Yes absolutely. As I wrote I often felt as if I was just writing a more updated version of Illich and Dewey, with observations from the twenty-first century.
The term ‘accidental learning’ is something I tried to achieve as a teacher. I often found students retained the content better if they almost didn’t realise they were learning.
I have found the same thing. As when we use a lot of new terms, often, and they just stick, instead of trying to cram them for a quiz or something. I had a student tell me last semester that unlike in most of his classes where he learns things for tests and immediately forgets them, because he was invested in what he was learning, a dimension that he'd chosen, he'll "know it forever" (his words). But it was not tested, not commanded, not graded.
Thanks for this! I loved reading Ungrading, so I'm excited to dig into this next one.
I'm also reminded of "Situated Learning" by Jean Lave & Etienne Wenger: "...learning how to 'do' school appropriately may be a major part of what school teaches" (107).
The first time I heard the term schoolishness was from Akilah S. Richards - are you familiar with her work? I'm curious because there doesn't seem to be any reference to her in this piece, but perhaps there is in the book.
Someone else alerted me to this recently, as well. I had not encountered her work before. Though I read widely, there is so much wonderful material about school that I'm bound to have missed some. I'm grateful to know about Ms. Richards's work.
Hi Susan, thanks for your reply. I encourage you to listen to the recent Instagram live by ASDE where they address the issues involved with using this term without including someone who has been so central to self-directed education and has been using this term for many years. If I had goggled “schoolishness” around the time you were writing this book, Richards’ website which is actually schoolishness.com, would have come up first.
It is troubling to me to hear that Akilah Richards’ work was not known to this author, as Akilah has been a prominent leader in the self-directed space for many years. I’m also troubled to see that a Black woman’s work has been overtaken by a white academic‘s book. schoolishness.com (Akilah’s website, rich with resources for those wanting to delve into deschooling and liberation work) is now buried in Google searches underneath articles about this new book. This erasure of Black women’s voices is unacceptable.
When this author is saying that they’ve never encountered the work of Akilah Richards, whose coining of the term “schoolishness” is well documented, including in my master’s thesis on indigenous education, what they’re actually saying is that they’ve disregarded, ignored and leapt clean over a rich and active global community of self directed learners, writers and researchers to stamp a white face onto ideas our ancestors have been whispering into our conscientiousness since time. Yikes.
The use of the term schoolishness in your book and of the title doesn't properly acknowledge the person who first used the term. The erasure of Akilah S Richards is troubling and both you and your publisher have a responsibility to ensure that such oversights are avoided.
As I'm sure you're aware theft of ideas whether from academia or from those actually living concepts and embedded in communities undermines the integrity of scholarly discourse. I find it surprising that during your writing you didn't once use Google and search for the term. What this suggests is a disregard for the individual who doesn't have the same platform as you and who's work is now buried in the internet which seriously impacts families who are seeking her work.
The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) entry for the adjective "schoolish" states that the "earliest known use is in the mid 1500s" and provides the earliest evidence from 1549, in a translation by Thomas Hoby, courtier and translator
Since "schoolishness" is derived from the adjective "schoolish" by adding the suffix "-ness" it's reasonable to conclude that "schoolishness" also originated around the same time period in the mid-16th century, shortly after the first known use of "schoolish" in 1549.
The etymology and earliest citation for its root word "schoolish" allows us to place its origin in the mid-1500s with confidence. No information in the search results contradicts this mid-16th century dating.
We don't have a definitive first-use date for "schoolishness.”
I haven't read the book yet - it's in my bag - but it sounds a bit like Ivan Illich.
Yes absolutely. As I wrote I often felt as if I was just writing a more updated version of Illich and Dewey, with observations from the twenty-first century.
Splendid! I just received a copy of the book yesterday, professor Blum, and am very excited to read it.
The term ‘accidental learning’ is something I tried to achieve as a teacher. I often found students retained the content better if they almost didn’t realise they were learning.
I have found the same thing. As when we use a lot of new terms, often, and they just stick, instead of trying to cram them for a quiz or something. I had a student tell me last semester that unlike in most of his classes where he learns things for tests and immediately forgets them, because he was invested in what he was learning, a dimension that he'd chosen, he'll "know it forever" (his words). But it was not tested, not commanded, not graded.
Thanks for this! I loved reading Ungrading, so I'm excited to dig into this next one.
I'm also reminded of "Situated Learning" by Jean Lave & Etienne Wenger: "...learning how to 'do' school appropriately may be a major part of what school teaches" (107).
The first time I heard the term schoolishness was from Akilah S. Richards - are you familiar with her work? I'm curious because there doesn't seem to be any reference to her in this piece, but perhaps there is in the book.
Akilah Richards has been talking about schoolishness for several years - for example in this podcast interview in 2021 https://livingjoyfully.ca/blog/2021/09/eu293-raising-free-people-with-akilah-s-richards/ and elsewhere for longer I believe.
Someone else alerted me to this recently, as well. I had not encountered her work before. Though I read widely, there is so much wonderful material about school that I'm bound to have missed some. I'm grateful to know about Ms. Richards's work.
Hi Susan, thanks for your reply. I encourage you to listen to the recent Instagram live by ASDE where they address the issues involved with using this term without including someone who has been so central to self-directed education and has been using this term for many years. If I had goggled “schoolishness” around the time you were writing this book, Richards’ website which is actually schoolishness.com, would have come up first.
I first started using the term in 2019, at least, when I proposed the book to my publisher at Cornell University Press.
It is troubling to me to hear that Akilah Richards’ work was not known to this author, as Akilah has been a prominent leader in the self-directed space for many years. I’m also troubled to see that a Black woman’s work has been overtaken by a white academic‘s book. schoolishness.com (Akilah’s website, rich with resources for those wanting to delve into deschooling and liberation work) is now buried in Google searches underneath articles about this new book. This erasure of Black women’s voices is unacceptable.
When this author is saying that they’ve never encountered the work of Akilah Richards, whose coining of the term “schoolishness” is well documented, including in my master’s thesis on indigenous education, what they’re actually saying is that they’ve disregarded, ignored and leapt clean over a rich and active global community of self directed learners, writers and researchers to stamp a white face onto ideas our ancestors have been whispering into our conscientiousness since time. Yikes.
The use of the term schoolishness in your book and of the title doesn't properly acknowledge the person who first used the term. The erasure of Akilah S Richards is troubling and both you and your publisher have a responsibility to ensure that such oversights are avoided.
As I'm sure you're aware theft of ideas whether from academia or from those actually living concepts and embedded in communities undermines the integrity of scholarly discourse. I find it surprising that during your writing you didn't once use Google and search for the term. What this suggests is a disregard for the individual who doesn't have the same platform as you and who's work is now buried in the internet which seriously impacts families who are seeking her work.
To be fair:
The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) entry for the adjective "schoolish" states that the "earliest known use is in the mid 1500s" and provides the earliest evidence from 1549, in a translation by Thomas Hoby, courtier and translator
Since "schoolishness" is derived from the adjective "schoolish" by adding the suffix "-ness" it's reasonable to conclude that "schoolishness" also originated around the same time period in the mid-16th century, shortly after the first known use of "schoolish" in 1549.
The etymology and earliest citation for its root word "schoolish" allows us to place its origin in the mid-1500s with confidence. No information in the search results contradicts this mid-16th century dating.
We don't have a definitive first-use date for "schoolishness.”