Warning: film spoilers
When Matt Ross wrote Captain Fantastic, he was talking with inside knowledge.
About an extreme home educator raising six children in the wild, the film tells the story of how that family reconciles their unique learning philosophy with the peer and social pressures of society.
Matt, himself, came from an unusual background. In an interview with YouandMeThisMorning, in 2016, Matt describes how he led a nomadic childhood - travelling from the US to Italy and England with a mother who was part of a 80's reboot hippy-commune style group in Northern California.
In an interview with Home, the same year, his answer to whether any real-life experiences had made it into the film, was:
Yeah some. The clearest example of something that is purely autobiographical is that we lived in a teepee in the summertime and this family lives in a structure that’s partially a teepee.
There’s only two other bits that really come from my life: I celebrate Noam Chomsky Day which I think I invented in my family, and I retroactively realised that the closest thing to me personally was probably the fact that when I was a kid I lived in such an isolated way and wanted very much to leave the forest and be around kids my own age, which I was not at all.
What is interesting about this last comment is that it was Matt who wanted to leave the forest and be with kids his own age. So the ending of the film fulfils this personal need in him. Yet, balanced with this, is the first half, where we fall in love with Matt's setup of a family, led a father who teaches his children how to survive in the wild, be physically fit, learn about the world; academically and in so many other ways. He is the perfect home educator. Captain Fantastic.
Education and Philosophy
I thought this film gave an example of all the good things about “unschooling” or EHE as we call it at Activate Learning – electively home educating.
The children had an educated, motivated, engaged and loving father who taught them well in so many ways – academically, how to be independent, how to have debates, be resilient, critical thinkers – the whole lot. Learning how to survive in the wild and being treated like adults in terms of discussion and respect does not happen in the state education system, to my knowledge.
The children, themselves, ended up asking to go to school (they are "Matt", of course), and they did. Eventually a hybrid version of the ideal home education emerged. The good things remained, but the children got that extra dimension they were looking for.
Developing the ideas around this film from our PGCE session this week, here are more thoughts about how education and society mingle, the purpose of education and whether I personally think Home Ed is a good thing.
How does society affect education?
Freire and Hooks
Freire believed that. Education makes sense because women and men learn that through learning they can make and remake themselves, because women and men are able to take responsibility for themselves as beings capable of knowing—of knowing that they know and knowing that they don't.
Bell Hook's pedagogy is one that is responsive to the specific situation of each particular group of students and she sees education as taking place not only in the classroom but also wherever people are. She refers in her new book to 'communities of resistance' as places where democratic educators can work.
Notions of unschooling - John Holt
Holt coins the term "unschooling" to emphasise how different from state based education he feels it should be. His philosophy is:
Closely aligned to constructivism
Echoes of Captain Fantastic
All the benefits cited that I have listed, below, for EHE students
My own Educational Philosophy
Looking at my current approach (following a lot of change, over the months of my PGCE), I would categorise my own educational philosophy as a hybrid of humanist/constructivist with growth mindset underpinning it.
I feel this philosophy has these benefits:
Focuses on the person – engages the learner
Enables existing learning or ideas to provide access points to new ideas and knowledge
Enables practical real-life scenarios to permeate the curriculum
Makes meaning
Supports social and team-oriented interactions
Promotes diverse approaches to problem-solving
Supports and extends critical thinking, resilience, holistic education
... in my view!
The home school debate versus institutions
I teach 14-16 yr old EHE students (electively home educated) maths and science on Thursdays and some IT with Business on Mondays.
Here are my personal observations of my learners - of course I am using extremes to make my point.
If they have the “right” HE parents
(Well equipped and prepared, educated, motivated, curious, engaged, committed, loving…)
Children of such parents tend towards these traits:
PROS
Advanced learning
More “grown up” critical thinking skills
More knowledge outside curriculum – relevant to real life
Often have a clearer idea of what they want to do as a career
Parents arrange outings with families of other EHE children to cover the social skills gap
More “interesting” opportunities for learning
Eg Science Club over summer
Spontaneity - let’s just go to the forest / zoo / museum / beach today
“CONS” (or are they..?)
Can find it more difficult to follow “rules”
Critical of silly rules (this is not a CON!)
If they don't have the "right" HE parents
(Poorly equipped and ill-prepared, ill-educated, unmotivated, close-minded, uncommitted…)
Children of such parents tend towards these traits:
Poor grasp of even the basics
No enrichment
Poor understanding of society
Poorly socialised with peers
Anxious of groups
Uncertain of how to follow rules
Ill prepared and not resilient
So - What is the purpose of Education?
My (Sue Priest’s) view is that the purpose of education is to encourage curiosity and independence; enabling a person to reach their potential; academically, socially, spiritually and emotionally by providing opportunities for learning and removing barriers to learning.
Love has the final word
A final word. Hooks and John Holt both spoke about love and education.
Holt says,
It is love that lies at the heart of true learning
and Hooks says,
To choose to love is truly heroic - "why are we calling war mongers heroes?"
I have quoted my boss, Lucy, at Activate Learning before on this topic, but it seems appropriate to do so again now. When I first joined she told me about the different behavioural issues I would encounter as a teacher and said,
Whatever they do, whatever they throw at you in that room - always reach out to them with love.
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