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I'm an anarcho-syndicalist or anarchist-communist (which ever you prefer).
One of the principles of this libertarian socialist movement is democratic schools like those seen in anarchist Manchuria and more recently in the Zapatista territories of Mexico.
Just to look at the examples the Zapatistas have set, each autonomous community will have schools built either individually or with the help of a larger federation so it won't be a charter school or a for-profit school. The function is where we get to the interesting part...
As this can be imagined in today's society with public schools, that is why I bring the discussion forward:
The community and the student body will set the curriculum for a given class year (even in the lower classes) and work won't be valued by grades, but voluntary participation.
That way ranking and grade pressure won't affect choices while the cynical minds of the state/school management won't have a monopoly on what creative students want to learn. Of course the basics would be pressured by the community, but how these classes are taught would be interesting. It won't be a matter of brainwashing students into patriotism or indoctrinating them to grow up expecting to work in the capitalist wage society, but allowing a more free society based off of free thought and creativity to lead the future.
Of course, the failure of such blue-sky thinking is that all communities give a damn about educating their kids. Or, you could have elected school boards pushing all kinds of nonsense, such as outlawing the teaching of evolution or ridding the classroom of books that they don't particularly like. I would bet my house on such things happening.
I'm not a fan of the top-down assembly line approach to education. Personally, I think we need to burn the entire rotten, creaking edifice to the ground and start all over again, so I do have some sympathy to trying just about anything to break out of the terrible model we have now. Nevertheless, it is important to have some fundamental standards for what is going to be taught and what is going to be learned.
By the way, congratulations on your mastery of trendy political buzzwords.
Of course, the failure of such blue-sky thinking is that all communities give a damn about educating their kids. Or, you could have elected school boards pushing all kinds of nonsense, such as outlawing the teaching of evolution or ridding the classroom of books that they don't particularly like. I would bet my house on such things happening.
I'm not a fan of the top-down assembly line approach to education. Personally, I think we need to burn the entire rotten, creaking edifice to the ground and start all over again, so I do have some sympathy to trying just about anything to break out of the terrible model we have now. Nevertheless, it is important to have some fundamental standards for what is going to be taught and what is going to be learned.
By the way, congratulations on your mastery of trendy political buzzwords.
I don’t think it’s blue sky thinking, the Zapatistas are doing it right now.
And the emphasis would be more on the student body than the community (though they too are a factor). It’s propaganda that kids don’t want to learn, but when all the spirit of education is beaten out of you it makes kids want to go home, watch Spongbob, and not think of learning.
Anything deep or complicated is shut down because teachers don’t want the students to open up and learn new concepts at the wrong time. I remember in second grade, we were in social studies class and after talking about China for a bit I brought up how we were a billin dollars in debt to them (or something like that), and all the other kids were really engaged with learning more.
Our teacher violently struck down the conversation in the most condescending way (as if because she watched corporate media she had any clue what was going on).
Adults and community councils/federations can set a general direction for public education, but if schools would allow kids to drive the discussion through there own curiosity they’d learn much more than obedience. No more singing to the flag (giving loyalty to the state) and no more rigid control of education by people who want you to shut up and get ready for the corporate job market.
Oh yeah, and these terms were trendy in the 19th century, younger people nowadays don’t support any such socialist policies, they just like working for some corporate Silicon Valley model.
In theory, yes. We homeschooled our kids for the most part, and we let them have a child-led education until they were about 13 or 14. I think it's how kids learn best, but I also understand the importance of making sure they have the option of creating a traditional transcript for high school level courses should they need it later.
They actually attended a democratic-style charter school for about 8 weeks. It was a complete disaster... the school was brand new, so we knew there would be some quirks to iron out, of course, but there were some pretty egregious safety violations and the whole thing ended up getting shut down after four months. They didn't have chairs in the classrooms, no books, not enough paper and pencils... it was truly awful. There does need to be proper supervision and age-appropriate activities and materials available. I know that the Sudbury schools are supposed to be excellent; unfortunately, we do not have one near us. If we did, it would have been an option when my kids were younger.
In theory, yes. We homeschooled our kids for the most part, and we let them have a child-led education until they were about 13 or 14. I think it's how kids learn best, but I also understand the importance of making sure they have the option of creating a traditional transcript for high school level courses should they need it later.
They actually attended a democratic-style charter school for about 8 weeks. It was a complete disaster... the school was brand new, so we knew there would be some quirks to iron out, of course, but there were some pretty egregious safety violations and the whole thing ended up getting shut down after four months. They didn't have chairs in the classrooms, no books, not enough paper and pencils... it was truly awful. There does need to be proper supervision and age-appropriate activities and materials available. I know that the Sudbury schools are supposed to be excellent; unfortunately, we do not have one near us. If we did, it would have been an option when my kids were younger.
Yeah, I don't like the idea of privately run schools, there needs to be some network of institutions that mutually set them up (like a federation).
In the long term though I'd like to see us move away from the grade system as not only does it stifle learning, but it also creates a machine were students work for grades so they can get a wage job in the corporate market after they get out.
That shouldn't be the basis of our society, learning should be a voluntary and social aspect of society for kids and teenagers, not an economic one. Get rid of the power corporate economic system and allow people to live based off of democratic and egalitarian principles like the Zapatistas.
I have to wonder what you are going to come up with next? I support the basic educational system that has worked for generations but would like to return to education that isn't quite as left leaning as todays. For families that choose home schooling, I totally understand and think most do a great job because even home schooling students have some guide lines to follow
...and work won't be valued by grades, but voluntary participation.
I'm against that. It leaves naturally shy kids with the short end of the stick. Participation cannot be strictly voluntary or else the talkative kids will dominate whether they deserve to or not. I know because in certain posh suburban New Jersey districts in the late 1960's and early 70's some of the teachers tried that because it sounded cool, but as a shy kid I was never comfortable shouting out an answer without being called on.
Yeah, I don't like the idea of privately run schools, there needs to be some network of institutions that mutually set them up (like a federation).
In the long term though I'd like to see us move away from the grade system as not only does it stifle learning, but it also creates a machine were students work for grades so they can get a wage job in the corporate market after they get out.
That shouldn't be the basis of our society, learning should be a voluntary and social aspect of society for kids and teenagers, not an economic one. Get rid of the power corporate economic system and allow people to live based off of democratic and egalitarian principles like the Zapatistas.
Absolutely agree. While my teens do take some classes now that give them grades, for the most part, we strive for understanding, not a particular letter or numerical grade. We're also big on entrepreneurship... I have my own business and my son has also started his own business. I think a democratic education is what the world needs now to create more leaders and think-out-of-the-boxers.
Give me your children and I will teach them. Most of them will like me as well but you and the bureaucracy will have to get out of the way. You and your party line may not like that much. In fact it's why I am no longer teaching children.
A funny story about a young man who was a friend of my son. I was going to drive them to a movie but he was late and we went without him. When I called him later to ask why he didn't show up he said that he was an anarchist and didn't believe in following structure set by society. I guess by society he meant mothers.
I told him, "You're probably going to miss out on a lot of movies." There's a fine line between student-run education and chaos.
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