Some of us are questioning the current education system, some of us are not finding it suitable for our children. Open learning, Homeschooling or Unschooling is the journey some of us start on, some are motivated to explore it. Often on this road-less-traveled road, we get caught up with doubts, confusion, and anxieties. Family week at Aarohi is to bring the community of families together to celebrate this path of open learning. Inviting families to come together to experience, share, learn and support each other.
15th Aug we had a special session with Murali & Meera.Spent a day at the campus to experience, explore and deliberate on ways to facilitate Unschooling /Homeschooling/children with MuraliKrishna. MuraliKrishna (a homeschooler for his daughter and facilitator for retreats with The Valley School Bangalore for many years) to host a session on Facilitating Unschoolers and homeschoolers.
We started the session with two key thoughts:
What is a Dialogue for? To understand ourselves while we share our thoughts with others.
What is Listening? To be available not just to others but to our own thoughts.
What is the purpose of a question? to find answers or to understand the problem.
To understand the problem requires a mind that is not seeking the result. If our emphasis is on the solution, we’re not on understanding. If we analyze, we will only conclude, we will not understand.
So, can we observe, as is.
Few questions/thoughts we explored:
- Why do we want children to be out of school? This understanding would help us approach many situations.
- When (other People) question us – It’s also a beautiful opportunity to make others aware.
- What is education?
- We pondered on the difference between finishing and completing – especially with respect to education.
- Is Unschooling about children or also about parents.
- Is it possible for one to be a responsible parent without understanding oneself?
- What does it mean to be responsible? Not judgmental;
- What does it mean to understand oneself? Nobody got me to do this in my childhood. Why do we need to understand oneself?
- The school does not want to fail. Here in failing, we learn.
- Education is like an onion – innermost layer is life skills. On top of that is your social skills. The third is showing off or earning skills.
- What is the kind of human being that is emerging?
- We are using our mind – have we learned about it, the way it works?
- How much time us enough – its not the time, but what is your priority.
- How am I conducting myself? the child is learning all the time. Are we looking at it 100%
- A relationship is a mirror through which we understand ourselves. Relationships is life and education.
The session was not about finding answers about our questions related to Homeschooling or Unschooling, rather about asking more fundamental questions, so that we can understand ourselves, child, learning, and education in a more deeper sense and out of that we will each get our own clarity and pathway.