Home school vs public school?

I aim to 'unschool'.

http://yes-i-can-write.blogspot.co.uk/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unschooling

Then plan to support your children later on in life, when they cannot get into college, or get a decent job because colleges and employers look for such things as transcripts, grades, etc. Good luck with that.

Why so harsh?

Your statements make me wonder why you are so hostile to the idea of homeschooling, particularly when the methods are alternative, such as unschooling. There are many academic models, including Montessori and Waldorf, that tend to be more student-driven than traditional models. These are often offered in brick-and-mortar schools with paid teachers. Do you have such negative reactions to those, too?

I suspect you resent that parents can fly free in educating their children without radar-tracking by 'officials'. Did you ever lose a student to homeschooling and might it have made you angry? I'm just wondering.

Many years ago, the private Montessori school my children attended decided more than half of the boys in my son's class should not progress to the next grade. My son was one of those boys--the very one who entered law school years later at age 19. We strongly resisted grade retention for him. They tried many ways to strong-arm us into consenting. We finally said that we had had it with their manipulations, and stated we were withdrawing both our children to homeschool them. The teacher and administration were furious, telling us that that was 'illegal' and that they would report us to the 'authorities.' We knew the law, and knew they were grandstanding. It was hard not to laugh in their faces, but we asserted that in fact homeschooling was sanctioned by the state, and we were doing it no matter what they said.

My feeling is that ego and the need to control parents and children got in the way of this faculty and administration's ability to see things clearly. I think they saw it as a loss of their authority and will over us.

I aim to 'unschool'.

http://yes-i-can-write.blogspot.co.uk/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unschooling

Then plan to support your children later on in life, when they cannot get into college, or get a decent job because colleges and employers look for such things as transcripts, grades, etc. Good luck with that.

Why so harsh?

Your statements make me wonder why you are so hostile to the idea of homeschooling, particularly when the methods are alternative, such as unschooling. There are many academic models, including Montessori and Waldorf, that tend to be more student-driven than traditional models. These are often offered in brick-and-mortar schools with paid teachers. Do you have such negative reactions to those, too?

I suspect you resent that parents can fly free in educating their children without radar-tracking by 'officials'. Did you ever lose a student to homeschooling and might it have made you angry? I'm just wondering.

Many years ago, the private Montessori school my children attended decided more than half of the boys in my son's class should not progress to the next grade. My son was one of those boys--the very one who entered law school years later at age 19. We strongly resisted grade retention for him. They tried many ways to strong-arm us into consenting. We finally said that we had had it with their manipulations, and stated we were withdrawing both our children to homeschool them. The teacher and administration were furious, telling us that that was 'illegal' and that they would report us to the 'authorities.' We knew the law, and knew they were grandstanding. It was hard not to laugh in their faces, but we asserted that in fact homeschooling was sanctioned by the state, and we were doing it no matter what they said.

My feeling is that ego and the need to control parents and children got in the way of this faculty and administration's ability to see things clearly. I think they saw it as a loss of their authority and will over us.

Perhaps you need to go back and read my posts again, before you're so quick to judge ME? I am not, never ever had, saying that homeschooling is wrong. I said it must be done properly for it to be successful. "Unschooling" however, is the latest 'craze' that is ridiculous. Take your kid to ride coasters and call it physics? Sure, go right ahead. Want your kid to explore veterinary care? Take them to a shelter and let them pet puppies all day and call it "studying veterinary medicine." And get laughed right out of the college admissions office when you try to present some ridiculous "transcripts" that are filled with a bunch of crap the young child decided he or she wanted to learn all on his or her own. What a crock. Do what you want with your kid, but don't expect the doors to open up to them when it's time to face the REAL world.

Love this speech .... and an administrator had to agree with it to let it be the valedictorian speech at the graduation ceremony. (Obtained this from blog.swiftkickonline.com)

Valedictorian Speaks Out Against Schooling in Graduation Speech

Author Note: Over the past four days, this post has received 110K+ hits and over 300+ comments. If you are interested in the education reform conversation, please follow us via RSS, Email, or Twitter.
Last month, Erica Goldson graduated as valedictorian of Coxsackie-Athens High School. Instead of using her graduation speech to celebrate the triumph of her victory, the school, and the teachers that made it happen, she channeled her inner Ivan Illich and de-constructed the logic of a valedictorian and the whole educational system.

Erica originally posted her full speech on Sign of the Times, and without need for editing or cutting, here's the speech in its entirety:

Here I stand 

There is a story of a young, but earnest Zen student who approached his teacher, and asked the Master, "If I work very hard and diligently, how long will it take for me to find Zen? The Master thought about this, then replied, "Ten years . ." The student then said, "But what if I work very, very hard and really apply myself to learn fast -- How long then?" Replied the Master, "Well, twenty years." "But, if I really, really work at it, how long then?" asked the student. "Thirty years," replied the Master. "But, I do not understand," said the disappointed student. "At each time that I say I will work harder, you say it will take me longer. Why do you say that?" Replied the Master, "When you have one eye on the goal, you only have one eye on the path." 

This is the dilemma I've faced within the American education system. We are so focused on a goal, whether it be passing a test, or graduating as first in the class. However, in this way, we do not really learn. We do whatever it takes to achieve our original objective. 

Some of you may be thinking, "Well, if you pass a test, or become valedictorian, didn't you learn something? Well, yes, you learned something, but not all that you could have. Perhaps, you only learned how to memorize names, places, and dates to later on forget in order to clear your mind for the next test. School is not all that it can be. Right now, it is a place for most people to determine that their goal is to get out as soon as possible. 

I am now accomplishing that goal. I am graduating. I should look at this as a positive experience, especially being at the top of my class. However, in retrospect, I cannot say that I am any more intelligent than my peers. I can attest that I am only the best at doing what I am told and working the system. Yet, here I stand, and I am supposed to be proud that I have completed this period of indoctrination. I will leave in the fall to go on to the next phase expected of me, in order to receive a paper document that certifies that I am capable of work. But I contest that I am a human being, a thinker, an adventurer - not a worker. A worker is someone who is trapped within repetition - a slave of the system set up before him. But now, I have successfully shown that I was the best slave. I did what I was told to the extreme. While others sat in class and doodled to later become great artists, I sat in class to take notes and become a great test-taker. While others would come to class without their homework done because they were reading about an interest of theirs, I never missed an assignment. While others were creating music and writing lyrics, I decided to do extra credit, even though I never needed it. So, I wonder, why did I even want this position? Sure, I earned it, but what will come of it? When I leave educational institutionalism, will I be successful or forever lost? I have no clue about what I want to do with my life; I have no interests because I saw every subject of study as work, and I excelled at every subject just for the purpose of excelling, not learning. And quite frankly, now I'm scared. 

John Taylor Gatto, a retired school teacher and activist critical of compulsory schooling, asserts, "We could encourage the best qualities of youthfulness - curiosity, adventure, resilience, the capacity for surprising insight simply by being more flexible about time, texts, and tests, by introducing kids into truly competent adults, and by giving each student what autonomy he or she needs in order to take a risk every now and then. But we don't do that." Between these cinderblock walls, we are all expected to be the same. We are trained to ace every standardized test, and those who deviate and see light through a different lens are worthless to the scheme of public education, and therefore viewed with contempt. 

H. L. Mencken wrote in The American Mercury for April 1924 that the aim of public education is not "to fill the young of the species with knowledge and awaken their intelligence. ... Nothing could be further from the truth. The aim ... is simply to reduce as many individuals as possible to the same safe level, to breed and train a standardized citizenry, to put down dissent and originality. That is its aim in the United States." 

To illustrate this idea, doesn't it perturb you to learn about the idea of "critical thinking." Is there really such a thing as "uncritically thinking?" To think is to process information in order to form an opinion. But if we are not critical when processing this information, are we really thinking? Or are we mindlessly accepting other opinions as truth? 

This was happening to me, and if it wasn't for the rare occurrence of an avant-garde tenth grade English teacher, Donna Bryan, who allowed me to open my mind and ask questions before accepting textbook doctrine, I would have been doomed. I am now enlightened, but my mind still feels disabled. I must retrain myself and constantly remember how insane this ostensibly sane place really is. 

And now here I am in a world guided by fear, a world suppressing the uniqueness that lies inside each of us, a world where we can either acquiesce to the inhuman nonsense of corporatism and materialism or insist on change. We are not enlivened by an educational system that clandestinely sets us up for jobs that could be automated, for work that need not be done, for enslavement without fervency for meaningful achievement. We have no choices in life when money is our motivational force. Our motivational force ought to be passion, but this is lost from the moment we step into a system that trains us, rather than inspires us. 

We are more than robotic bookshelves, conditioned to blurt out facts we were taught in school. We are all very special, every human on this planet is so special, so aren't we all deserving of something better, of using our minds for innovation, rather than memorization, for creativity, rather than futile activity, for rumination rather than stagnation? We are not here to get a degree, to then get a job, so we can consume industry-approved placation after placation. There is more, and more still. 

The saddest part is that the majority of students don't have the opportunity to reflect as I did. The majority of students are put through the same brainwashing techniques in order to create a complacent labor force working in the interests of large corporations and secretive government, and worst of all, they are completely unaware of it. I will never be able to turn back these 18 years. I can't run away to another country with an education system meant to enlighten rather than condition. This part of my life is over, and I want to make sure that no other child will have his or her potential suppressed by powers meant to exploit and control. We are human beings. We are thinkers, dreamers, explorers, artists, writers, engineers. We are anything we want to be - but only if we have an educational system that supports us rather than holds us down. A tree can grow, but only if its roots are given a healthy foundation. 

For those of you out there that must continue to sit in desks and yield to the authoritarian ideologies of instructors, do not be disheartened. You still have the opportunity to stand up, ask questions, be critical, and create your own perspective. Demand a setting that will provide you with intellectual capabilities that allow you to expand your mind instead of directing it. Demand that you be interested in class. Demand that the excuse, "You have to learn this for the test" is not good enough for you. Education is an excellent tool, if used properly, but focus more on learning rather than getting good grades. 

For those of you that work within the system that I am condemning, I do not mean to insult; I intend to motivate. You have the power to change the incompetencies of this system. I know that you did not become a teacher or administrator to see your students bored. You cannot accept the authority of the governing bodies that tell you what to teach, how to teach it, and that you will be punished if you do not comply. Our potential is at stake. 

For those of you that are now leaving this establishment, I say, do not forget what went on in these classrooms. Do not abandon those that come after you. We are the new future and we are not going to let tradition stand. We will break down the walls of corruption to let a garden of knowledge grow throughout America. Once educated properly, we will have the power to do anything, and best of all, we will only use that power for good, for we will be cultivated and wise. We will not accept anything at face value. We will ask questions, and we will demand truth. 

So, here I stand. I am not standing here as valedictorian by myself. I was molded by my environment, by all of my peers who are sitting here watching me. I couldn't have accomplished this without all of you. It was all of you who truly made me the person I am today. It was all of you who were my competition, yet my backbone. In that way, we are all valedictorians. 

I am now supposed to say farewell to this institution, those who maintain it, and those who stand with me and behind me, but I hope this farewell is more of a "see you later" when we are all working together to rear a pedagogic movement. But first, let's go get those pieces of paper that tell us that we're smart enough to do so!

Love this speech .... and an administrator had to agree with it to let it be the valedictorian speech at the graduation ceremony.

Valedictorian Speaks Out Against Schooling in Graduation Speech

Author Note: Over the past four days, this post has received 110K+ hits and over 300+ comments. If you are interested in the education reform conversation, please follow us via RSS, Email, or Twitter.
Last month, Erica Goldson graduated as valedictorian of Coxsackie-Athens High School. Instead of using her graduation speech to celebrate the triumph of her victory, the school, and the teachers that made it happen, she channeled her inner Ivan Illich and de-constructed the logic of a valedictorian and the whole educational system.

Erica originally posted her full speech on Sign of the Times, and without need for editing or cutting, here's the speech in its entirety:

Here I stand 

There is a story of a young, but earnest Zen student who approached his teacher, and asked the Master, "If I work very hard and diligently, how long will it take for me to find Zen? The Master thought about this, then replied, "Ten years . ." The student then said, "But what if I work very, very hard and really apply myself to learn fast -- How long then?" Replied the Master, "Well, twenty years." "But, if I really, really work at it, how long then?" asked the student. "Thirty years," replied the Master. "But, I do not understand," said the disappointed student. "At each time that I say I will work harder, you say it will take me longer. Why do you say that?" Replied the Master, "When you have one eye on the goal, you only have one eye on the path." 

This is the dilemma I've faced within the American education system. We are so focused on a goal, whether it be passing a test, or graduating as first in the class. However, in this way, we do not really learn. We do whatever it takes to achieve our original objective. 

Some of you may be thinking, "Well, if you pass a test, or become valedictorian, didn't you learn something? Well, yes, you learned something, but not all that you could have. Perhaps, you only learned how to memorize names, places, and dates to later on forget in order to clear your mind for the next test. School is not all that it can be. Right now, it is a place for most people to determine that their goal is to get out as soon as possible. 

I am now accomplishing that goal. I am graduating. I should look at this as a positive experience, especially being at the top of my class. However, in retrospect, I cannot say that I am any more intelligent than my peers. I can attest that I am only the best at doing what I am told and working the system. Yet, here I stand, and I am supposed to be proud that I have completed this period of indoctrination. I will leave in the fall to go on to the next phase expected of me, in order to receive a paper document that certifies that I am capable of work. But I contest that I am a human being, a thinker, an adventurer - not a worker. A worker is someone who is trapped within repetition - a slave of the system set up before him. But now, I have successfully shown that I was the best slave. I did what I was told to the extreme. While others sat in class and doodled to later become great artists, I sat in class to take notes and become a great test-taker. While others would come to class without their homework done because they were reading about an interest of theirs, I never missed an assignment. While others were creating music and writing lyrics, I decided to do extra credit, even though I never needed it. So, I wonder, why did I even want this position? Sure, I earned it, but what will come of it? When I leave educational institutionalism, will I be successful or forever lost? I have no clue about what I want to do with my life; I have no interests because I saw every subject of study as work, and I excelled at every subject just for the purpose of excelling, not learning. And quite frankly, now I'm scared. 

John Taylor Gatto, a retired school teacher and activist critical of compulsory schooling, asserts, "We could encourage the best qualities of youthfulness - curiosity, adventure, resilience, the capacity for surprising insight simply by being more flexible about time, texts, and tests, by introducing kids into truly competent adults, and by giving each student what autonomy he or she needs in order to take a risk every now and then. But we don't do that." Between these cinderblock walls, we are all expected to be the same. We are trained to ace every standardized test, and those who deviate and see light through a different lens are worthless to the scheme of public education, and therefore viewed with contempt. 

H. L. Mencken wrote in The American Mercury for April 1924 that the aim of public education is not "to fill the young of the species with knowledge and awaken their intelligence. ... Nothing could be further from the truth. The aim ... is simply to reduce as many individuals as possible to the same safe level, to breed and train a standardized citizenry, to put down dissent and originality. That is its aim in the United States." 

To illustrate this idea, doesn't it perturb you to learn about the idea of "critical thinking." Is there really such a thing as "uncritically thinking?" To think is to process information in order to form an opinion. But if we are not critical when processing this information, are we really thinking? Or are we mindlessly accepting other opinions as truth? 

This was happening to me, and if it wasn't for the rare occurrence of an avant-garde tenth grade English teacher, Donna Bryan, who allowed me to open my mind and ask questions before accepting textbook doctrine, I would have been doomed. I am now enlightened, but my mind still feels disabled. I must retrain myself and constantly remember how insane this ostensibly sane place really is. 

And now here I am in a world guided by fear, a world suppressing the uniqueness that lies inside each of us, a world where we can either acquiesce to the inhuman nonsense of corporatism and materialism or insist on change. We are not enlivened by an educational system that clandestinely sets us up for jobs that could be automated, for work that need not be done, for enslavement without fervency for meaningful achievement. We have no choices in life when money is our motivational force. Our motivational force ought to be passion, but this is lost from the moment we step into a system that trains us, rather than inspires us. 

We are more than robotic bookshelves, conditioned to blurt out facts we were taught in school. We are all very special, every human on this planet is so special, so aren't we all deserving of something better, of using our minds for innovation, rather than memorization, for creativity, rather than futile activity, for rumination rather than stagnation? We are not here to get a degree, to then get a job, so we can consume industry-approved placation after placation. There is more, and more still. 

The saddest part is that the majority of students don't have the opportunity to reflect as I did. The majority of students are put through the same brainwashing techniques in order to create a complacent labor force working in the interests of large corporations and secretive government, and worst of all, they are completely unaware of it. I will never be able to turn back these 18 years. I can't run away to another country with an education system meant to enlighten rather than condition. This part of my life is over, and I want to make sure that no other child will have his or her potential suppressed by powers meant to exploit and control. We are human beings. We are thinkers, dreamers, explorers, artists, writers, engineers. We are anything we want to be - but only if we have an educational system that supports us rather than holds us down. A tree can grow, but only if its roots are given a healthy foundation. 

For those of you out there that must continue to sit in desks and yield to the authoritarian ideologies of instructors, do not be disheartened. You still have the opportunity to stand up, ask questions, be critical, and create your own perspective. Demand a setting that will provide you with intellectual capabilities that allow you to expand your mind instead of directing it. Demand that you be interested in class. Demand that the excuse, "You have to learn this for the test" is not good enough for you. Education is an excellent tool, if used properly, but focus more on learning rather than getting good grades. 

For those of you that work within the system that I am condemning, I do not mean to insult; I intend to motivate. You have the power to change the incompetencies of this system. I know that you did not become a teacher or administrator to see your students bored. You cannot accept the authority of the governing bodies that tell you what to teach, how to teach it, and that you will be punished if you do not comply. Our potential is at stake. 

For those of you that are now leaving this establishment, I say, do not forget what went on in these classrooms. Do not abandon those that come after you. We are the new future and we are not going to let tradition stand. We will break down the walls of corruption to let a garden of knowledge grow throughout America. Once educated properly, we will have the power to do anything, and best of all, we will only use that power for good, for we will be cultivated and wise. We will not accept anything at face value. We will ask questions, and we will demand truth. 

So, here I stand. I am not standing here as valedictorian by myself. I was molded by my environment, by all of my peers who are sitting here watching me. I couldn't have accomplished this without all of you. It was all of you who truly made me the person I am today. It was all of you who were my competition, yet my backbone. In that way, we are all valedictorians. 

I am now supposed to say farewell to this institution, those who maintain it, and those who stand with me and behind me, but I hope this farewell is more of a "see you later" when we are all working together to rear a pedagogic movement. But first, let's go get those pieces of paper that tell us that we're smart enough to do so!

Fabulous!!!!!!!

"For those of you out there that must continue to sit in desks and yield to the authoritarian ideologies of instructors, do not be disheartened. You still have the opportunity to stand up, ask questions, be critical, and create your own perspective. Demand a setting that will provide you with intellectual capabilities that allow you to expand your mind instead of directing it. Demand that you be interested in class. Demand that the excuse, "You have to learn this for the test" is not good enough for you. Education is an excellent tool, if used properly, but focus more on learning rather than getting good grades".

Just an FYI - some of us "institutionalized setting" teachers DO THIS VERY THING - we offer engaging, real life lessons that take an existing concept and explore it in great depth and detail, which makes the student come away with a new appreciation and fascination in the topic. We inspire curiosity, and creativity, and problem solving. We constantly allow our students to question, to explore, to gasp! even debate a topic until all possible outcomes are explored -- leaving the students to come to their OWN conclusions. And guess what? I hardly have opened a textbook in any of the subjects I teach ALL YEAR LONG. Or, have I given children worksheets to do instead of actual teaching.

How about some of you stop generalizing and start accepting the fact that SOME of us out there are doing a damn fine job of getting and keeping children engaged and educated, even if they are "sitting in an institutionalized setting" all day?

And if you don't believe me, you're welcome to come talk to the dad of one of my students - the dad who was a Nobel Prize finalist in science, who has come to my classroom to present to the students, a well respected pathologist and veterinarian, who told me: "You're teaching science exactly the way you should be - these kids are given plenty of amazing opportunities to learn!"

And in a SCHOOL setting - imagine that, huh?

I do'nt think anybody said that formal schooling was horrible. Just that homeschooling is also a valid option.

Exactly.

Also, no one was saying that every single public school teacher on the planet is horrible, doesn't do their job well, etc. Just because someone disagrees with the system, doesn't mean they disagree with everyone a part of it. I hate McDonald's, but I don't hate every single McDonald's employee on the planet.

:bigsmile: I was homeschooled. Started first grade when I was 4 and graduated when I was 15. There is nothing socially awkward about me! and I am smart to boot!

I do'nt think anybody said that formal schooling was horrible. Just that homeschooling is also a valid option.

I disagree - many people on here have said that formal school was "horrible, and the worst experience of my life", painting a broad brush of discontent all over this thread. It gives the impression that there are NO good teachers out there, teachers hate kids, don't deal with bullies, want to snoop into childrens' lives, etc.

I'm just here to put in a good word for the profession. I am very proud to be a teacher, and I hold my head up high every day, despite overly involved helicopter parents who demand their children be placed on some undeserving pedestal, demand lessons that are "fun and engaging" every day, demand we discipline them (or don't discipline them as harshly because little Johnny got his feelings hurt because he was asked to do chores -- the HORROR!) because "they won't listen to me", expect us to make ZERO mistakes, complain to the principal at the drop of a hat, etc. etc. etc.

And when said parents don't get their demands met, they blame the teachers for not doing their jobs and yank them out of school because "only I know what's good for my child". Of course those of us who have trained for years to learn all sorts of valuable information about the raising and educating of children (many of us parents ourselves) KNOW NOTHING.

First of all, "an overly involved helicopter parent" seems strange to me. How can a parent be "overly" involved in their child's education? I took my son out of public school because they were reading a book in class that was full of bad language and taking the Lord's name in vain. I tried to work with the teacher, by getting the book ahead of time, reading it myself, and marking out the language. However, I then found out that she was letting the audio version play while the children followed along in their book, thereby negating my efforts. I just found this whole situation to be ridiculous because had he stepped out into the hall and said one of those words in the hearing of a teacher, principal, aide, whoever, he would have been disciplined. So, it's okay to use that language when reading a book for class, but not at other times. Absurd. I had always thought about home schooling, but when this happened, I started researching it more and liked what I was finding out. So, I took both my children out and we started home schooling.

I do'nt think anybody said that formal schooling was horrible. Just that homeschooling is also a valid option.

I disagree - many people on here have said that formal school was "horrible, and the worst experience of my life", painting a broad brush of discontent all over this thread. It gives the impression that there are NO good teachers out there, teachers hate kids, don't deal with bullies, want to snoop into childrens' lives, etc.

I'm just here to put in a good word for the profession. I am very proud to be a teacher, and I hold my head up high every day, despite overly involved helicopter parents who demand their children be placed on some undeserving pedestal, demand lessons that are "fun and engaging" every day, demand we discipline them (or don't discipline them as harshly because little Johnny got his feelings hurt because he was asked to do chores -- the HORROR!) because "they won't listen to me", expect us to make ZERO mistakes, complain to the principal at the drop of a hat, etc. etc. etc.

And when said parents don't get their demands met, they blame the teachers for not doing their jobs and yank them out of school because "only I know what's good for my child". Of course those of us who have trained for years to learn all sorts of valuable information about the raising and educating of children (many of us parents ourselves) KNOW NOTHING.

You should be proud of your profession! And I do understand your frustration with some parents. But just as you want parents to understand that you are a trained professional and you have a lot of knowledge about education, you also need to realize that parents also want that same respect. And sometimes, if a parent believes that homeschooling is best for her child, it's ok for a professional teacher to step back and respect that decision. Because as a teacher, I'm sure you realize that not all children are alike. Some really do have different needs, and sometimes those needs aren't being met by the school district, not because the teachers are bad, but because sometimes the bureaucracy and the regulations prevent teachers from doing everything they'd like to do. And sometimes a child's anxiety gets in the way of his education, so it might be best for that child to not be in that school environment, at least for a while. And sometimes the parents just really want to take charge of the child's education, and that's ok. The important thing should be what's best for the individual child, without getting bent out of shape because we feel slighted that a parent thinks they know better than the teacher. It doesn't always have to be a pissing contest between teachers and parents. Sometimes it is, and the parents set it up that way. But it doesn't have to be about that. It SHOULD be about the child, always. And if that means homeschooling, that's not a slight on teachers everywhere. It just means that for this child, this family, in this situation, homeschooling makes more sense than public school. Period.

You are absolutely correct, which is why I get so angry when broad brush generalizations are made about education - be it home school or institutionalized. The CHILD is the focus here, always has been and always will be, in my eyes. Whether it's your child or mine, it is all about what is in THEIR best interest.

"For those of you out there that must continue to sit in desks and yield to the authoritarian ideologies of instructors, do not be disheartened. You still have the opportunity to stand up, ask questions, be critical, and create your own perspective. Demand a setting that will provide you with intellectual capabilities that allow you to expand your mind instead of directing it. Demand that you be interested in class. Demand that the excuse, "You have to learn this for the test" is not good enough for you. Education is an excellent tool, if used properly, but focus more on learning rather than getting good grades".

Just an FYI - some of us "institutionalized setting" teachers DO THIS VERY THING - we offer engaging, real life lessons that take an existing concept and explore it in great depth and detail, which makes the student come away with a new appreciation and fascination in the topic. We inspire curiosity, and creativity, and problem solving. We constantly allow our students to question, to explore, to gasp! even debate a topic until all possible outcomes are explored -- leaving the students to come to their OWN conclusions. And guess what? I hardly have opened a textbook in any of the subjects I teach ALL YEAR LONG. Or, have I given children worksheets to do instead of actual teaching.

How about some of you stop generalizing and start accepting the fact that SOME of us out there are doing a damn fine job of getting and keeping children engaged and educated, even if they are "sitting in an institutionalized setting" all day?

And if you don't believe me, you're welcome to come talk to the dad of one of my students - the dad who was a Nobel Prize finalist in science, who has come to my classroom to present to the students, a well respected pathologist and veterinarian, who told me: "You're teaching science exactly the way you should be - these kids are given plenty of amazing opportunities to learn!"

And in a SCHOOL setting - imagine that, huh?

BTW, did you read this part of the speech:

"This was happening to me, and if it wasn't for the rare occurrence of an avant-garde tenth grade English teacher, Donna Bryan, who allowed me to open my mind and ask questions before accepting textbook doctrine, I would have been doomed. I am now enlightened, but my mind still feels disabled. I must retrain myself and constantly remember how insane this ostensibly sane place really is."

She acknowledged a teacher that allowed her to go beyond the text and question it. I think the point that a lot of the home schoolers on here are trying to get at is that it is not the teachers. There are absolutely superb teachers in the public school system. I can remember teachers from my school days that made an impact on my life. Our discontent is with the SYSTEM, not the teachers, the SYSTEM.