Tuesday, January 03, 2017

A guy calls me a closed-minded educator and an idiot

I got e-mail from someone wanting me to promote something vague:

I want to share my "learning that excites, learning that sticks" absolute radical unschool program. It was 30 years in the making, but it is like no other as far as how much it is loved by students.

I have been wanting to connect with the unschooling movement, so any information you could send would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you,
David Hamilton
www.calivalley.direct
I've removed the e-mail and phone number, but left the website.

At the same time he had applied to join Radical Unschooling Discussion on facebook, but one of the other moderators flicked it away without me even getting there to say "same guy, different name." He used a made-up name and had a page promoting something vague, but I hadn't known that yet.

I looked at his site and searched for more, finding one youtube video that he had uploaded but hadn't made, nor had he credited. So I responded, by e-mail:
From: Sandra Dodd
Subject: Re: Hello
Date: January 2, 2017 at 9:17:11 PM MST
To: David B Hamilton...

-=-I want to share my "learning that excites, learning that sticks" absolute radical unschool program. It was 30 years in the making, but it is like no other as far as how much it is loved by students.-=-

Please don’t use the term “radical unschooling” about anything that involves the term “students.”
I looked at your site, and it does seem you only used the term because you were writing to me. I hope you’re not using it more widely.

Best wishes, if your project was 30 years in the making. I can’t find any more than the one website you sent, and a video on YouTube that you didn’t credit to the owners.

I’ve been unschooling for 25 years, and so you’re five years beyond me, somehow. Please don’t use the term for lessons for students, though.

Sandra Dodd

His response:

Typical response of a closed minded educator. Only can see the negative. Unfortunate. My presentations are loved by students. Your loss.
And, I don’t need your permission to use the term “radical unschooling”! Ha! Like I need your permission? You are an idiot.

So if he's contacting other unschoolers, don't feel guilty about ignoring him.
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4 comments:

  1. DanielleMarch 25, 2017 10:13 AM

    Get over it. You worry too much about terminology.

    ReplyDelete
  2. TanyaZJanuary 15, 2018 9:50 PM

    Yikes. His response reminds me of the "bye felipe" threads on social media where men berate and insult women who decline romantic or sexual advances from them.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sandra DoddJanuary 25, 2018 9:47 AM

    I hadn't noticed an old comment in the queue; sorry.

    I don't worry about terminology. I do care about words. It's amusing to me when people tell me NOT to care about words, or term it as "worrying too much," and tell me not to care.

    Some people care about spices, different soaps, relative weights of axes and hammer heads, and the shapes of the handles.
    People's interests determine what they will care about.

    I could say that someone worries too much about the relative differences in violins and they should get over it, but WHY would I say that? :-)

    But beyond that, if someone is selling lessons and calling it radical unschooling in ANY way, or associating it in any way, it's dishonest. I'm willing to defend the integrity of unschooling.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Sandra DoddJanuary 25, 2018 11:08 AM

    The Danielle Pate comment was posted 1/25/18, but has the date of its original writing. Sorry. My response would've been the same, but it hasn't been sitting here ten months, it was in unapproved posts. I need to re-set my notifications, I think.

    ReplyDelete