My girls trying to figure out a new game together
“Schools pervert the natural inclination to learn.” -Ivan Illich
The problems we see when we look at society can partly be attributed to our schooling. Schooling is different than education. Let’s look at the definitions for school(ing) and for learning and compare the differences between them…
Definitions:
Schooling – the process of being taught in a school; instruction, education, or training, especially when received in a school; the act of teaching
School – an institution where instruction is given; an institution for instruction in a particular skill or field
Learn - to acquire knowledge of or skill in by study, instruction, or experience; to become informed of or acquainted with; to gain (a habit, mannerism, etc.) by experience, exposure to example, or the like; acquire
Institution - an established organization or corporation (such as a bank or university) especially of a public character; a facility or establishment in which people (such as the sick or needy) live and receive care typically in a confined setting and often without individual consent
To learn is to acquire knowledge, generally from ‘doing’ or experience. School is where you take instruction. It has become an “institution”, a place of confinement.
We now have generations of people being schooled which seems to be inversely proportionate to societal ‘good’. More formal education does not mean that we see more ‘good’ in society; as a matter of fact, we are seeing far less of this with more education. Individuals are not entering society as strong, independent and imaginative thinkers, ready for the responsibility, creativity and cooperation which life requires, instead…
“School prepares people for the alienating institutionalization of life, by teaching the necessity of being taught. Once this lesson is learned, people lose their incentive to develop independently.” - Ivan Illich
In his book, Deschooling Society, Ivan Illich goes on to say,
“The pupil is thereby “schooled” to confuse teaching with learning, grade advancement with education, a diploma with competence, and fluency with the ability to say something new. His imagination is “schooled” to accept service in place of value. Medical treatment is mistaken for health care, social work for the improvement of community life, police protection for safety, military poise for national security, the rat race for productive work. Health, learning, dignity, independence, and creative endeavour are defined as little more than the performance of the institutions which claim to serve these ends…”
On the whole, our culture is one of dependence on authority to tell us what to do, one of living in a passive manner where we are not engaged with our autonomy, one of competition instead of cooperation and one of deep fears which keep us under control. Granted, school is not the only place we learn these behaviors, but it is the place in which we intentionally indoctrinate children, adolescence and adults. We spend most of our time in school when we are children and into our teenage years, not in Community, not with Nature, not at home.
Deschooling
“We cannot go beyond the consumer society unless we first understand that obligatory public schools inevitably reproduce such a society, no matter what is taught in them.” - Ivan Illich
Charles Eisenstein, author and philosopher, explores the habits that schooling creates such as:
Need to be on time
Dependence on external learning
Need to be perfect
Being seen as ‘right’
Fear as control
Then, Eisenstein takes this concept one step further. He discusses a phenomenon in which the inverse habit is created through rebellion against the confinement, the rigidity and the unnaturalness of schooling:
Habitual tardiness
Laziness
Narcissism
Distrust of authority
Disregard for safety
Schooling creates habits and these habits spill out into our daily lives creating conformity across the culture. How do we unlearn the habits of schooling? One way is to use Eisenstein’s Deschooling Convivium Handbook. In it he outlines a method to rewild your approach to learning. This is done as a group activity; so, gather some likeminded souls and go through the handbook together. I would set aside time for a few sessions, say every fortnight for a couple months. Explore inside yourself which of the habits you are now carrying in your adult life that were formed through your schooling….do you have a fear of being wrong or being seen as stupid, do you automatically distrust all authority figures, do you use fear to control others as you were taught in school is so effective?
If you are considering homeschooling or unschooling your children, you will first need to deschool yourself in order to ensure you see those habits and patterns when they that appear. If your child has been in school, there will be a time of transition for them, too, to move away from the institutionalized schooling behaviors to a more fluid way of learning.
“Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school.” - Albert Einstein
Skills Guide - Deschooling
Allow time for Deschooling to happen for both you and your child(ren). The inner work must happen for you first, though, if you are to be fully committed to the idea of homeschooling. Gather a group of friends who are on a similar journey to you and form a ‘Deschooling Convivium’. By walking through this liminal space with others you build relationships of support while on this path.
Here are a few of Charles Eisenstein’s suggestions for forming a Deschooling Convivum:
1. Anyone is free to opt out of any activity he or she feels uncomfortable with. He/she then takes the role of a silent witness. There is no stigma attached to this choice. We fully trust in each person's wisdom to know when it is time to take the next courageous step.
2. We maintain confidentiality without secrecy. Anything someone shares in the Deschooling Convivium remains in that sacred space and we don't share it outside the group.
3. The membership of a Deschooling Convivium stays constant over the entire 8-12 week duration. We do not bring in guests or add new members halfway through. At least, that is my suggestion. The reason is that trust builds with familiarity, and the learning and personal breakthroughs tend to be cumulative. Each session builds on all that went before it.
4. The Deschooling Convivium has leadership without hierarchy. The leader or leaders never attempt to coerce, command, pressure, or control. They do not seek to establish their authority. They do not try to exact promises from participants or enforce promises or "hold people accountable." That would be a school model. We trust in people's higher accountability, to themselves.
I would suggest doing some preliminary work, some ‘inner work’ prior to starting a convivium – looking into your Self to recognize the habits schooling has created in you and if those habits are serving you. If they aren’t, you need to recognize them, be conscious of them and try to shift away from them. Here are some suggestions:
Be objective about school/learning/teaching - suspend what you think is important in education, what others do to educate their children, what should happen around learning and when it should occur; these are all things we have be taught and they are most likely arbitrary.
Know your strengths and weaknesses – be honest with yourself; what are you good at and where will you need support?
Know your child - their strengths, what they are interested in; I once heard a man speak about teaching children and his philosophy was that you should only ever encourage your children to move forward with the things that they are interested in and are innately good at and if you push them to do things they are not interested in or don’t have the aptitude for you will just damage their natural curiosity for learning through exploration.
All of this work must happen prior to creating a homeschool life for your family. In Part 2, I will discuss the different styles of homeschooling, creating homeschool groups and unschooling.
Resources:
https://www.kosmosjournal.org/kj_article/the-habits-of-schooling/
https://www.personalmycologyconsulting.com/blog/deschooling3
https://charleseisenstein.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Transcript-Our-Failing-Education-System.pdf
https://raggeduniversity.co.uk/2012/10/24/ivan-illich-education/
https://www.sirkenrobinson.com/watch/
https://www.ted.com/talks/iain_mcgilchrist_the_divided_brain
https://www.amazon.com.au/Deschooling-Society-Ivan-Illich/dp/0714508799