Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Cohousing / Homeschooling

[Stephen R. Figgins (fig]

> I'm sure there are exceptions to the stereotype, yet it rings true to me in
> another way, pushing the same bias button I have against private schools in
> general. Good quality education is something society owes all it children.
> Only a broad-based public school system can do this. If those with money
> for private schools and/or time to teach their own kids pull out of the
> public school system it contributes to the further undermining of it
> constituency of support.

Something that I learned in High School, was that all my schooling had
benn less about teaching me things, and more about teaching me how to
behave and conform to society at large.  It was more about following
rules and fitting in than it was about math, english, history,
whatever.  I suspect this is still the case.

I have problems with our dominant culture, and the things that it
teaches our children.  So I suspect my reasons for wanting to home
school or private school are similar to, if diometrically opposed to
fundamentalist Christian reasons.  The model of behavior that public
schools would teach my daughter, are not the ones I want her to learn.
And since about 99% of parents probably have no idea what I am talking
about, and the government is certainly without a clue, I doubt there
is much I can do to change the lessons the school would teach.  So - I
would rather find some school that would teach the lessons I want my
daughter to learn.

> To pull the topic back to cohousing: For the most part, the movement talks
> about creating communities not to be insular but as parts of larger towns,
> or urban neighborhoods. I think it will be the loss of the messages
> cohousing purports to have for society if it comes to be seen as merely
> elitist and separatist. I'd rather put my energy into improving my kids'
> and the city's public schools (and I try to do my part) than put it into
> pulling them out and "educating" them in isolation.

When I envision the community in which I want to live, I do think of
it as part of a larger town or urban neighborhood.  But I do not see
it conforming to our current culture.  I envision either the larger
community we build as different from the common herd, or my community
as an example of positive change the larger town or neighborhood could
make itself.  Part of our task, is teaching this new way to our
children, in the hope that they will build an even better community.
Change may take generations, but we need to start living according to
our ideals now.

Stephen Figgins, Sebastopol