The Nature of Education (Part 1)

I’d like to lead off with a word of thanks for my husband Buddy. I was having trouble both in arranging our coming homeschool year and deciding on a focus for this blog. Buddy suggested I kill two birds with one stone and work on my philosophy of education first. This post is the result of my musings on the true nature of education. Thanks for the inspiration, Buddy!

I was deep into homeschool planning mode as I prepared for the start of our homeschool year in September. We homeschool year-round, really, but we also like to have a definitive beginning and end to the year. I’ve been thinking a lot about what to teach the kids and how to teach it. I have my list of subjects and have found materials to teach those subjects. However, something at the back of my brain has been questioning my methods. Am I doing things the right way? Is there a better, more effective way to teach the kids? This nagging feeling that I was missing something eventually grew to the point where I had to address it.

I decided that a good place to start answering my questions about the kids’ education would be to analyze my education. My own education, including how I currently educate myself, can give me some clues to answer my questions about the kids’ education.

Common Fountains of Knowledge

The first source of my knowledge that jumped in my mind was my formal education. I graduated from a public high school and have taken several college classes (though it was unfortunately not enough to graduate). In middle and high school these classes included ones on the “basics” of education like English, science, math, and social studies. I also took classes on Spanish, art, home economics, technology, and music (a LOT of music classes). In college I took similar classes except taking several business classes in pursuit of a business degree. I feel I learned a lot from most of my formal education, but then again I chose a lot of the classes based on my interests.

In really looking at my life I feel a lot of my knowledge has been acquired by reading books (both fiction and non-fiction), watching TV shows or videos, listening to podcasts, as well as other ways I can’t recall at the moment. History is one subject I’ve learned a lot of this way. It has been in fits and starts, though, so I don’t quite have the “pageant of history” that Charlotte Mason felt all people should have. Despite that, I think it’s been effective because the knowledge has stayed with me because I wanted to learn it.

I include fiction books in my education through reading books because I find them thought-provoking. A decent bit of the books on my reading list are traditionally considered classics, be they “classical” or just “well-loved”. I’ve spent a lot of time contemplating ideas from these books. One such thought I’ve chewed on is how much more dreaming would Anne Shirley be able to do with all of today’s modern conveniences?

Some of the most thought-provoking fiction books I've read

Some (among many) of the most thought-provoking fiction books I’ve read

Uncommon Fountains of Knowledge

I realize I also learn a lot from learning at the point of need or interaction with something. To give you an example, over lunch the other day we began discussing Lake Champlain and ended up learning not only about Champlain but about New France, which apparently included Indiana at one point. That wasn’t the first time we’ve learned something by digging deeper into a casual reference and it won’t be the last.

We learn about many birds, trees, plants, and animals simply by looking for more information about them when we encounter them in our daily lives. The definitions, origins, or spellings of words are learned when unfamiliar ones are discussed or further analysis of an encountered word is wanted. This point of need learning can also include learning what a head gasket on a truck is and does, usually when it breaks. I feel this knowledge is also retained due to being presented when the mind is actively seeking the information.

Much also could be said about learning from experience as you live life. I’ve learned several things over the years this way. When I was a fairly new driver I learned how to counteract a spin when your van starts fishtailing on ice because my van did just that. Granted, knowledge like this tends to be used primarily for living life but it could possibly be used to help understand concepts in more formal learning. Another way I’ve learned is simply by being alive and aware when events happened like Columbine, the Obama years, 9/11, and Y2K. (I’m dating myself, I know.)

Some of the non-fiction books I’m reading

Conclusion

Overall, I’ve realized what I think I already knew, which is that my education has been from many sources at varying times. My formal education was, and possibly still is, a large source of my body of knowledge, but I wonder how much of my formal education could have instead been learned by joining a club or reading a book or watching a show or video on the same topics.

So how can I distill these insights into a plan of how to educate myself?

Take classes, read books, watch movies/TV shows, etc. when I want to learn more on a concept, skill, or body of knowledge
Continue to look up information when I’m curious about an isolated event or object or creature
Systematically build skills in an area by continuing to use the skills I have while adding more challenging skills (as I do with my crocheting, French horn playing, and cooking)

Another part of my questioning was to figure out what I felt education is. This one is fairly straightforward to answer. I feel education is learning things with the intent of being able to think critically, process information or current events and put it in perspective or relation to other events.