Being the Change I Want to See

My toddler and husband are out of town for the weekend, and I am beached on the couch with a cold. Thus the numerous blog posts. Good to know that when separated from my child, I immediately go to work studying how to best educate said child.

When I started blogging I set up two blogs: one for homeschooling Ladybug, and one for me to use to reflect on education policy. I spend much more time on this homeschooling blog and haven't posted on the policy one since the summer. I'm obviously more comfortable posting here, taking on that easy, conversational style while I reflect. What I am noticing today with all my free time is that if I let some of the theory and policy questions make their way to this blog, it is a better reflection of my thought process. And probably a much more interesting blog.

For a long time I have felt split down the middle, like I am two selves. There's homeschooling Rachel, who unschooled herself as a teen and hopes to let her own children do most of their learning outside of a school. Then there's social justice Rachel, who is outraged by so much in the public schools, from disparities for rich and poor to outright discouragement of creativity. Social justice Rachel knows that homeschooling isn't the answer for everyone, and she has hopes for a better public system. Feeling so split, of course I would create two blogs for the two selves.

To be honest, I am somewhat afraid of a career in education policy. It's a hot topic right now; I'm not the only person wringing her hands about what to do with our public schools. Maybe the cause doesn't need me too. There are a lot of interests involved and not much agreement on the right course. I think a person could easily throw their life's work into the problem and come up empty, with a sense that none of the work had made meaningful change.

Contrast that picture with the idea of homeschooling my own family. Here's great opportunity for success! I am reasonably confident that I could provide my children with an education that encourages creative inquiry and protects a love of learning. I could provide my children with the education I would want for all children. As I type that I see how self-centered it is. As a child, freedom was explained to me as being allowed to have a white picket fence on your property while accepting that you can't make the neighbors all build white picket fences. There's a reason that it's harder to change society: many people don't want your change and have the right to reject it. For me, homeschooling is in part about being the change I want to see.