Sean wakes up in the morning and goes to work. He spends a large portion of the day in a virtual underground mine, hoping to strike a bounty of coal or iron ore. This lifestyle began when he built his first house, which has now expanded to a full village with side businesses, such as a bank and art gallery, to keep the citizens happy. He tends to his gardens and makes sure his pets and property are maintained, but he can’t lose sight of the ultimate goal – expanding his empire. Sean is 7.
Maggie and Dave Simonsen and their son are part of a movement known as “unschooling,” where instead of spending hours a day behind a school desk, Sean learns at his own pace and with his own resources at home.
A note from Films For Action
For the next month, the film-makers who created Schooling The World have generously made their film available to us in the spirit of the Gift.
Instead of setting a price and transacting before you’ve seen the film, they are turning the tables and allowing you to experience the film and gift back according to your values, your means, and the quality of how the film may have gifted you. Let's show the film-makers that the gift economy can work!
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Film summary:
If you wanted to change an ancient culture in a generation, how would you do it? You would change the way it educates its children.
The U.S. Government knew this in the 19th century when it forced Native American children into government boarding schools. Today, volunteers build schools in traditional societies around the world, convinced that school is the only way to a 'better' life for indigenous children. But is this true? What really happens when we replace a traditional culture's way of learning and understanding the world with our own? SCHOOLING THE WORLD takes a challenging, sometimes funny, ultimately deeply disturbing look at the effects of modern education on the world's last sustainable indigenous cultures.
Interested to read more? Check out the film director's blog for several excellent essays. Questions? Contact the film-maker.
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