one evangelist wrote something like, "out of the fullness of the heart, the mouth speaks".
this is a great principle for cultural analysis: whats really in a heart just comes out of the mouth.
one example: no one really thinks the point of public school is to make you smarter.
this is a great principle for cultural analysis: whats really in a heart just comes out of the mouth.
one example: no one really thinks the point of public school is to make you smarter.
im around a lot of parents, people with kids: that means people discuss homeschooling a lot. this discussion is also found online now, virtually everywhere
when the topic surfaces, if someone objects, sometimes people will show data about homeschooled kids generally doing well
when the topic surfaces, if someone objects, sometimes people will show data about homeschooled kids generally doing well
this data seems to exist. some makes it seem like they do better on standardized tests, or at least just as well. they apparently at least arent crashing and burning, i guess.
whether or not this is accurate doesn't matter here. its about people's reaction to this information.
whether or not this is accurate doesn't matter here. its about people's reaction to this information.
across the board, people have one standard reaction. its virtually always the same:
yeah, but they'll be weird.
some variation of: well, maybe that's true, but they won't be normal.
well, that gives away their actual view. thats the point of school to them. they just said it.
yeah, but they'll be weird.
some variation of: well, maybe that's true, but they won't be normal.
well, that gives away their actual view. thats the point of school to them. they just said it.
if theyre prepared or have time to think or something, they might have something to say about academics. but when theyre just going off the cuff, they just say what they really think every time, "out of the fullness of the heart":
"well yeah, but the learning isn't the point"
"well yeah, but the learning isn't the point"
everyone somehow has come to the shared conclusion, even if they dont consciously think it, that "the point" of school is to make you normal. im genuinely unclear if this is blindingly obvious or controversial to most people
this is also why criticizing it flags you as abnormal
this is also why criticizing it flags you as abnormal
when you criticize public school, people arent defending... books themselves, or something. theyre defending being normal
if theres a method by which people become normal, and you criticize it, you're abnormal: this is the general online reaction ("oh, so you were a loser" etc)
if theres a method by which people become normal, and you criticize it, you're abnormal: this is the general online reaction ("oh, so you were a loser" etc)
philosophically this is way more interesting than it seems at first, and its roots go down quite deep. on my own, i have toyed with the idea that no school ever has made anyone more intelligent. it feels that way sometimes. no art school consistently produces genius artists.
when you're around large numbers of kids, even very small, it really feels like they just are who they are already. they seem to have their own nature. sometimes it feels like if you just left them alone, they'd just become who they are, same as if you tried to force something.
has any school ever actually changed anyone? historically it seems more like "one on one passing the torch" is really how things happen. the question of "what is school actually for?" seems to be left hanging in america - maybe because everyone has already internally answered it
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