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Path: utzoo!utcsrgv!utcsstat!laura
From: laura@utcsstat.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.women
Subject: schools
Message-ID: <845@utcsstat.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 10-Aug-83 15:52:21 EDT
Article-I.D.: utcsstat.845
Posted: Wed Aug 10 15:52:21 1983
Date-Received: Wed, 10-Aug-83 22:09:39 EDT
Organization: U. of Toronto, Canada
Lines: 56

Here is 'my theory which is my own' about schools. They are founded on
the premise that it is possible to teach people things. This may
be the wrong way to think of the problem. It is possible to learn
things, but whether a teacher can force a reluctant learner to learn
any particular thing is moot.

These days, my mother (a teacher) is attending seminars on "how to
motivate your students" so educators are aware that a problem exists.
The public may not, and may still trust the 'divine nature' of schools
to succeed in teaching their children.

I was never so bored in my life as when I was in grade school.
My parents undestood this, and never forced me to go to
school. I could list the useful things I learned at school on one
hand. My standard procedure was to take home all the text books and
do all the exercises in them. This took me until the middle of October.
Then I started skipping school. I have learned far more from reading
and from going to museums than my contemporaries seemed to know.
Travel was also important. My grandfather was a high official for the
Canadian Pacific Railway. We would often go on trips to far away places
in Canada. Geography is much more interesting if you have been there.

Museum curators and zoologists are wonderful people. If you are interested
in what they are interested in they will spend their whole day doing what
ever they do, and explaining to you all the while. Rabbis and priests
(I dont know about Ministers, but I presume they will as well) are
other people who will stop and talk to an interested child.

The number one problem my parents and I had was that the staggering
difficulty I had with my peers would make me some sort of freak. I
found that as I got older, my peers matured. Now that I am an adult
i seem to have no more problems than anybody else. 

had I to do it again, i would. I would also discover philosophy a
lot earlier than I did. I discovered theology rather early, but
missed out on philosophy for some reason. I think that physics,
philosophy, zoologyy, theology and history have been most important
to me. 

My little brother also was bored, and he decided to go to what is
considered 'the best' private school in Canada. Right now, he
knows much more economics and political theory that I do, but his
theology is weak.

i found that I had to attend high school every day. there was no
way that one could just 'do all the exercises'. By this time I had
built up a considerable wealth of knowledge though. the only
disadvantage that I can see with what I did was that it did not
encourage dicipline. I am not very long on discipline to this very
day. I would think that only a very curious person, and an intelligent
one could benefit from such a system, as well.

Good Luck,

laura creighton
utzoo!utcsstat!laura