Home is Where the Learning Is

by Wendy Priesnitz

Home-based education is on the leading edge
of a profound change not only in our educational system but in the ways we view childhood and learning

"Until I entered school for the first time when I was 13, it never occurred to me that I might not be able to do anything I wanted to; that my career path might be restricted by the fact that I am female. It bothered me that most of the girls in my grade nine classes had a limited outlook on the world because of their lack of confidence and a bunch of "shoulds" and "should nots" that they seemed to have picked up somewhere along the way - just because they were girls. But that's nonsense. I feel free to be whomever I want to be, and do whatever I want to do...the whole world is out there waiting for me." (1)

Those words were written by my daughter Heidi, now 18 years old. Heidi and her sister Melanie, now 17, spent their elementary school years outside formal educational systems, exploring the world at their own pace, experiencing an educational adventure that was facilitated, but not structured, by my husband and I.

The learning process was an authentic one that dealt directly with the world, rather than the more conventional process of mostly simulated, classroom-based experiences. Free to seek answers to her personal questions about the workings of the world, each girl developed an impressive personal body of knowledge, a social conscience beyond her years, and the self knowledge and confidence to use that information to the limits of her personal potential.

My family, although a relative pioneer in the field of home-based education, is not alone. The option is being explored by thousands of Canadians under the home schooling provisions of the various provincial Education Acts.

I have come to believe that home-based education is on the leading edge of a profound change, not only in our educational system, but in the fundamental ways in which we view childhood and learning. Home-based education has the potential to demonstrate what can happen when the barriers to the integrated progress of the individual are removed.

La scolarisation des enfants à domicile
par Wendy Priesnilz

La fréquentation obligatoire d'un établissement d'enseignement est un phénomène assez récent. Si les lois qui om rendu la scolarité pour tous et toutes obligatoire ont été positives sur le plan social, le système d'éducation actuel est le symbole de cette notion erronée et arrogante selon laquelle ce que nous apprenons pour nous-memes est sans importance.

L'apprentissage chez soi est un moyen de contourner nombre des problèmes que pose le système d'enseignement officiel, dont cette socialisation fondé sur le sexe. Les enfants qui sont libres de s'aventurer à leur propre rythme dans des situations sociales compliquées ont davantage confiance en eux et éprouvent un plus grand sentiment de contrôle que ceux qui sont obligés de suivre l'emploi du temps de quelqu'un d'autre.

Les autodidactes considèrent aussi l'éducation comme un processus qu'ils déclenchent eux-mêmes, sans arrêt et pendant toute leur vie. De surcroît, ils retiennent plus souvent les connaissances et compétences qu'ils acquièrent dans un contexte qui convient à leur existence. La scolarisation à domicile est sur le point de mener à de profonds changements, non seulement en ce qui concerne l'éducation, mais aussi quant à l'attitude que l'on a à l'égard des enfants et de l'apprentissage.


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