Prediction: Home Schooler in Maine Gets College of His Choice

Meet Alex.  Alex is a 'high school aged kid' who lives in Maine.  Besides having the same statehood in common, I was also struck by the following question he asked recently in the "Regenerate Our Culture" online magazine:

What application does school have beyond school?

Ah.  A kid after my own heart. 

The difference between his question and the million and one others just like it from frustrated adolescents spinning on the compulsorary education hamster wheel? 

• One:  Alex is homeschooled. 
• Two:  Alex's answer may surprise you; go to the bottom of his article/post to get his insight. 
• Three:  Alex keeps a wonderful blog that I discovered while reading this opening article.  It's called SmartHomechool.  Worth a look.
• Four:  Alex has a network and is part of something bigger that could only have happened in the blogosphere...but has tremendous value for in-school experiences, as well.  The magazine I refered to earlier is a magazine created to aggregate the best of teen voices in the blogosphere, and not some 'zine roughed out at Kinkos after some bender of an alt-punk music fest with cut-n-paste methadologies.  No, an online magazine that demonstrates to me that if students like Alex -- the homeschooled 'kid' from Maine who is asking why school even matters -- wanted to have the pick of their colleges one day soon, I'd be hardpressed to find an admissions officer who could prove to me that such voices weren't worth a significant listen, if not an aggressive attempt to win any of them to join their school. 

Seriously, this is impressive.  A wonderful hint-hint-hint for teachers IN schools, too.  He's just one voice, but such a platform allowed me to discover him...and more importantly, to respect his voice.  A kid's measured and thoughtful voice.  And not in the 'because he's my student' sort of way. His writing has a particular homeschool/philosophical bent, and he's still at the beginning of a "life examined", but all in all I find his writing insightful, his resources to be diverse -- running from the Bible to the 'Great Books' to a range of hip Web2.0 forums/blogs/tools. 

But his voice combined with the voices of the other teen bloggers, added to a pretty clean and design-savvy online magazine that is well edited/organized, and you begin to see momentum growing.  Each kid being showcased.  A network of kids growing more powerful.  Wonderful.  And imagine if your local English class took the same approach.  Just imagine...

Back to the question at hand, to give you a taste of his writing (but just a taste):

There is a degree of inherent importance, of course; being educated through highschool and preferably college holds a great deal of significance in our society. Regardless of how much is actually learned during these experiences, the ability to say that one has graduated still has clout.

Many people, however, fail to get excited about giving up years of their time just to be able to say something. How are the things we’re learning in school relevant to our lives? The basic subjects make enough sense: reading to share in the thoughts of others, writing to share your own and arithmetic allows you to keep track of the money you spent on the first, and perhaps attempted to make on the second. These are obvious, but we all get to a point where we’re required to read books that cure insomnia, write outrageously long papers and learn math that only Einstein could apply to the real world.

So, to all the English teachers out there, to all the college admissions officers out there, to all the adults who worry about kids being 'on-line' all day, to all the kids who struggle to juggle lacrosse and AP Science and trying to be prom queen...here is a kid who has begun to learn the most important 3 things possible for a young person on the verge of entering the 'real world':

Find thy Passion.

Join thy Network.

Market thy Self.  Market thy Network.

And don't look back.

Alex asked at the beginning what application school has beyond school.  And while he offers a pretty traditional answer, the real question I hope he'll ask one day soon (to which I'll look forward to reading) is:

What application does collaboration like this have beyond the way we imagine schooling today?

Comments

[Spunky]

I continue to be impressed with these kids too. And in a teacher sort of way, not just because one of the founders happens to be my daughter.

Seriously, this type of effort is only possible because this is real life to them. They ask themselves these questions. Not for a grade, or to impress a college, but because it matters to them.

We don't have to imagine what this sort collaboration has on schooling today. This IS schooling today. The schools will come in and try to institutionalize this. But you can't anymore than you can bottle the wind. By the time it's bottled the winds have changed. But the institution cannot move fast enough to change with it. These children working independently without ANY adult guidance can move as the blogosphere and society changes.

That's the inherent beauty of homeschooling and a "real world" education these kids have had.

Thanks for spotlighting Alex and the Regenerate Our Culture team.

[Christian]

Spunky,

Right out of the gate, you won a fan. Yes, being impressed with them because of the quality of their work/passion (above and beyond any personal connections) is for me the #1 proof that a kid is doig authentic work.

Secondly, I value your statement that "this IS Schooling today" -- how true. A semantic difference, perhaps, but good stuff all the same. But I'll offer that 'home schooling' is merely a matter of using similar language in some respects but not being held back by the literal form of school. Thus, we use 'schooling' as currency in the same way that Alex mentioned that having a degree still has "clout". True, but perhaps we should push past the common word of 'schooling' and head into the deep end of 'learning' instead.

I agree with you. On all accounts. Showcasing Alex was easy because he's doing the right things, as are the others in the magazine and your daughter for helping to found it. But the real power in what they are doing has nothing to do with 'schooling', per say, but in the ever-aggressive desire to learn because life is predicated on learning when it really matters.

My virtual hat off to you for your support of these kids and for taking the time to echo my earlier post. Great to meet you! Best to the kids, as well. Great seeing them on this longer journey of learning.

Cheers, Christian

[Andrew Pass]

Here's one problem I see with transforming the traditional school system into one in which on-line collaboration is part of the curriculum, not because its neat and fun but because it is central to the way we learn. Many teachers don't know how to use the collaborative technology available on the Internet. Many teachers aren't used to collaborating. The concept of this magazine is truly awesome. It's incredible what we can do with collaboration and technology. However, I wonder if we are going to have to wait for a lot more retirements before schools across America, and the teachers and students in them, use technology as part of the central curriculum. Which leads me back to Alex's question.

Andrew Pass
http://www.Pass-Ed.com/blogger.html

[Christian]

Fair points, Andrew. But I think the key is not to do an either-or journey. The key is that learning happens. And even if the 'system' stays fairly rooted in the ways-of-old and some 'digital immigrant' teachers can't turn the corner yet, the digital learning and collaboration experience is here to stay. For the kids and teachers and parents that are hungry to learn in every conceivable manner, give'em space...and love their journey. For those who aren't, support them, too, and try to shift their needle slightly more to the needle each day. But an either-or scenario fails to take reality into consideration...and this is much bigger than any set of rules or procedures or even the 'system' itself. This is life. And life is moving forward in a learning sense whether we come or not. Cheers...and as always, great to hear from you, Andrew!