The education revolution

tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1015624733411379608.post-65385538592376555252007-07-03T05:26:00.000-07:002007-07-03T05:52:38.163-07:00The education revolutionI've just returned from the fourth annual conference of AERO--the Alternative Education Resource Organization. Over 300 people were there, representing diverse kinds of schools, learning communities, and homeschooling/unschooling. There was a lot of enthusiasm, and it was clear that momentum is growing for building a completely new system of education that will be more child-centered, democratic and decentralized than the authoritarian and standardizing monstrosity we now have. Parents and teachers are getting together in many parts of the U.S.--indeed, in many places around the world--to figure out how to provide more caring and nurturing learning environments for young people. I believe that an education revolution is in the making. It is almost completely off the mainstream radar, but it is growing at the grassroots. The rallying cry of this popular rebellion is CHOICE. Parents and student-centered educators want freedom from the oppressive authority of government mandates and corporate-style standards and "accountability." They want room to experiment, innovate, and respond spontaneously to the real and shifting needs of individuals and small communities. There is a healthy streak of individualism in this movement, sometimes bordering on the eccentric and anarchic, but vitally necessary for counteracting the fascist standardization of learning that our culture has sanctioned. The revolution is not exactly a coherent movement; trying to find agreement on any concerted action, beyond calling for "choice" and "child-centered" learning, is very much like herding cats. I've spent my 25-year career trying to describe some unifying principles that might weave these scattered efforts into a social and political force of some kind, but now I'm starting to wonder whether a spontaneous, unchoreographed uprising from the grassroots is exactly how this revolution needs to happen. Readers, what are your thoughts? I'm working on a new book that will describe this revolution and my vision for the future of education. A lot of good books have come out recently, or are in the works, including Emmanuel Bernstein's The Secret Revolution, Kristan Morrison's Free School Teaching, Chris Mercogliano's In Defense of Childhood, and a new Directory of Democratic Education. These are all available through AERO's online bookstore (see www.edrev.org). I've also just reviewed a manuscript for a book that proposes a sweeping vision of educational freedom, drawing on an unusual but potent blend of ideas from Montessori, Dewey, and Ayn Rand. (I never thought I'd see Dewey and Rand brought together in the same discussion!) So a lot of thoughtful people are envisioning a new educational system, and I hope to weigh in with my own thoughts in the next few months.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1015624733411379608-6538553859237655525?l=pathsoflearning.blogspot.com'/></div>Ronnoreply@blogger.com5