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KevinWV
KevinWV
9 years ago

I can’t believe Jack actually endorsed public education.

Matt – Keep up the good work. Can’t wait till my Permaculture Student arrives in the mail.

KevinWV
KevinWV
9 years ago

No. You endorsed his teaching strategies and that his school is 1:1 laptop. All of which are more common than you think. Not the norm for sure but it’s becoming the norm.

Jose Garcia
9 years ago

Jack, Matt, so I hear all this criticism about the public school system, but not much about the public university system. Granted the latter is not compulsory, their structure is very similar. The first two years of college are a rehash of high school. You go for 9 months from one class to another, and at the end of X number of classes the university awards you a diploma in your chosen discipline. How is this different, better, or worse than high school, then? And if those differences were reconciled, could public school system through 12 not be made at least on par as college?

Jose Garcia
9 years ago
Reply to  Jose Garcia

Well, I do hear that not everyone needs to go to college, but that very different from college is bad.

The reason I mentioned this is that if school K thru12 was not compulsory and it actually kicked student out who were trouble makers or not serious about their education, the system would not be bad. The rest of the world is more or less on the same page as we are with public schools except that disciplines problems are addresses by making room for more deserving students.

Matt Powers
9 years ago

🙂 we didn’t cover as much as hoped but I felt that we covered a lot. I can address more here. For the record, our school is half charter half public, so I’m quasi-everything (since we unschool in our private family homeschool as well).

I noticed I didn’t finish answering the question on how I implement permaculture in English – I rambled – apologies. I use permaculture as an option often for solutions to problems that we are considering like Detroit’s collapse, the drought in California, etc. We watch excerpts from John D. Liu’s and Geoff Lawton’s documentaries like Green Gold & Greening the Desert. I use systems analysis from permaculture to analyze businesses we design in class as well. Often students get depressed when they hear about the world’s issues; I have permaculture at the ready to assuage their fears.

I meant to add that military is the only option for many kids to financially survive their college & graduate school education, so it is becoming more and more attractive for more students as the economy dips further and student loan awareness spreads – that’s why it is so critical that they know to choose a path, so they build skills through that experience.

I don’t mean to be exclusionary when I say “American” but I do mean to say that the American dream is the idea that our children will live better than we did (which is open to interpretation assuredly but I think the root of all the American dreams we’ve had is this idea of advancement for the next generation through the work and sacrifice of the current one). Again, it’s not necessarily American alone, but I do believe that it is core to the American dream.

Zinn fans: that opening chapter has noble savage written all over it. I love that book, but I must be balanced.

Kevin – THANK YOU FOR BEING A BACKER!!! YOU RULE!!!! On the public school thing: I don’t think it is that simple. I don’t support our current structure of public schooling at all in any shape or form. It is all wrong: standardized assessments teach kids to conceal weaknesses instead of demonstrate skill, grades are judgements rather than indicators of completeness, no one should be forced to go to school ever, it focuses on abstractions & myths instead of real-life problem solving and current events, a lack of ethics is teaching kids that the world has no compass ethically, & the very unsustainable fiscal structure of schools themselves. I’m working on creating a new kind of school that is small, sustainable & valuable such that communities will choose it over the current model. We will always have to have something for those who have nothing and no one to support them. I believe in using community abundance and time to do that, but I don’t believe in the state or federal control or funding of it. I think everything can be handled by local communities without question. I believe we can have wonderful community schools that generate a value for the community such that the community supports it financially.

Jose – the college system is broken as well. When the college & student loan bubble pops, the real economic hard times for those relying upon the state’s system will arrive. The student loans are in the trillions and our economy cannot currently repay that through the jobs available.

🙂 This was really fun! Thanks again Jack!

Matt Powers
9 years ago

Some more Websites:

my school Minarets High School:
Minarets.us

The Forgotten Food Forest – the children’s storybook being illustrated right now:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Forgotten-Food-Forest/514274578715667

KevinWV
KevinWV
9 years ago
Reply to  Matt Powers

Totally agree with you. Well said.

KevinWV
KevinWV
9 years ago
Reply to  Matt Powers

Agreed!

Chris
Chris
9 years ago
Reply to  Matt Powers

Where can we go to find the books that were funded by the kickstarter? The links provided all lead to the kickstarter which is closed.

KevinWV
KevinWV
9 years ago

Charter schools are 100% public schools.

Matt Powers
9 years ago
Reply to  KevinWV

Public in this case refers to it as a standard, district-run public high school – which half the kids are enrolled in because they live here in this district. The other half are charter (which created the school through local funding, grants & community charter stipulating what the school should be). It is true that both get funding from the public though one is/was heavily subsidized locally (the charter) and has a locally controlled vision & purpose which is what I salute. The more local it is, the better.

JMAC
JMAC
9 years ago

When I saw who the interview was with today I was stoked. Matt, You nailed this interview and really helped me put into words many of my feelings about Peraculture, public schools and the way the world currently works. Like I told you at PV2, You are only beginning the fantastic journey and the bright future ahead of you. Thank you for sharing YOU. I look forward to collaborating with you in the future. If I can help in any way let me know. Again, great job in the interview and on the books. I can’t wait to get the books.

Matt Powers
9 years ago
Reply to  JMAC

Thank you John for the support! I can’t wait to send or deliver those books! 🙂 Let’s make this world a better place starting with our own communities!

Chris
Chris
9 years ago

I really enjoyed this interview a lot. Thank you Jack and Matt. You really made me think. I had been thinking about having my children do some kind of independent project over the summer that would be self-motivating (they are in private school but same class structure as public school). I liked your “why” or “how” idea, Matt. I think I will be using that one 🙂

Matt Powers
9 years ago
Reply to  Chris

Here’s our new website:
http://www.thepermaculturestudent.com
or for more regular updates: facebook.com/ThePermacultureStudent

I have some lesson plans up for sale & I’ll post the Amazon link to the book as soon as it is up & ready 🙂

Thank you!