An Update Prior to the Class (Or, a few more things to consider)

Hi everyone!  Hope you had a nice holiday yesterday.  Beth, Tim, and I are gearing up for the class and are looking forward to meeting everyone.

As you probably have discovered by now, Tim and a colleague run a weekly radio show, At The Chalkface.  He has asked that you also listen to Episode 11 - an interview with Nicole.  Here's the link to the show:  At The Chalkface.  (http://www.wtdy.com/content/-THE-CHALK-FACE-91.html)

In addition, one of my friends is a former professor at the University of Arizona, Dr. Guy McPherson.  His story is an interesting one and we will probably often mention him in the course of our time together.  He runs a blog, called Nature Bats Last (http://www.guymcpherson.com) and he just had a guest post by someone who is homeschooling her child. In the essay, she asks a few questions.  In the time before we get together, I would like you to reflect on the questions Ms. Hartley raises in her blog post:

" Is it normal to train children from a very young age to submit unquestioningly to authority? Whose purposes does this serve? Is it a good use of children’s time to learn how to play the game known as School, in which they are pitted against their same-age peers to find out who the “winners” and “losers” are via a relentless onslaught of grades and testing, as well as assessments of behavioral “appropriateness”? What do these assessments actually measure? Whether one is categorized as a winner or a loser, does anyone actually “win” in a world of climate catastrophe, rampant species extinction, nuclear contamination, and brutal wars? What do children end up believing about the world and themselves in an environment characterized by competition and control?"

Thanks for considering these questions.  - Karl