Preparing for the Real World

One of the most forceful arguments made in favour of schools is that they prepare children for the real world. Parents who question the current system on the grounds that it fails to treat children with respect, or because their children do not enjoy school, or because much of the work done in school is pointless, find it hard to have their concerns taken seriously because there is a widespread fear that anyone who criticises school is in danger of being marginalized by society.

The arguments justifying school on the basis that it prepares children for the ‘realities’ of life run along the following lines:

·   Yes, it is true that children may be bullied at school and coerced into doing things that they don’t want to do – but that also happens at work, so it is good preparation.

·   Yes, it is true that school is often boring and much of the work is pointless, but many jobs involve tedious and repetitive tasks, so it is good to be prepared for them at school.

·   Yes, it is ridiculous to judge a child on how well they do in tests – but children must learn that if this is the system, they must accept it.

·   Yes, it is not right that success in the school system is based upon how much money you have and where you live – but life is not fair, and it is better to be one of those people that benefits from the unfairness than one of those who suffers from it.

Of course, when stated in these bald terms these arguments are slightly shocking, and people – especially those working in the education system – do not like to see them expressed so clearly, but they do represent one of the main bulwarks of the current system, and if people did not believe them to be valid, they would not send their children into situations that make them unhappy.

The Flaws in the Argument

The underlying justification for the school system is that it prepares children for work; work will provide them with financial security; and financial security is the most important factor in everyone’s life, because without it, people would starve or have nowhere to live and certainly would not be able to partake of all the wonders of modern civilisation – cars, foreign holidays, computers, etc., etc.

The main flaw in the argument is the obvious fact that financial security in itself has never been regarded as sufficient to guarantee a happy or fulfilled life: if your financial security comes from doing something that you love and about which you are enthusiastic, then it is very welcome, but if your financial security is based upon doing a job that you find tedious, or boring, or that involves you in making daily compromises, then the fact that you are paid well for doing it becomes an added burden, which makes it more difficult for you to change course and start doing something that you would find rewarding or worthwhile.

The truth is that in the real real world, a little more is demanded than the passive acquiescence that is encouraged in school. It takes courage, initiative, imagination, creativity, spontaneity, fortitude, and commitment in order to really succeed in life.

The chances of someone finding their way into their perfect job, simply on the basis of sitting exams and doing courses, are too remote to be taken seriously, and even if such a path did lead someone to their ideal employment, how could they possibly appreciate it unless they had had an opportunity to live a little beforehand?

Furthermore, the theory that all the best jobs in society are held by people who have done well at school or who have been to the ‘best’ schools is simply not tenable: it is well documented that a large proportion of entrepreneurs and self-made millionaires failed completely at school, and the same applies in many other highly sought-after areas of employment – many of the most successful people working in the media, sportspeople, people working in the computer industry, artists, musicians, craftspeople, and even politicians, are often amongst those who did least well at school. Needless to say, other less high-profile activities which are fundamental to the well being of society, and which may well be more rewarding than any paid employment – such as caring for children, or caring for elderly relatives, or in fact any sort of caring role – owe nothing to the sort of school someone went to or how well they managed to impress the teachers when they were there.

Preparing for the Real Real World

Education, therefore, should not be about training someone for work. It should be a process that allows them to learn about the world so that they are able to choose what sort of work they want to do for themselves, on the basis of sound, mature judgment. It should also equip them with the skills that will allow them to find the correct balance between their work and their other responsibilities.

To succeed in these objectives anyone who takes responsibility for a child’s education has to try to embrace the following principles:

·    Not making young people specialise in one particular area: A child has a long road to travel before they are able to make their own independent assessment of the world and their place within it. If they are pressurised into deciding what they are going to do at too young an age (some people seem incapable of any conversation with a child beyond asking them “What are you going to be when you grow up?”), it is almost inevitable that they will make a choice which they come to regret when they are older, and have a clearer under­standing of life.

·    Not coercing people into doing things: Making children do things that they don’t want to do teaches them only one thing – to be submissive. You cannot expect these same children to then grow up into the sort of people who are able to enter the wider world and stand up for themselves.

·    Not ‘teaching’: If you ‘teach’ children, you undermine their desire to find things out for themselves. Good teaching is not so much about making children learn things from a pre-determined curriculum as responding to the interests and questions that arise in the course of a child’s daily life.

·    Being available, caring, honest, and sincere: This is the most important aspect of an adult’s role in the education of the young. Children do not learn from what people say, but from what they do. If their teachers are overbearing, and unhappy in their work, then anything of any value that children may learn from them is far outweighed by the effect of such a negative role-model. It is a challenge to be able to provide a positive role model for a child, and perhaps no one succeeds to the extent that they would like, but children will respect someone for trying, and if their teacher doesn’t try, then how can anyone expect them to make the effort when they grow up?

Fears and Anxieties

People may argue that the above points are all very well, but an education based on such principles cannot guarantee that a child will be able to walk into secure, well-paid employment. The truth is that in the real world there can be no such guarantees, and one of the greatest deceptions practised by the current education system is that it pretends to provide them.

No one can assume that a particular job will last them for life, and they cannot assume that any qualification awarded when they leave school or university will be of any relevance in five, ten, or fifteen years time. Genuine qualities that are encouraged by real education, such as resourcefulness, flexibility, initiative, originality, straightforwardness, dili­gence, and creativity, will, on the other hand always be useful.

Everyone agrees that one of the attributes of the real world is that it cannot be made to work in accordance with the way people would like it to be – but the current education system seems to be based on the assumption that everything can be made to work in accordance with its agenda of examinations and qualifications.

The truth is that people who spend their formative years in this system could hardly be less prepared for life in the real world. On the other hand, people who learn at home never stop being in touch with the realities of life and are much better equipped to make the transition from education to work: they are more able to make decisions for themselves, less prone to being bullied by other people, and have higher expectations for work-satisfaction. Far from offering arguments against home education, this is an area in which the home offers clear advantages over a school.

Gareth Lewis

The Challenge Faced by Today’s Parents

The current school system relies on the belief that children can be adequately cared for even though they are isolated from their parents for long periods of each school day. This is clearly at variance with the basic laws of nature which have ensured that all young creatures are provided with parents to give them round-the-clock attention until they are old enough to look after themselves.

The challenge facing today's parents is to find ways of reasserting the role that they should be having in their children's lives, so that they can help their children to learn the things that they need to know, while still receiving the love and care that allows them to enjoy their childhood.

It is a daunting challenge, but one that is far more exciting than the bleak prospect of pushing a child through an education system in which they are bound to be unhappy, and in which they may learn nothing that will prove of any value when the time comes for them to enter the real world.

___________________________________________________________________________

The Best Job in the World

Another fascinating and insightful article in November's news­letter. One aspect of the whole Nursery / child-minder system that truly disgusts me is the exploitation of women in that work. They earn a pittance and are often expected to be ready at a moment's notice when the working mother has extra hours etc.

I have several friends who were child-minders and it is not all one-sided. Another friend lived in a street with wealthy fami­lies with nannies. More than once my friend felt obliged to report to parents that the nanny or au-pair was locking small children in their rooms while they entertained friends. I have seen many child-minders take children out to buy treats for their child but ignore the ones they cared for.

I am a stay at home mum and there is no more rewarding or pleasurable job.

Angie Cox.

Nursery Schools

Mathematics

Mathematics will be the theme of the January 2004 issue of the freedom in education newsletter.
Please  send letters and comments to:  newsletter@freedom-in-education.co.uk

Not on this side of town

A mother describes how the treatment she received at the hands of the education authority was determined not on the merits of her individual case, but on the area in which she lives.

Being in the position to choose how my children were educated was something I held dearly. My three eldest had a school education, but my youngest, who never quite felt right about being in school decided, at the age of fourteen, that she wanted to continue her education at home.

I had been in touch with other home educators and they had not suffered any problems with the LEA (Local Education Authority), so I deregistered Tracie from the school and started her education at home. Within six weeks I had a letter from the LEA informing me that they would be visiting. I welcomed this and had Tracie’s work ready for them to look at. Not one, but three officers arrived; one I will say was very nice and had been in hairdressing and beauty, which was what Tracie wanted to do; she was very encouraging. One of the ladies, however, was really abrupt, wanting to know why Tracie couldn’t ‘manage’ to stay at school for her last two years, informing us that she would suffer as a consequence and insinuated, basically, that I was a bad mother. Needless to say, I received a letter a week later to say that Tracie’s work was unsatisfactory and that they were considering prosecuting. As a supply teacher, I taught at various schools and knew that the work Tracie had done within the six week period was more than she would have done had she been in school, plus, the work was at a higher standard for her year.

I spoke to other home educators in and around my city and realised that they were all living in ‘well to do’ areas and had had none of this harassment. We live on a run down council estate where there is high truancy and unemployment, so I asked for an officer to visit me again and asked him why the first officer was so objectionable. He was actually very nice and after reviewing Tracie’s work again, agreed with me that it was more than acceptable. I put it to him that it was because of the area that we lived in and in actual fact that Tracie did not have to follow any curriculum at all. He fortunately seemed to know plenty about the laws on education and he agreed that an area has a lot to do with how an officer will treat a person. Basically, I was considered with the majority who live in this sort of area, despite them being aware that I was a graduate and a supply teacher. He rewrote the decision and assured me we would have no more visits.

So, it’s an idea to be aware of where you are living when dealing with the LEA. How the education authority deals with individual cases is not based on your child’s needs and abilities but on the area in which you live.

Tracie now attends college studying hair and beauty and is doing extremely well.

Karen Latus

Do education advisors do a good job? What do people feel about the work done by these public servants? 

Please send comments and feedback to: newsletter@freedom-in-education.co.uk

___________________________________________________________________________

News 

UK: Parents’ work is bad for children

A report from the Institute for Social and Economic Research has found that children of mothers who went back to work before they started school developed more slowly emotionally, and performed less well in reading and maths tests, than children of mothers who stayed at home. The effect continued into the children's teenage years, with a mother's early return to work reducing a child's chance of progressing to A-levels from 60 to 50%. 

The report does not consider how a child’s development is affected by their father’s work pattern.

US: Sugar in Schools

According to the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, almost 99 percent of American high schools, nearly 75 percent of middle schools and 43 percent of elementary schools have vending machines or snack shops, and this is believed to contribute to obesity which now affects an estimated 9 million children and teenagers across the country.

Schools rely on vending sales to support athletics and band programs.

UK: Children Back to Work

Paper rounds and other part-time jobs done by schoolchildren could soon count towards the replacement for A-levels, according to Mike Tomlinson, the former chief inspector of schools.

An estimated one million 14 to 19-year-olds work part-time at supermarkets or in family businesses. Mr Tomlinson told the Association of Colleges' annual conference in Birmingham that their work could count towards a new English-style baccalaureate diploma.

Nobel Prizes

A survey of the Nobel prize conducted by the Sutton Trust in the UK has found that Europe is losing out to the United States. Analysis of the prizes awarded in chemistry, physics, physiology and medicine and economics shows that before the second world war, Germany secured the greatest number of Nobel prizes, winning around 30% since the prize was established in 1901. Britain was second, with around 20%.

Since 1945, the US has become the dominant winner, and since 1990 has secured almost 75% of the prizes. The UK share held at around 20% until 1980, but has since dropped to well below 10%. Germany and other European countries have seen a similar decline. 

US: Who Cares What Children Read at School?

A homeschooling mother in Modesto California has taken it upon herself to warn parents, grandparents and taxpayers that some of the books being used in the city’s schools contain graphic material unsuitable for children.

Her campaign has become so effective that one title was pulled from the school system's English classes just hours after she called the Modesto School District's curriculum director to raise concerns about its content.

US: Just How Objective is School Science?

An author is suing several current and former members of the Texas Board of Education, claiming that the officials violated the First Amendment by rejecting his environmental science textbook in 2001. 

The book argues that America is not on a sustainable environmental course, and raises issues ranging from real estate development to nuclear energy. 

One of the board members being sued said the board rejected the textbook because it was filled with errors. He is himself a real estate developer.

US: Homeschooling in New York

A recent article in the New York Times reflects the changing public attitude to homeschooling in the United States. It pointed out that homeschooling now appeals to a wide range of parents who are “fed up with the shortcomings of public education and the cost of private schools.” 

City authorities estimate that 1,800 New York children are learning at home at the present time.

___________________________________________________________________________

The Jamboree The online magazine for parents and children.
New in December:

• How to Home Educate – from a young person’s point of view

• Christmas cartoons.

• Christmas poem

• Christmas story

•  Recipe: Mostaccioli

• Gardening: Winter Evergreens

www.jamboree.freedom-in-education.co.uk

___________________________________________________________________________

The Freedom in Education Magazine:

Why not subscribe to the Freedom in Education Magazine?
In addition to the articles in the newsletter, it features cartoons, puzzles, quizzes, crafts and much more.  £12 for 12 issues.

"Your magazine seems to fall on my mat on the days I particularly need to read similar ideas about education."  A. Bond

"Our children like the coded riddles, word searches, quizzes and dot-to-dots, they always enjoy the story, and I particularly like the cartoons."  M. Wingate

More information: Freedom in Education Magazine

___________________________________________________________________________

Products and Services:  information about products and services that might be of interest to readers of this newsletter.
New this month:
www.spellzone.com - an online course in English spelling.
www.blankgame.co.uk - a game that develops an interest in spelling and words.

___________________________________________________________________________

This newsletter is edited by Gareth Lewis
Questions and comments: garethlewis@freedom-in-education.co.uk
© 2003 freedom-in-education http://www.freedom-in-education.co.uk