How did you learn the type of programming that you use for work?
If you’re anything like me or my kids, you’ve probably learned most of it through docs, forums, in-person mentors, peers, and async coursework. In university, much of the act of learning happens in labs, not lectures.
The main model for education we have in the US is oriented around notions of authority and racial imperialism. The idea that a single learned elite sharing the light of knowledge from chosen tomes, to a lower class that is forced to attend... that dates back to Dark Age mass. The fundamental reality was that books were scarce and widespread literacy was impractical. It becomes an ideal venue for twisting or omitting information; a platform for power.
Our reality is fundamentally different. In a world of information abundance, the ability to source, collect, vet, absorb, and apply information matters. The ability to reject bad information matters greatly. The ability to create meaningful information and expression from that becomes a life’s work.
I want my kids to become compassionate, diligent, and excellent at solving a variety of problems using the resources available to them. I want them to see the breadth of human experience and foment desire to live a rich life.
I’ve come to see that modern public education embraces the authoritarian learning model, where the most compliant and capable students are prepared use by those who control the most capital. It’s a system that has been exploited to promote racial disparity in many forms over the years, and corrupted with pressure by religious groups. It’s the education system that created today’s America.
I pulled my kids out. We’re unscheduled and unschooling. My wife is doing doctoral work and one of my sons wants to go to University of Washington CS program. We’re building an academic and project portfolio and planning to do Running Start, aka free community college for k-12. He build a little social network in PHP in 6th grade and taught himself EE from YouTube. Last year he ordered his first run of 50 PCBs from China for a portable video game console he made from scratch. He can run circles around most adults on world history, geography, and critical think at age 13. Why should asshole teachers get to dictate exactly how he spends 10 hours of his life every day, when he has very different learning needs than most of his classmates?
My other son is creative and has been able to dive deep into his passions while also blazing through Khan math, learning animal husbandry, writing short film scripts, and practicing for being a streamer. There is no better venue to learn public speaking than to have to make a tight video presentation. He’s also kind of a tactical genius and I’m letting him push himself as a gamer, because he’s damn talented.
We tried replicating traditional academics at home and it just didn’t work. It depends on use of force to ensure the learning happens, and takes all of the fun out of it.
We’re meeting state standards for homeschooling in the process and trying to make sure they are not lacking in a particular area, but thankfully our state allows for flexibility in teaching models. They have plenty of social opportunities, clubs, sports, music (outside of pandemic circumstances) with far more meaningful interaction time than your average 3 minutes between class and 15 minute lunch break.
We don’t have to do school shooter drills or say the Pledge of Allegiance, but we still proudly fly an American Flag.
I see the system needing to shift away from authority and analytics, and towards creating healthy, whole humans. The short-term, fickle needs of capital, pervasive veneration of dead white men, or dogma of religious groups should not have any part of that process.