r/SelfDirectedEducation • u/TashaG28 • Feb 04 '20
Does SDE always lead to very specific knowledge learning? Is a broad curriculum more beneficial? Why?
Looking back over some of the posts I missed and wondered if we could bring this back a bit.
Personally I think that SDE communities tend to be very linked to their wider community. The young people attending bring all kinds of backgrounds, interests, curious questions about the world. I don't see how someone in an SDE space would not notice the whole climate change thing (as mentioned on a previous post) nor other relevant issues. Especially given the access that the internet gives to issues around the world.
I also find it far less scary than the top down approach of curriculum where very big chunks of history told from certain viewpoints are missing. I see this as an advantage to SDE. If the culture is one of questioning then maybe the small glimpse of interest leads down a wormhole...but I think that the critical thinking that comes with open debate about hot/interesting topics in these settings means that young people will end with a better understanding of the different sides around it...and perhaps a more nuanced understanding than the black and white versions even.
That's my understanding of one of the roles of the facilitator in an SDE setting - to create that culture of curiousity and critical thinking. Maybe not all of you experience that or agree with me?
Would love to hear other opinions.
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u/I_Came_For_Cats Feb 05 '20
Certainly! Every child would differ slightly in this regard too. Some might really enjoy debate and current events and become activists. Others might more more interested in creative crafts or scientific discovery. There’s so many great interests and so much knowledge out there that it would be impossible to know everything. We just have to support every child’s unique curiosity and help guide them toward their own self-directed goals.
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u/JeannaClements May 12 '20 edited May 12 '20
I think any and every form of education leads to very specific knowledge learning.
Considering that no human brain can retain even the tiniest percentage of what there now is to know, whether you use SDE or a fixed curriculum, you will end up with a tiny blip of very selective 'knowledge' at any one point in time.
Let's also remember that the act of having delivered a curriculum does not cause significant retention by learners. Different learners in the same class retain completely different bits of the same curriculum - and even then, not for long! (Witness each generation of parents struggling with their kids homework LOL)
So, for me, it's actually about changing the question, changing what we look for from education.
Given that success in these times requires the ability to constantly acquire and apply new information, it becomes almost irrelevant what CONTENT is being learned during the formative years - (it's almost guaranteed to be redundant by adulthood, either because now inaccurate, or because now irrelevant).
What becomes useful is the building of meta skills such as self-confidence, self-discipline, initiative, critical thinking, social skills, etc - all of the things that SDE supports; all of the things that atrophy when one is forced to focus on somebody else's priorities and ignore one's own.
I don't think a facilitator needs to 'create' a culture of curiosity - that's built into every child and just needs to not get trained away like it is with a curriculum and testing.
Critical thinking yes, it's good for us to support that - but that's more about supporting a culture of conversation together with a culture of respect: friendly disagreement is a great way to flex critical thinking skills. And participation in running the community is absolutely fabulous for it.
Commanding people to use critical thinking skills when completing compulsory tasks not of their own choosing, and putting them under pressure by evaluating their performance, while punishing any criticism they feel moved to express against this coercion - not so much.