Unschooling experts

Awww, this article almost made it to the end without the obligatory statement from some “education professional” about the dangers of homeschooling, or in this case unschooling.

POST-TRIBUNE :: News :: Alternative form of homeschooling embraces child-directed learning:

Some children, however, aren’t as inquisitive as Isabel, making unschooling difficult, said Marilyn Haring, professor of educational studies at Purdue University. She said that while the unschooling movement is valuable because it questions aspects of traditional schooling, it is not without problems.”

With regard to unschooling, I believe this is best described as utopian,” Haring said in an e-mail. “A miniscule few youngsters may have the high intelligence and motivation to inquire broadly and also learn how to learn. The vast majority, however, have no idea what might be learned and why it is important.”

To be fair, a good reporter should include all information pertinent to understanding the story. But this wasn’t an analysis. Good thing too since the expert, Marilyn Haring, didn’t provide any statistics or research regarding unschooling, just her “professorial” opinion. The story is based on interviews with unschoolers, why they like it, why they do it, and so on. The least Haring could do was site one case of an unschooler being miserable. All it would take is a trip over to Dr. Phil’s website!

I guess since she’s a professor, she doesn’t feel obligated to provide examples. I would also venture to guess that she can’t because she doesn’t know any unschoolers. But the reporter forgot to ask her that question.