Learn About...
Learn about learning in all its myriad forms, from home education to charter schools, from distance learning to lifelong learning.
"The education of an individual human begins at birth and continues throughout life. (Some believe that education begins even before birth, as evidenced by some parents' playing music or reading to the baby in the womb in the hope it will influence the child's development.) For some, the struggles and triumphs of daily life provide far more instruction than does formal schooling (thus Mark Twain's admonition to "never let school interfere with your education"). Family members may have a profound educational effect — often more profound than they realize — though family teaching may function very informally.
"The origins of the word "education" reveal one theory of its function: the Latin educare comes from roots suggesting a "leading out" or "leading forth", with possible implications of developing innate abilities and of expanding horizons. Formal education occurs when society or a group or an individual sets up a curriculum to educate people, usually the young. Formal education can become systematic and thorough, but its sponsor may seek selfish advantages when shaping impressionable young scholars.
"Life-long or adult education has become widespread. Lending libraries provide inexpensive informal access to books and other self-instructional materials. Many adults have given up the notion that only children belong "in school". Many adults enroll in post-secondary education schools, both part-time and full-time, which often classify them as "non-traditional students" in order to distinguish them administratively from young adults entering directly from high school. Computers have become an increasingly influential factor in education, both as a tool for online education (a kind of distance education), and as a way for individual students to access lessons and materials easily via the Internet and CD-ROM."
|
|
 As early as 1929, Basil Yeaxlee, an adult educator, wrote, "We discover more, and not less, need of adult education as we make progress. It will not have a fair chance until better preparation is made for it during the years of adolescence. On the other hand, we are unlikely to achieve a thoroughly sound and complete system of -primary and secondary education until the adult members of the community, by continuing their own education, realize how mischievous a thing it is to abbreviate or mishandle the school-education of 'boys and girls. But adult education, rightly interpreted, is as inseparable from normal living as food and physical exercise. Life, to be vivid, strong, and creative, demands constant reflection upon experience, so that action may be guided by wisdom, and service be the other aspect of self-expression, while work and leisure are blended in perfect exercise of 'body, mind and spirit, personality attaining completion in society. "(Yeaxlee 1929: 28)
|
|
Read more...
|
|
 Over 50 million children learn in American public schools, and the face of those schools is changing. Advancing technologies and the increasing need for a globally competitive workforce and new social needs drive new educational advances in their bow wave.
|
|
Read more...
|
|
|
 Homeschooling has an interesting history, that varies somewhat depending upon who’s telling that history. Some see modern homeschooling as an outgrowth of secular education reform movements started by John Holt and Ivan Illich in the 1960s. Others identify religious origins. However it sprouted, homeschooling, the practice of fully family directed learning, has blossomed into a vibrant and thriving educational choice for well over a million students.
|
|
Read more...
|
|
 According to the National Center for Education Statistics survey of more than 30,000 private school, over 5 million American students—or about 10 percent of the entire school population—attended private schools during the 2001–2002 school year. The National Center for Education Statistics says non-public schools account for 24% of US schools. That said, private schools vary widely by type, accreditation, focus, quality, educational content and delivery and other factors.
|
|
Read more...
|
|
|
Learn About...
