Submitted by Jerry Mintz (not verified) on November 30, 2006 - 05:59.
This was published in the New York Times today concerning their article last Sunday on unschooling:
To the Editor:
The "unschooling" phenomenon is simply based on a belief that people are natural learners. Unfortunately, the mainstream public school system seems to be based on the opposite premise, that children need to be forced to learn, with forced curriculum, homework and No Child Left Behind standards.
Modern brain research has found that when people are forced to learn things they are not interested in, it tends to extinguish the natural ability and drive to learn. Thus, this second paradigm becomes self-fulfilling.
Since the public school system was created barely 175 years ago, there have always been people who believed that children are natural learners.
I believe that people are indeed natural learners and that unschooling, democratic education and learner-centered education are here to stay and are crucial to our survival in the new millennium.
Jerry Mintz
Director, Alternative Education Resource Organization
Roslyn Heights, N.Y., Nov. 26, 2006
This was published in the
Submitted by Jerry Mintz (not verified) on November 30, 2006 - 05:59.
This was published in the New York Times today concerning their article last Sunday on unschooling:
To the Editor:
The "unschooling" phenomenon is simply based on a belief that people are natural learners. Unfortunately, the mainstream public school system seems to be based on the opposite premise, that children need to be forced to learn, with forced curriculum, homework and No Child Left Behind standards.
Modern brain research has found that when people are forced to learn things they are not interested in, it tends to extinguish the natural ability and drive to learn. Thus, this second paradigm becomes self-fulfilling.
Since the public school system was created barely 175 years ago, there have always been people who believed that children are natural learners.
I believe that people are indeed natural learners and that unschooling, democratic education and learner-centered education are here to stay and are crucial to our survival in the new millennium.
Jerry Mintz
Director, Alternative Education Resource Organization
Roslyn Heights, N.Y., Nov. 26, 2006