Wow ... what a big rant. So, the answer is to let people like Matt Hern intoduce my child to words like "shit" and "assholism"? Why not try visiting countries that have no public education system. Great places, eh? A public education system is one of the fundamental building blocks of a fair and just society. One can argue that homeschooling and private schools have a role, but the hatred this article has against one of the best education systems in the world (BC ranks number one in taking ESL children from other parts of the world and bringing them up to grade level)is down right infuriating. It's funny what some people think is good teaching. Your students may have memorized cities around the world, but it is sad they don't know what to DO with that information. Might as well memorize baseball statistics. I think I'll put my trust in the professionals that teach in the public school system. If the tyee is trying to compete with other alternative media, they have do better than the above! I don't give Mr. Keehn very high marks.

I think Robert Frost once said something like, "Everyone ought to have the right to go to hell in his own way." There's no doubt that for some children and parents public schooling is hell. However, the vast majority select it because it is broad, inclusive, and for the most part functional, despite the depredations of the Liberal government and the protective reactions of the BCTF.

As someone who still hasn't left academia (and at this point, I doubt I ever will) - I wouldn't trade the education I received in the public education system in BC for anything. I do have to say the teachers I had and the support and encouragement from home made all the difference in the world. The school should prepare the child for the society they live in - and vice versa. The basics need to be met and learned so that the opportunity to move forward for specialization in an area of interest - whether in university, fine arts, or a work-placement program - is not lost because of gaps in formal education. I don't know if things have changed since my days of elementary and highschool training - but the teachers certainly encouraged areas of promise. Starting from fourth grade - I had been sent to special "Young writers'" conferences aimed at cultivating Canadian authors of tomorrow; had been given the opportunity to have a mentor matched with my interests to learn what it would be like to work in her field; had been captain of the girls volleyball team from Grades 5-11; participated in science fairs; ran the journalism club - and the list goes on - and it is unnecessary for the point being made - which is there are great opportunities to add to the school system but there has to be an interest to take those opportunities. Community programs - like that run by Matt Hern - would certainly add to fulfilling aspects of education that aren't explored fully enough in the generic school system - but I am not sure that I would want to use it as a replacement because I doubt I would have had the opportunities to pursue the things I did in a system that doesn't really offer more alternatives - as is stated - but simply offers a different alternative to the present. I know I would not have been able to earn an entrance scholarship for university - since that was awarded based on credit earned on academic courses and provincial exam scores of highschool. This is not to say that university is the goal for all kids - or even a quarter - but why take the opportunity away before they have the chance to choose the path of their dreams? Schools should open all potentials without closing the doors on any.

This would have been ideal for my brother... perhaps. But he certainly did not fit into the public school system- swtiched schools three times, dropped out at 17, holed himself up at home and taught himself computer animation. An artist in a small city with little support or like- minded peers. I know he had some rough times where he questioned his decision. Turns out he did the right thing, but I think something like this is excellent for kids who don't "fit" into the regular system.

While I can manage to agree with some of what Matt Hern criticizes about the BC public school system; like the quick fix of ritalin to subdue an energetic child, the inflexible, timetable-driven factory system of today's large secondary schools I do not agree with the criticism that the BCTF hinders progressive education. Seeing that Mr. Hern is an anarchist, and sees any large organization with suspicion, I can see why he might feel this way about the BCTF. Has Mr. Hern ever been involved with the BCTF? The BCTF has been a major advocate for all BC students since its inception about 75 years ago. Yes, their mandate is to protect their members, but it is important to understand that good teaching conditions are also good LEARNING CONDITIONS for our students. The BCTF fights for low class size because we know as educators that it increases academic success. I admire that the Purple Thistle has low numbers...I wish I had the luxury of only teaching 15-20 students...I could do wonders! But, the Liberals took that away and conditions have worsened. There's not many teachers I know that concentrate on "boring" their students and "cramming" useless information down their thoats...hate to say it Mr. Hern, but what relevance is behind memorizing nations on a blank map? In my Social Studies 11 classes, we learn why the Ivory Coast is a have-not nation. The students are the Prime Ministers and they have to collaborate on a plan to reduce poverty and disease and educate the whole nation ( We cover colonization & effects, growing cash crops and the role of the IMF in order to do this.) I'm not saying that huge public high schools are the answer for everyone...the BC government has the power to change that...not the BCTF. I for one am not against homeschoolers, but I have seen a number of homeschoolers come back into the system around high school age ( when the math and science get more difficult and mom and dad can't really teach it anymore) and the children are not up to speed on their skills and they really need lots of work to build up again...you can't get back lost time ( I hope I'm not generalizing...but it's my experience). Remember Mr. Hern, without the BCTF and the power of collective action teachers would still be trapped in a top-down good ol' boys network where teachers could be hired and fired on a whim, there was no voice for special needs students, unsafe work conditions for teachers and students and wages for teachers that would ensure mediocre teachers and low morale. There's a reason that BC students rank high in international tests in the last 10 years...teachers who feel empowered and treated as professionals are happier and care more...that was until Gordon Campbell crawled out of the woodwork to begin the dismantling of our system by attacking the BCTF...morale is bad and getting worse...2,500 teachers laid off and 113 schools in BC closed...this is the "New Era"?

Seems the crux of the issue is defining *the purpose* of an education.

Matt is saying that one size doesn’t fit all. This should be obvious from experience. For many people school is hell. Why should they be subjected to this – in many cases taking half a life time to overcome the effects of school – for the sake of some ideology of togetherness? Let the education system be tailored to the people, not the people be tailored to the education system. To start off let’s get rid of the Big Box Schools. Big Box Stores undermine local economies, Big Box Schools are alienating and expensive. Return the schools to the neighborhood. I suppose the present system does “prepare us for the real world”. Bullying at school is indeed a good prep for the bullying you will get from bosses as an adult. Petty, absolutist regulations in school are a good foretaste of bureaucratic imbecility. Being forced to do things that are boring and unnecessary is good training for most jobs. But surely we want a better world than this for our kids?

Smaller class sizes, more individualized instruction. Sound familiar anyone. It is not the teacher's fault that they have over 30 kids in a class. That is government policy. And for a group of people(BCTF) who are only looking after their wages they did a pretty poor job of it by taking no wage increase for many years in return for smaller classes. We definitely have a problem with large factory like schools but I can not see how the total other end of the spectrum would produce anything but more choas.

Like Matt Hern, I am a passionate advocate of increasing choices in education, and I feel fortunate to be involved with SelfDesign Learning Community - one of the few innovative, holistic education programs in this province. I also helped launch and steward 'Virtual High' - a remarkably successful alternate program for teens in Vancouver in the 1990s. I find it very noteworthy that following the Sullivan Commission on Education in 1987, this province was gearing up to fully embrace holistic learning which would, by its very nature, provide many more paths of learning for students. It didn't happen, the 'Year 2000' program was hijacked by, among others, the BCTF and a bevy of other interest groups. Never mind that most people who had contributed to the commission had voted to move away from the the monolithic model of education that has been with us for nearly 200 years now. In the intervening years, since the Year 2000 was quashed, we have seen a slow erosion of alternative programs for kids in the public schools and a constricting of the parameters by which education will be funded. As for me, I didn't set out to be a 'radical' educator but it became apparent to me during the 4 years I did teach in classrooms that the teacher-as-authority, students-as-blank-slates model was effective and helpful to about 20-30 percent of the kids in any class. As for the rest, well, there's myriad ways to manipulate, punish, medicate, ostracize or banish them if they don't comply. I'm happy that some people consider the education experiences of their youth to have been valuable; I'm not one of them, and I fervently wish, like Matt Hern, that there were more equitably-funded options available for our youth who have perfectly valid reasons why their first choice for learning is NOT sitting in a chair consuming a curriculum made by strangers, delivered by somebody they might not like or who may not like them. As for those who might say, tough, life's like that so get used to it, I say I sure don't live my life as an adult according to those maxims, so why is this something we force on our children?

There are definitely kids who do not fit into the system, just as there are adults that do not fit into society. Public education should allow all children to learn. The challenge is to find what is best for each student. That can be done in a fully funded public education system. Being sensitive to childrens needs will allow most students to succeed. The general condition of the outside community and society must take some resonsibility for the state of some students. Lets not place all the blame on the education system or teachers.

I just love how each and every comment on here is trying to refute one or two aspects of Hern's philosophy, maybe it's his being an anarchist that scares you, or maybe you are a teacher offended by the idea that the BCTF is doing something wrong. But no one on here has yet rejected all out that there are kids out there who's lives are being ruined by an oppressive system. Like Hern said, everyone wants to do something (except maybe a nihilist, but that's a whole 'nother cup of coffee), everyone has an ambition, and the school system is holding those few people back. Another thing you've got to adore about some of these arguments is that their author's seem to have forgotten that Hern says he wants everyone to have options, and that includes the option of an education along the lines of todays in-school curriculum. Hern might have been a little overzealous about his message, but that doesn't mean the idea behind it is in any way flawed. Now I know that there are many people out there who will be reading this, and won't be looking to be convinced of something, all they want is to get to the bottom of the page so they can write up their own amazingly insightful opinion on this matter, which I'm sure will convince many sheep-minded people out there, all I want to ask you to do is think about this with an open mind. Do you want to be the kind of person who charges with hier own philosophy and doesn't care what other people say, or the kind of person who looks for the best situation possible for hier children. (Hier and Ze are gender neutral pronouns, for an unknown person, or somebody who just hasn't decided yet) Oh yes, and would affect your opinion of this comment if I told you it was written by a unschooled fifteen year old? I bet it does.

Outstanding piece! Matt Hern is exactly the sort of subversive yeast missing from the school system.

He is also a one man threat to the industrial model of education which the internet, Google and the infomation economy was fast consigning to oblivion.

The speed of the change is taking Ministries of Education, trustees, principals, parents and teachers by surprise. It shouldn't. After all, did any of us really enjoy sitting in 30 kid classrooms, five hours a day, five days a week for five years? Was that necessary? Was it effective?

When I was TAing I used to be amazed that kids in university simply could not write. All those hours in classrooms and they could not get verb subject agreement straight. Which means at least some of those hours were wasted.

There will likely be room for traditional, industrial, schools for another twenty or thirty years which will keep BCTF members and traditional parents happy. But the real educational action will be outside the classroom.

Good story. Hern wasn't saying that Thistle was going to work for every kid, but that it might work for the kid who can't stand the regular flavour. As an aside, why does he look so familiar?

I'm pleased to see this article has sparked some debate. On Earnest Canuck's remarks: First, I'm thoroughly embarrassed to have spelled Kinnie Starr wrong (darn Sleater-Kinney for having turned the name into a punk-rock homonym of sorts). Second, you raise a very good point about how communities bump up against each other, and I did raise with Matt the prospect of a ghettoized society in which we don't communicate well with those outside our own spheres. Matt's remarks in full acknowledge this argument, but he pointed out that we have this kind of situation on our hands regardless of school. Personally, I tend instead to shudder about what we might have without the playground and the classroom to open something of other worlds up to our youngsters. (Publications who care what I think, please direct all interview requests to the Tyee's crack communications team. Globe and Mail, I'm looking at you). To Chris H., I debated whether to include some of Matt's "colourful language" or none at all, but I thought it would be dishonest not to give readers some idea of how he actually speaks. I apologize if you were offended. I also hope my low marks aren't for the opinions expressed, as neither I nor the Tyee necessarily share them.

I don't think there was ever an argument that there there is no one-size fits all mode of education deliverance - I think that is a fact. In fact, there are even gender and cultural differences on the ability of one to learn; however, I would not say that the BCTF is doing something wrong in approaching learning in the most inclusive way they can and know how. It is much easier to try to develop a program aimed at a specific audience or group rather than have a system designed to maximize each unique student's learning profile. In light of this, it is an amazing thing to have the success rate it does. With more cuts to education and a population of students growing in its diversity of needs - there is the question of how can the BC public school system address all concerns? We want smaller class sizes, more out of classroom experience, more individually tailored programs - and we need more teachers, more schools, more curriculums, more special classes - with less money? Unless education - and not the olympics, the off-shore oil explorations, and primary trades industry protectionism - becomes a major priority in BC governments policy planning, then all we have is cursing without the purse strings.

If you want better lives for the children of BC you may want to vote for whatever party will cancel the Olympics.

Interesting story and I must confess Matt Hern's commitment to his cause is enticing. The idea that one could go to school without being told to line up and be quiet when the bell rings has a special appeal to it. Unfortunately though, Hern's insistance that a tiny, fortunate few should have this elite education paid for by the parents who don't have the resources or where-with-all to enlist their children is a bit much. Yes, it would be a wonderful world if we were all educated as individuals. But to suggest the BCTF and anyone else with an interest in ensuring all children get a decent education sounds a bit too much like the guy who argues he should be able to manipulate or buy his way onto an operating room table ahead of those ordinary people. *** Jeremy, the two articles on alternative education were worth the read so I won't join those who want to shoot you or your message. Hern sounds like a very committed person. It's too bad he hasn't learned to seek some peer input before going public, an irony he might have avoided had he had a little more appreciation for the real benefits of learning in a public system.* * * However, his greatest failing is his naivity about the politics of education. The bottom line is money (like it or not), and if the province cuts education spending to provide tax breaks for wealthy ''individuals'' guess who suffers. Matt, quit spitting into the wind. You might even find support among BCTF members and leaders if you had a thought or two for students who are struggling. Niche marketing is good if you're selling soap.

Hey Earnest Canuck where are ya? Margo said something against the Olympics :)

Mmmph. Y'know, I voted *against* 2010, which was a real wrenching decision for me; I just didn't like its structure, where those dashing capitalists wouldn't actually assume any risk for their capital... they'd transfer that risk to taxpayers instead. Makes me furious! That said... 2/24 on Salt Lake ice... oh man...

OK, I might be crazy, but didn't Matt Hern have a basketball column in the erratically distributed mid-nineties freebie Sports Vue?

I find the negative comments kind of fascinating. The people making them seem to be responding more to their own imaginations than to what Matt actually had to say. Also, the assumptions behind many of the negative comments are not terribly well informed, or well reasoned. My suggestion: If you want to criticise an idea, have a clue what it is, first.

http://www.bchomeschool.org/ ~~~ http://www.unschooling.org/ ~~~ http://www.cantrip.org/gatto.html ~~~ http://www.unschooling.com/ ~~~ http://www.paulgraham.com/nerds.html ~~~ http://www.sntp.net/fda/piper_griffin.htm