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Blog:
Worldschooling — Tuesday, April 1, 2008, by Eli These are some of my recent thoughts/my further defining of the term WORLDSCHOOLING that I posted on my Facebook group "Worldschoolers" (if you're already on Facebook, click to join and post your own ideas and experiences with unschooling and worldschooling).
Feel free to spread the word and use it with pride!
Unschooling is a term invented by John Holt years ago and it's when a student follows their own interests instead of someone else's. It's having confidence/trusting in a person's ability to do that. And amazingly, it actually works!: people learn what they need to learn and a lot more.
Worldschooling is in some ways a more positive term for unschooling but it's also a little bit different: it's when you temper what you want/are interested in with what's going on in the world! It's unschooling beyond your neighborhood without the support of your family and friends and learning and DOING what you gotta do! In some ways, worldschooling is when you grow up!
-School teaches there are few possibilities for you.
-Unschooling teaches there are infinite possibilities.
-Worldschooling teaches you which are truly for you.
-School: "Do what you're told."
-Homeschool: "Do what you're told... by your mom."
-Unschool: "Do what you want."
-Worldschool: "Do whatchu gotta do..."
~Worldschooling is when the world schools you.
Worldschooling is when you get your ass kicked... in a sacred manner. And then learn from it... in a sacred manner.
"Because the world owes us nothing, and we owe each other the world."
-Ani DiFranco "Joyful Girl" (the whole song is about worldschooling actually)
I really went through worldschooling by travelling the world but other people go through it from other valuable challenging experiences.
Many unschoolers have been looking for a more positive and descriptive term for the way they educate themselves and this word I created hopefully fills that need for some people.
For worldschoolers of school age, homeschoolers, it might be an easier conversation when people ask, "Where do you go to school?"
"I homeschool, but I like to call it worldschooling because I learn from a lot of people and things all over the place!"
Read more about my definition of Homeschooling, Unschooling, Worldschooling". the danger of travelling in Mexico City, the benefits of travel, why I want to give these travel tours — Friday, February 1, 2008, by Eli People often wonder about the danger involved in travelling. So here's a story about the danger of travelling in Mexico City:
This was the first time I tried to get from Aeropuerto Internacional Benito Juarez (Mexico City's airport) to my hostel by subway instead of taxi (only 2 pesos instead of 200 pesos for a certified taxi: 20 cents instead of 20 dollars in American terms). It wasn't exactly a clear path but people were helpful and eventually a couple guys told me they were going that way and could show me. We walked and walked down the street for awhile, I started to wonder if we were actually going to the subway, when suddenly... we arrived at Pantitlan subway station and I said "Thank you" and "Good-bye" to those nice guys.
I was confused about how to get to my hostel, someone nodded their head up saying, "Yes, you need help?" I walked over and started to ask where the Zocalo subway station is, when someone grabs my shoulder, and is holding my bag! He handed it over to me: like an idiot I left it lying on the ground over at the subway map I had been looking at.
Granted that man may have been so quick to hand me my bag precisely because it was likely to get stolen, but I do often prepare for the worst and then find people to be very helpful and kind in my travels (not to mention funny, inspiring, enlightening, humbling, and confusing). I'm not saying terrible things don't happen even when you are careful but in all my travels (readers: you know I've done a lot of travelling) I've never had a problem with safety and I've talked to hundreds of other travellers. The truth is I really feel safe most of the time and when I don't, I get myself out of the situation, just like at home.
It's really about knowing where you are and paying attention and listening to the stories you do hear. For example, you can walk in the mountains of Southeast Asia alone and have no problem but in Central America you're likely to get robbed unless you're with a group. At the same time people really try to hassle and hustle you in touristy areas of Southeast Asia all the time but in Central America people are respectful: I've found they quote fair prices and leave you alone when you say, "No gracias."
Actually, the one story I did hear about someone going alone into the mountains and being robbed, the thieves took almost all his money but made sure he had enough left over to get back into town! "We want you're money but we're not heartless!" Of course, there are dangerous, heartless, and cruel people but they're everywhere in the world: I think travel helps you deal with and avoid being victimized by those people.
You have to keep your eyes open. There's no one to sue: it's just you. You have to watch where you're stepping because things aren't all regulated and paved over like in the U.S. and Europe. You have to pay attention and use your best judgment. You have to really listen to what people say because they're using a language you might not know that well! These are really some of the reasons I like travel so much and think other people could get a lot out of it.
Just being taken out of your comfort zone is so fun, exciting, and beneficial in so many ways. I mean, I honestly think it can make leaders out of people. John Holt talked about leaders not being people who boss others around but instead people who lead the way by going down a new path they're inspired to go down themselves. The world needs a lot of leaders like that. That's why I want to give these travel tours: I want to see people gain the confidence and the skills to be leaders in their own way. To be perfectly honest, the effect that world travelling has on people gives me hope. You see the terrible and the beautiful of the world and the experiences you have invite you to come alive in a way that no one can put out.
After a few years of travel my little sister, unlike me, decided to go to college. But it seems like she's getting so much more out of it than most college students. She's really listening and thinking in her classes and she goes to outside events, even if she has to go alone, just because they interest her. There's a maturity she's gained and a certain light inside of her that's guiding her, I think. It just seems like world travel can help you live a fuller life, no matter what path you choose to take.
So I do encourage people, of any age, to travel the world. And if the way I write these newsletters speaks to you, you think I'd have a good influence on your travels, or you're not ready to do it on your own and want the practical help I can provide then please do drop me an e-mail. Or if you just want to say "I hear what you're saying Eli," or "This thing you wrote doesn't make any sense Eli!" That'd be great too! |
