Poetry Fishbowl Open!

Absent-minded professors

Scantron abuse (which for me generally means Scantron forms that look as though they were used to mop up coffee and then stuffed in a backpack for several months, but which you are welcome to interpret however you like)

How did you find my village?! NOTE to readers: Dr. Tran is not safe for most workplaces. I use this phrase (to my colleagues after I wrap up the call, not the callers!) when people call me with questions like, "I've heard you can attend for free if you donate your body to the Body Farm; is that true?" (Answer: "I have never heard that to be the case. I'll transfer you to the Admissions office.")

Montessori, Waldorf, Summerhill, and other "non-traditional" school systems

Home-schooling

"Don't let your schooling get in the way of your education" (Twain?)

The evolution of "The Three R's" from teaching technique (Recitation, Repetition, Repression) to subject matter (Reading, 'Riting, and 'Rithmetic -- to the complete disregarding of spelling).

The most important thing one can be taught is how to learn.

Book learning vs. field experience.

Things you learn at school that aren't on the curriculum.

Learning to teach.

The place of example in learning and education.

Shiv has been getting quite the education. I'm not sure he'd react so well in a traditional classroom setting.

Ashley decides she wants to learn more about her new self.

Eric and Teejay in and out of school. (Perhaps skipping school for a good reason?)

Linkback link isn't active... (Boosted on Facebook...)

I shared on Facebook the story of an Australian teacher--she was on an airplane and a special needs teen was feeling sick and wouldn't get off the floor and take his seat for landing. The pilot thought, if there was a medical emergency I'd ask for a doctor, and so he asked if there was a special needs teacher on board. It seems to me that special needs teachers might be very helpful to young soups.

I'm also imagining that in some universe kinder than our own, such people might be on call to help police with young people and people with special needs.

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The contrast between people who assertively learn as much as they can their whole lives, but don't have a degree and people who have the piece of paper, but not nearly as much knowledge. Both kinds of people face challenges in a world where the paper is presumed to equate with knowledge.

* * *

Learning magic

Science Schools Vs Guilds

Sink or Swim

Making sure mentorships go both ways.

This seems like it would fit well into Steamsmith or Path of the Paladin, or Frankenstein's Family, along with those others have suggested. Lots of people learning things in not necessarily traditional ways in your stories. :-)

Perhaps correspondence courses, "school of life", or learning from someone who's surprised they can teach.

"God grant me the wisdom to teach those I can, the strength to redirect those I can't, and the insight to know the difference."

Linked on facebook.

Said to a priestess I know once upon a time: "You aren't a teacher, you're a mentor. You don't tell us what to do, you'll help us figure it out for ourselves."

Experiential learning as opposed to formal instruction.

Things learned while studying something else entirely.

Someone who has read and studied widely learning how the world actually works.

The difference between reading/hearing about something and actually experiencing it. I'm thinking of a child who's grown up in a cloister discovering the market she's only read about.