radical unschooling and a public school education?

Is that an oxymoron? A contradiction in terms?

Well, I'm trying it out ;)

I've found the blog of the most amazing young woman, Idzie, from near Montreal, who is unschooled. I want my boy to turn out as cool as she is! She calls herself, among other things, an anti-civilizationist. I'm not super-clear on what this means, but it seems to be based on the premises that civilization is unsustainable, i.e. too many people living in the same places to provide enough food, and that civilization thus requires violence to secure enough food for it's citizens.

From my studies of oppression and marginalized social groups, especially the Indigenous peoples of North America, I'm inclined to agree, at least as a hypothesis. I want to read more, of course, but it reminds me of the readings I was assigned when I took an upper level philosophy course in applied ethics. We studied Liberalism, Libertarianism, and what my prof called Democratic Cultural Pluralism, for which we read selections from Iris Marion Young's The Politics of Difference. Young advocated for recognition over redistribution, arguing that one cannot redistribute such goods as respect and opportunity, exactly what is missing for marginalized people. She also talked a lot about regionalism as a form of political control, which reminded me a lot of the way First nations groups in BC have been negotiating self government.

But I digress. I want to raise curious, thoughtful children, critical thinkers who can deconstruct any opinion, value, attitude, political philosophy or policy. I want to raise radical thinkers, committed to getting to the root of social issues who are not content with a shallow life of media consumption. I am committed to authentic social justice, to the transformation of our political relationships, both locally and globally. I am not yet suspicious of the public education system, as are some of the radical unschoolers I have read on the internet, but I am very aware of the history of institutionalized oppression.

As I ponder what it's going to take for me to be able to walk away from public school, I think more and more of my own schooling. I've come to realize that I never liked school. However, I have always been extremely intelligent, and a voracious reader. I love education, learning, knowledge, wisdom, and I always have, but I felt both squashed and exposed in school. I think I am finally, after 15 years out of the public school system, 4 years of aimless, part-time college studies, a year of fine arts, childbirth and motherhood followed by 3 years of focused, full-time university studies, starting to really, truly enjoy my studies. I want to pursue graduate studies, maybe even law! However, I still struggle with anxiety, perfectionism and procrastination around my assignments, so I have a ways to go, yet.

But my boy, oh, I don't want him to have to deprogram himself the way I have to deprogram myself. I've been saving for his post-secondary education with an RESP since he was a couple months old. I want him to want to use that money. I don't want him to stress, to feel panic about exams, to write papers the night before they're due. I want him to be a true scholar, naturally reading and writing and exploring. And I'm starting to be convinced that the only way to achieve this is unschooling.

(I read on the internet about an unschooled 12 year old who was attending classes at Malaspina, a college on Vancouver Island. He got an A+ in Philosophy 100. He felt that high school students were treated like prisoners, whereas college students were treated like customers, free to leave if the class wasn't interesting. Good point.)

But I read on a radical unschooling message board that this is more than theory for education, it's a theory for parenting in general. Treat your kids with the same respect you'd treat an adult. What a radical concept, considering there is still a legal defense to assault of one's children in Canada. (You just can't hit them on the head, or with an object.) The post said that a child could be unschooled and go to public school if said child chose public school of his/her own volition - the key, according to the poster, was coersion.

However, my children do not choose school. It is childcare for me. Ugh.