaching, Too Little Learning 

Posted on May 2, 2013 By Jean Fan

In my mind, there’s an enormous difference between teaching and learning. Teaching is when a professor stands up in front of the class and lectures for an hour while students zone out; perhaps a few will absentmindedly take notes. Learning, however — real learning — happens only when students get home at the end of the day and do their homework, review their notes, and make connections between what they learned and what they know.

In teaching, teachers take the initiative. In learning, students do.

Unfortunately, very few students go to school to learn. Instead, they go to school to be taught. What this means is that most students are not mentally engaged at school. They are passively, not actively learning. (Even grammatically, “to be taught” is passive.) This is the key problem with traditional institutions — they perpetuate an epidemic of too much teaching and too little learning.

Being a hackademic means that you’re committed to active learning — that is, to taking control of your education. It means that you accept personal responsibility, realizing that “My teacher sucked, so I failed the class” is not a valid excuse for neglecting to learn a subject. It means that you aim to understand knowledge well enough to apply it, not just well enough so that you can regurgitate it to pass a test.

All in all, being a hackademic is simple: it just means that you learn on your own terms.

Thanks for reading and watching, and Stay tuned...