Passing down our culture to kids-paper

[Garga]

Ok. I have to write a paper for an anthropology class. The paper has to be something about culture.

 

I was thinking of writing it about "enculturation." Enculturation is how people pass down their culture to the next generation. I was going to link enculturation to public school vs home school.

 

Some of us homeschool so that we can keep our kids OUT of the main culture. We don't want our kids to belong to a culture that thinks education is dumb and smart kids are nerds. We don't want our kids to think that it's ok to pick on other children. We don't want our kids to think that watching tv is all there is to do. Etc.

 

I'm thinking the paper might point out that homeschoolers are passing along a different culture than the public schools are. This sort of goes along with socialization and that thread awhile ago where the PS teacher said that only the ps's teach kids about civics.

 

The paper doesn't have to be long (just 3 pages.) Do you guys think there's enough info out there to talk about how as a country we pass down culture to the next generation in schools, but that homeschoolers are passing down a different culture from everyone else? (I mean, isn't that really what everyone is worried about when they ask "what about socialization?")

 

Don't write the paper for me, but do any examples or comments pop into your head that I could consider putting in the paper? Or should I come up with another topic?

Edited March 15, 2010 by Garga_

[JoyfulMama]

I can see your point, as I could argue for a homeschooling culture. However I would be afraid of easily relying on stereotypes of both to define the differences.

It could be an interesting read.

[justamouse]

Hmmm. I think it's a bit too broad? Maybe you can pick one thing about your homeschool that qualifies as enculturation?

 

Sounds like it could be a fun paper to write and I hope you knock it out of the park.

[lionfamily1999]

Ageism could be one topic. It's a pet of mine. We learn, as soon as we move up a grade, that those younger than us are stupid and those older than us are mean. This continues up through high school and the next thing you know, you're muttering 'stupid teenagers.' I've found that hsing blasts this out of the water. I have no real evidence, though ;) Just anecdotes. Ds speaks to his little brother as an equal (that's got its good and bad points), he also regards adults differently than I did. There's no fear in him based on someone's age, no preconcieved notion that someone younger must know less or that someone older will bully him.

 

It's really incredible, imo, to see the world through his eyes, where worth isn't measured by age or even health. It's by conversation. I'm sure there are problems with that pov as well, but so far it seems he's much more open to people.

[mommaduck]

Or about how homeschool helps preserve a group's culture. Some of us are TCK's and homeschooling both helps those of us that moved around as kids or helps those kids that move around due to the military or other transient careers.

[hillfarm]

My question would be whether what the ps kids are getting is actually a culture? Is their code of practices and behaviors worthy of being called a culture if it originates with the government, is formed via committees of employees, and generally operates outside of the family structure of the student?

 

I think of culture as more of an inherited society, one that has developed over several hundred (or even thousand) years and has more of a "grass roots" origin, rising from the collective consciousness of the people involved.

 

I see what we currently have in the public schools as a social agenda, bought and paid for by the government and to be changed with each political whim.

 

Unfortunately, I really don't perceive a culture of homeschooling either. IMO, one of the main things that draws families to homeschooling is that they tend to have a very independent nature. That nature makes it extremely difficult to characterize homeschoolers as a group. Our beliefs, religions, motivations, curriculum, educational practices, ethnicities, etc. are all so different that I don't think we can say with any degree of certainty that one homeschooler's experience will be in any way similar to another's. Even on this site, where most of us have an interest in the WTM philosophy of education, there are a great many differences. I often feel worlds apart from some of the beliefs expressed here, definitely not of the same culture.

[TXMomof4]

The idea of a consumer culture is something we (personally) are trying to combat with hsing that is seriously encouraged in the ps setting. The right clothes, shoes, game system, car, etc. *must* be had to be part of the group and we are seeing the result of that consumer mentality in our society right now. Something along those lines might be interesting?

[Night Elf]

Hm... My parenting did not and would not change regardless of the education my children receive. I definitely don't believe and don't teach my kids that homeschoolers are superior in any way. In fact, I think many of the homeschoolers that I met are quite odd. But hey, there are always exceptions and your paper will reflect your beliefs not anyone else's beliefs.

 

As for the idea of teaching kids that smart = dumb, I don't find that the case outside of K - high school. I didn't meet anyone in college or beyond college that considers intelligence to be a flaw. Now, I met college students who partied as much as they could, and some who really had zero desire to do more than pass their classes, but I don't recall anyone acting the way my peers in high school did. And as an adult, I have seen more judgement from college graduates (the so-called) educated people who look down on others that do not have a college diploma (and the majority of this experience has come from this board). My experience has shown that the attitudes about education completely flip when kids get beyond school. Perhaps the 'smart' kids in high school don't care much about what others think but that the 'dumb' kids (not sure how to define dumb here really) think more about finding their place in the school population. (?) Just guessing by writing.

 

Ok, editing to clarify. I am not happy with the way I used the words smart and dumb. I refer to the smart kids as being the unpopular crowd and the dumb kids as being the popular crowd. However, I don't recall smart and dumb really used in my high school. We had the in-crowd, the athletes, the smokers (kids that smoked outside the school in the designated smoking area all hung out together), and the geeks. Really, all groups had the A and B students, and C and D students. I don't remember many failing students.

Edited March 15, 2010 by Night Elf

[Garga]

Thanks for the responses. Good idea to maybe narrow it down a little and to avoid stereotypes. I'll have to think about this for awhile. The paper isn't due for a few weeks, so I have time to mull over it.

[Catherine]

This topic is nicely address in one of my favorite books, Hold onto Your Kids, by Neufeld and Mate.

[Ibbygirl]

How about the idea that homeschooling passes down and emphasizes family culture over the culture of your country or place of residence.

 

:iagree::iagree: I was thinking about something along these lines as well. My family has managed to preserve it's culture rather well (even without homeschooling) in this country in spite of the influences of the larger culture around. In our case, I would say immersion had the most influence. My family lived in a latin neighborhood which made preserving the language/culture of the motherland very easy. In our case too story telling had a lot to do with it. My great grandparents, grandparents, aunt, uncles etc all were very active in telling our "family stories" to the children and through that vehicle passed on our family history as well. I know my family's stories back to the early 1800's just from them telling me the stories when I was growing up.

 

I could see how homeschool would be vital in passing on culture because you have that opportunity for immersion as well as for story telling and instilling your culture in your children in a way that a child who goes out to school wouldn't have. Especially if their children's parents work outside the home. I could see homeschooling as a tool for passing down culture, but to argue it as a culture in itself might be a tougher sell IMHO. I mean, just within homeschoolers there is a lot of diversity. Classical, unschoolers, religious backrounds etc. It might be too broad a genre IMO.

 

Good luck on your paper. It sounds like an interesting topic. I hope you'll post it up here for us to read when you are finished. I know I would enjoy reading it. :)

[Kate in Arabia]

 

I was thinking about something along these lines as well. My family has managed to preserve it's culture rather well (even without homeschooling) in this country in spite of the influences of the larger culture around. In our case, I would say immersion had the most influence.

I actually think about this fairly often as an American living overseas. If my kids were in school here, I think they would have a more "international" culture, whereas because I homeschool and because I'm homeschooling outside my native culture, I find myself emphasizing American culture more. As an example, dialects. A British friend was commenting the other day that she was actually having trouble understanding some of the words her 4 yr old uses, because his preshcool teacher is Welsh and he's picking up her accent. For me, I sort of "lost" my original accent (I'm from Kentucky), but I've found that now I really emphasize some of my native accent when speaking with my kids, I can hear it in their spoken English. If they were in school it might be different.

[elegantlion]

Here's one of the benefits of culture we are passing down to our ds. Trade, specifically the craftsmanship of carpentry. I remember as a young adult being aghast at how many teens I knew that didn't really know what their parents did for a living. My ds has been "working" with dh for years. Our goal is for him to learn the craft for basic knowledge (please, no I don't want him to go into construction as a business).

 

Homeschooling allows him time to learn that much more than a traditional school setting. He has gone to work with dh during school days and we're toying with the idea of doing 4 days of school in high school and have the 5th day be a work day with Dad.

 

I think there are important skills that aren't getting passed down because teens are so busy with school and other activities that they don't get a chance to learn from their parents.

Edited March 15, 2010 by elegantlion